U.S. Cuts Number of Delegates to World AIDS Meeting (washingtonpost.com): "The decision to cut attendance [by three-fourths] was reached long after many government scientists had made plans to attend the conference, which is held every two years....

Almost nobody was willing to speak on the record because of fears of retaliation....The NIH released details of the cutbacks only in response to a Freedom of Information Act request....

HHS officials [also] tried to cancel a $250,000 CDC grant to the conference for scholarships for Third World AIDS researchers, said a person familiar with agency. When told the money could not be reclaimed, Thompson's office stipulated it go only to scientists in the countries getting aid under the [U.S.] program....

A CDC official [said,] 'This is clearly the result of the booing of Secretary Thompson in Barcelona, which he took quite personally.'"