10/19/2005

Associated Press

A man charged with kidnapping after he was foiled in an attempt to take his young sons to his native Iran pleaded guilty Tuesday in a deal that is expected to spare him a prison sentence.

Hassan Khalegi, 38, entered the plea in U.S. District Court. Assistant U.S. Attorney Vincent Lombardi agreed to recommend that the man serve no prison time when he is sentenced in January, though the maximum sentence is three years.

Khalegi and his wife, who hold U.S. and Iranian citizenship, had been arguing about whether to move back to Iran, Lombardi said Tuesday. On May 13, Khalegi called her to say he had their two children, 7-year-old Cyrus and 1-year-old Darius, and was about to board a flight.

The wife, Akram Hosseinzadeh of Bellevue, immediately called her lawyer, who called the FBI, and Lombardi scrambled to obtain an arrest warrant from U.S. Magistrate Judge Mary Alice Theiler. Meanwhile, Lombardi's colleague, Lawrence Lincoln, was on the phone with the Justice Department, asking to mobilize Dutch police and U.S. agents in the Netherlands, where Khalegi was scheduled to land before heading on to Iran.

When Khalegi tried to change planes in Amsterdam, he was arrested. Hosseinzadeh then flew to the Netherlands to bring the boys home.

Khalegi and Hosseinzadeh have since reconciled, and she opposed having him prosecuted, said his attorney, Thomas Hillier. Under the plea agreement, Khalegi said he would not take the children to Iran without the permission of his wife and of the court.

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MOUNT ST. HELENS, Wash. — The U.S. Forest Service is reviewing bids for commercial helicopter tours, snowmobile and mountain bike rentals, vacation cabins and other privately run operations for this national volcanic monument.

A prospectus the Forest Service issued seeks bids to run the government visitor center and a range of new offerings, like guided hikes and boat rentals on Coldwater Lake.

One possibility would convert more than half the space allotted for explanatory displays and exhibits at Coldwater Ridge Visitor Center to commercial uses such as gift sales.

To date, commercial operations at the 110,000-acre monument surrounding the volcano have been limited mostly to cafeterias, small gift shops at visitor centers and a few climbing guides.

Steve Nelson, an outdoor recreation planner at the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, which oversees the monument, said a goal is for private companies to pick up more of the tab for maintaining buildings.

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SEATTLE (AP) — The King County Council has passed legislation providing short-term financing to complete the purchase of development rights for a swath of forest, a move that will keep an area once known as the Snoqualmie Forest free of residential, commercial or industrial development.

Last year, the county bought development rights to a parcel east of Carnation between Interstate 90 and Highway 2 from Hancock Timber Resources Group.

The company still owns and harvests the land, which cannot be turned into strip malls or subdivisions under the county's agreement.

The county said Monday it will issue $30 million in bond acquisition notes for the purchase of open space, including the Snoqualmie Forest deal and others.

Use of the bond acquisition notes, which serve as a short-term line of credit, will help the county be more precise about the amount of long-term bonds it will need to pay for the land acquisitions.