IOF Kills a Palestinian Youth, Injures Others and Destroys a House in a Fresh Series of Aggressions in West Bank and Gaza Strip
International Press Center, March 28, 2003
TULKARIM, Palestine, March 28, 2003, IPC + Agencies --- A Palestinian youth was killed while another was injured by Israeli occupation forces (IOF) today dawn in Tulkarim refugee camp.

Israel occupation troops kill Palestinian in Tulakarem
Palestinian Information Center, March 28, 2003
Tulakarem – Israeli occupation troops shot dead a 20-year-old Palestinian man in the Tulakarem refugee camp in the West Bank on Friday, Palestinian witnesses said.

Fatah militant killed in Tul Karm; witnesses: man killed in Strip
Haaretz, March 28, 2003
Two Palestinians were killed by Israel Defense Forces fire on Friday - one in the West Bank refugee camp of Tul Karm camp and one in the town of Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip.

Breaking News: Razing, Demolitions in Rafah
International Press Center, March 28, 2003
19:00 Israeli occupation forces, from the illegitimate Jewish settlement of Rafiah Yam”, supported by tanks and a bulldozer advanced deep into a Palestinian controlled area located north Rafah city. The invading forces, amid intensive firing, began to raise agricultural lands owned by the families of al-Hashash and Al-Malaihy and they also demolished storerooms belonging to a resident from the Al-Rowaydy family.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians march in support of Iraq
Haaretz, March 28, 2003
GAZA CITY - Tens of thousands of Palestinians rallied in the West Bank and Gaza Strip on Friday in their biggest show of support ever for Iraq, burning effigies of Western leaders and urging Saddam Hussein to attack Israel.

UN rights expert says security fence between Israel and the West bank is `illegal annexation'
Haaretz, March 28, 2003
GENEVA - A barrier separating Israelis and Palestinians that Israel claims is needed for protection represents "de facto annexation" and is illegal under international law, a United Nations human rights expert said yesterday.

Britain Seeks To Calm Israeli Anger Over Hypocrisy Remarks
Islam Online, March 28, 2003
LONDON, March 28 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Britain's Foreign Office sought Friday, March 28, to "soothe" Israeli anger after Britain’s Ambassador in Tel Aviv was summoned to the Foreign Ministry to receive a formal protest over remarks made by Foreign Secretary Jack Straw in which he said the West had been guilty of hypocrisy by taking action against Iraq for not implementing UN resolutions and not Israel.

Straw's statements draw Israeli protest
Haaretz, March 28, 2003
The Foreign Ministry yesterday summoned British Ambassador Sherard Cowper-Coles for an urgent meeting to officially express Israel's discontent with recent statements by British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw.

US: Aid conditional on no "Phalcon" sale to India
Globes, March 28, 2003
Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman: If the objection is for commercial reasons, it is not legitimate. -- The Bush administration has informed Israeli officials in Washington that it opposes Israel’s selling three Phalcon AWACS planes to India.

Israeli advice sought for urban fighting
Bangkok Post, March 28, 2003
The D9s are manufactured for civilian use in the United States but fitted with armour plating in Israel. Following his briefing, the Americans bought nine of the converted machines from Israel, Mr Van Creveld added. -- Preparing for urban warfare in Iraq, US forces have tapped Israeli military and civilian experts in recent months to learn the lessons of Israel's fighting in densely populated areas of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Wave of strikes over economic program slated for next week
Haaretz, March 28, 2003
A wave of strikes prompted by the government's new economic program is slated to begin next week, with the civil servants and the schools beginning partial sanctions Sunday and local authorities starting a full-fledged strike Tuesday.

Police reopen 'Greek Island' investigation 
Haaretz, March 28, 2003
Police have reopened their investigation into the so-called "Greek Island" affair, and are now focusing on the connections between contractor David Appel and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's son, Gilad, as well as on Appel's connections with Sharon himself.

Al-Arian Moved To Federal Custody
NBC, March 28, 2003
Federal Officials Say Move Is For Security Reasons -- TAMPA, Fla. -- Federal officials have moved Sami Al-Arian and three co-defendants from a county jail to the Coleman Federal Correctional Complex in Sumter County for security reasons.

Compromising justice
The Guardian, March 28, 2003
Belgium is poised to water down a controversial war crimes law that has caused the country no end of diplomatic embarrassment -- The long arm of Belgian justice has fingered sulky heads of state from Israel to Cuba for war crimes in recent years but it is just about to undergo an amputation - a permanent one.

Coalition crisis: Trade Minister Olmert suspends work of Sabbath inspectors 
Haaretz, March 28, 2003
Industry, Trade and Employment Minister Ehud Olmert yesterday ordered a halt to the work of Sabbath inspectors, who enforce the law banning work on the Sabbath, as of this weekend. Olmert's move is causing a storm.

Houston Family Deported; 1 Stays Behind
KPRC, March 28, 2003
Immigration Officers Search For 19-Year-Old Family Member -- HOUSTON -- A Palestinian family was deported Friday after living in Houston for more than a decade, but authorities said that they are searching for one family member who refused to go.

Two Palestinians killed in Israeli raids on Gaza Strip  
Jordan Times, March 28, 2003
GAZA CITY (AFP) — Israeli occupation forces Thursday killed two members of the Palestinian security services in a raid on the Gaza Strip, which Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas is due to visit this week.

Israel Makes Early Iraq Gains, Kills 3 Palestinians
Islam Online, March 28, 2003
GAZA CITY, March 28 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Israel has emerged the first country in the region to benefit from the war on Iraq and is lined up to receive 10 billion dollars in assistance under a U.S. emergency bill to cover costs tied to the conflict.

Israeli forces kill Tanzim member in West Bank
Al-Bawaba, March 28, 2003
Israeli troops shot dead a 20-year-old Tanzim member in a refugee camp in the West Bank town of Tulkarem before dawn Friday, Palestinian witnesses said. Another Tanzim man was seriously wounded.

Israelis fear Blair's influence over Bush
The Guardian, March 28, 2003
Sharon furious as Britain steers White House to strong commitment on independent Palestinian state -- Israel protested to Tony Blair yesterday at what it called his "worrying and outrageous" comments linking the war in Iraq to a settlement of the Palestinian conflict, and at Jack Straw's accusations of western double standards over the enforcement of UN resolutions on Israel.

Mubarak: People have had [it] with US empty talk on Palestine
Arabic News, March 28, 2003
When asked about his opinion of the statements given by US President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak said that the people in the Middle East have had it with this all talk and no action position. The people now need to see some actions on the ground, he said.

Two Israeli journalists detained by U.S. troops in Iraq
Haaretz, March 28, 2003
The reporters were told to pick up their shirts and let down their pants to prove they were not carrying bombs. -- U.S. troops in Iraq detained two Israeli journalists and Portuguese colleague on suspicion of espionage and beat one of them, relatives said Friday. They were released after 48 hours.

Between the Lines / The battle for bread
Haaretz, March 28, 2003
After Passover the battle of the Histadrut and the social organizations against the government will be waged.

PA steps up security at U.S., UK facilities
Haaretz, March 28, 2003
Palestinian security organizations have placed guards in a number of sites linked with countries involved in the Iraq war coalition, following a request by representatives of those countries who fear attacks by extremist Palestinian organizations.

Israeli Arabs to mark 27th anniversary of Land Day
Haaretz, March 28, 2003
The Supreme Monitoring Committee Of the Arab Population called general strike for Sunday - the 27th anniversary of Land Day. Among the causes that Sunday's demonstrations in all of Israel's Arab cities is a protest against "the United States' barbaric aggression toward Iraq."

Adalah Asks Tel Aviv University to Cancel Discriminatory Application Policy
Adalah, March 27, 2003
On 24 March 2003, Adalah sent a letter to the Dean of Students at Tel Aviv University, asking the university to cancel a regulation whereby high school graduates, who will not be studying as part of their military service, are prohibited from applying to the university.

Judge refuses gag order in Orlando tourist shop owner's case
Miami Herald, March 28, 2003
ORLANDO, Fla. - A federal judge has denied a prosecutor's request for a gag order in the illegal workers case against a prominent Palestinian-American businessman. The rights of Jesse Maali and other defendants to an impartial jury and a fair trial were not jeopardized by publicity, U.S. District Judge John Antoon ruled this week.

Hate crime charge filed in attack on family van
Chicago Tribune, March 28, 2003
BURBANK -- A 24-year-old Burbank man was charged Thursday night with three state felonies, including committing a hate crime, in the March 21 bombing of a Palestinian Muslim family's van.

FBI Seeking to Expand Presence Overseas
The Guardian, March 28, 2003
WASHINGTON (AP) - The FBI plans to open offices in Kabul, Jakarta and eight other foreign capitals as part of a decade-long overseas expansion that officials say is crucial to meet the global threat of al-Qaida and other terrorist groups.

Iraq War News

'Many dead' in Baghdad attack
BBC, March 28, 2003
At least 50 civilians die in an air raid on a suburban market, Iraqi officials say, as battles continue to rage throughout the country.

120,000 extra US troops set to join war
The Independent, March 28, 2003
Other developments: 'four Marines killed' near Nasiriyah; Iraq says 75 died in civilian areas; Sir Galahad due to dock with aid; more US troops in northern Iraq.

BBC chiefs stress need to attribute war sources
The Guardian, March 28, 2003
Claims and counter-claims in the media -- BBC news chiefs have met to discuss the increasing problem of misinformation coming out of Iraq as staff concern grows at the series of premature claims and counter claims by military sources. "We're absolutely sick and tired of putting things out and finding they're not true. The misinformation in this war is far and away worse than any conflict I've covered, including the first Gulf war and Kosovo," said a senior BBC news source. "We're getting more truth out of Baghdad than the Pentagon at the moment."

First aid delivery docks
The Guardian, March 28, 2003
The first substantial deliveries of humanitarian aid arrived in Iraq today as the British auxiliary ship Sir Galahad finally delivered its 200 tonnes of aid to the southern port city of Umm Qasr.

Analysts Say Threat Warnings Toned Down
Washington Post, March 27, 2003
Guerrilla Tactics Were Predicted -- Intelligence analysts at the CIA and Pentagon warned the Bush administration that U.S. troops would face significant resistance from Iraqi irregular forces employing guerrilla tactics, but those views have not been adequately reflected in the administration's public predictions about how difficult a war might go, according to current and former intelligence officials.

UN to resume Iraq 'lifeline'
BBC, March 28, 2003
The United Nations Security Council has unanimously adopted a resolution clearing the way for the oil-for-food humanitarian aid programme in Iraq to resume. The resolution transfers control of aid distribution directly to the UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan.

Iraqi Children Will Need Psychological Help: U.N.
Islam Online, March 28, 2003
GENEVA, March 28 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - As many as half a million traumatized Iraqi children will need psychological help as a result of the U.S.-led war on their country, a top official of the United Nations children's relief agency UNICEF said Friday, March 28.

Anti-War Protest Becomes Global Rally
The Guardian, March 28, 2003
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Anger against the invasion of Iraq erupted in protests across the Middle East after Islamic prayers on Friday, with crowds provoking the police to fire shots in the air in Iran and tear gas in Jordan.

Unfinished business
The Guardian, March 28, 2003
Richard Perle's resignation highlights questions over US economic involvement in postwar Iraq -- Amid admissions that Iraq has surprised the invasion forces with the strength of its resistance, and official predictions that the conflict will last longer than originally expected, there is news from Washington that Richard Perle, chief architect of the war, has resigned as chairman of the Pentagon's influential Defence Policy Board.

Anti-war protests erupt across the Middle East
CTV, March 28, 2003
TEHRAN, Iran — Anger against the invasion of Iraq erupted in protests across the Middle East after Islamic prayers on Friday, with crowds provoking the police to fire shots in the air in Iran and tear gas in Jordan.

Conflict sapping forces' morale
BBC, March 28, 2003
One Marine told me: "I've had enough of being fired at from all directions, I just want to go home". Marines are contending with tough conditions Here on the frontline this conflict is taking its toll on morale. I can see the signs in the US marines I am with outside Nasiriyah. Quite a few of the troops have said to me that this isn't what they were expecting.

Thousands flee Basra in search of food and water
The Independent, March 28, 2003
Thousands of tired and thirsty civilians trudged out of the besieged southern Iraqi city of Basra yesterday in a desperate search for food and water.

Putin: Iraq war worst crisis since Cold War
Middle East Online, March 28, 2003
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Friday that the US-led war against Iraq threatened to destabilize international relations to a low not seen since Moscow's standoff with Washington in the Cold War.

UN Says: We Will Not Be US Subcontractors
Common Dreams/The Guardian, March 28, 2003
The United Nations will refuse to play a "subservient" role or act as a "subcontractor" to the United States in the reconstruction of Iraq, its development chief has warned.

Rumsfeld Warns Syria, Iran Over Helping Iraq
Islam Online, March 28, 2003
"We consider such trafficking as hostile acts and will hold the Syrian government accountable for such shipments," said Rumsfeld -- WASHINGTON, March 28 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld Friday, March 28, issued a dire warning to Damascus and Tehran to steer clear of Iraq, claiming military equipment had crossed into the country from Syria.

Iraq latest: At-a-glance
BBC, March 28, 2003
BBC News Online charts the latest developments in the Iraq conflict. Friday, 28 March 2100: The Syrian Government dismisses allegations by US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld that it is supplying military equipment to Iraq and accuses the US of trying to distract attention from civilian casualties.

Expert: Saddam bunker can survive atomic bomb
Al-Bawaba, March 28, 2003
The German architect of one of Saddam Hussein's main bunkers in Baghdad said on Friday the Iraqi president can survive anything short of a direct hit with a nuclear bomb if he stays within its 1.5 metre thick walls.

Baghdad under heavy bombardment; Pentagon plans to send additional troops to Iraq
Al-Bawaba, March 28, 2003
U.S. warplanes bombed communication and command facilities Friday in the most powerful bombardment of the capital in days. U.S. forces launched a strike defense officials said was directed to hamper communications between Saddam Hussein's leadership and his military.

Nowhere is safe
The Guardian, March 28, 2003
Although the skies over Baghdad have cleared after the sandstorms, the view from the ground is one of mangled bodies and shattered lives -- This morning the sky has cleared: a mixed blessing. It is good to be able to see the city again, although the view of smoke plumes across town is a troubling sight. At the same time, the end of the bad weather, which was holding up the onslaught, seems likely to mark the end of our period of grace, such as it was.

France to resist US plans for Iraq
Al-Ahram Weekly On-line, 27 March - 2 April 2003
Having failed to prevent a US-led war on Iraq, France now aims to influence the shape of the post-war settlement -- Following months of diplomatic activity aimed at preventing or postponing a US-led war against Iraq, France last week entered a new phase of trying to influence the shape of the post-war settlement against a background of continuing demonstrations in Paris and across France protesting the war against Iraq.

France insists US should give way on rebuilding Iraq
The Guardian, March 28, 2003
The United Nations must play "the key role" in rebuilding Iraq after a crisis that has "shattered" the existing world order, the French foreign minister, Dominique de Villepin, insisted yesterday.

How the Pentagon's promise of a quick war ran into the desert sand
The Guardian, March 28, 2003
Political oversights may have stalled offensive, but Rumsfeld is still urging a faster, riskier attack -- In early February, just a few weeks before the Iraq war began, a funny thing happened in the corridors of the Pentagon - it went strangely quiet. After a flurry of deployment orders in the new year, sending tens of thousands of soldiers and marines out to the Gulf, the flow of paperwork out of the defence secretary's office slowed to a trickle.

American organizations condemn bombardment of the Iraqi TV
Arabic News, March 28, 2003
The director of the Human Rights Watch Organization which takes New York as a headquarters Kenneth Roth said " TV stations can not be attacked just for the fact they are used for campaigning activities." He added that the US "has to explain how an attack against the Iraqi TV will be useful for a military operation," considering that this attack is considered a violation for international laws.

ISESCO Invites UNESCO to Take Joint Action to Rescue Human Cultural Heritage in Iraq
Arabic News, March 28, 2003
The Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO, a Rabat-based offshoot of the Organization of the Islamic Conference) exhorted UNESCO on Thursday to take an urgent joint initiative to protect human lives being reaped by internationally prohibited weaponry and to preserve human cultural heritage in Iraq.

Huge anti-war march in Iran
BBC, March 28, 2003
Tens of thousands of people have marched through the Iranian capital, Tehran, in protest at the US-led war in Iraq. Demonstrators burnt US and British flags, and threw stones at the British embassy, smashing its windows.

Hans Blix to leave post
BBC, March 28, 2003
UN chief weapons inspector Hans Blix, who oversaw the return of an inspection team to Iraq, is set to leave his post in June.
Mr Blix's contract expires then but he told Japan's Nippon TV that he does not "propose to stay beyond that".

Shades of grey
The Guardian, March 28, 2003
"The noble art of losing face," he says, "will one day save the human race." -- He was an unlikely public figure, a quiet man whose hobbies were preparing Swedish fish dishes and making marmalade - but for a few brief months, the world hung on his every word. So could Hans Blix have done anything to stop the war?

I am not an American, he said... then the phone went dead
Indian Express, March 28: ‘‘No, no, no, I am not an American. I am a Syrian journalist.’’ The assertion of identity in the face of the deep unknown must be the hallmark of a brave journalist. To go where few have gone before —in this case to southern Iraq — in search of the whole truth clearly calls for courage.

US soldiers 'are using Jordan to enter Iraq'
The Independent, March 28, 2003
This dusty, impoverished corner of Jordan is making the country's authorities nervous.

Paramilitaries 'fire on 2,000 trying to leave Basra'
The Independent, March 28, 2003
Civilians trying to leave Basra came under fire from Iraqi paramilitaries today, British military commanders are reporting.

Britain and US at odds over port rebuilding project
The Independent, March 28, 2003
The first signs of tension between Britain and America over the rebuilding and running of post-war Iraq have emerged with the award of a $4.8m (£3m) contract to manage the captured port of Umm Qasr.

Al-Jazeera wins anti-censorship award
The Guardian, March 28, 2003
Al-Jazeera, the Arab TV satellite channel whose war coverage has angered the US, has been awarded a prestigious prize for upholding freedom of expression. The Qatar-based channel won the award for the best circumvention of censorship at Index on Censorship's third annual Freedom of Expression Awards last night.

British Soldier’s Sister Slams Blair’s Stance on ‘Execution’
Arab News, March 28, 2003
LONDON, 29 March 2003 — British Prime Minister Tony Blair stuck yesterday by his charge that a British soldier was executed near Basra in southern Iraq, despite being branded a liar by the soldier’s family.

US envoy walks out of Security Council debate
Jordan Times, March 28, 2003
UNITED NATIONS (AFP) — The US ambassador to the United Nations, John Negroponte, walked out of a Security Council debate Thursday while his Iraqi countepart, Mohammad Al Douri was winding up. 

Kurdish town rocked in apparent Iraqi retaliation
Middle East Online, March 28, 2003
CHAMCHAMAL, Iraq - A string of missiles or artillery shells slammed into this Kurdish-controlled town Friday in an apparent Iraqi army retaliation for an advance towards the northern city of Kirkuk by pro-US Kurd fighters.

Mideast expert: US, Britain, heading to disaster
Middle East Online, March 28, 2003
CAIRO - Washington and London "have lost the war politically" and their campaign in Iraq is "heading to a disaster", British Middle East expert and journalist Patrick Seale wrote in an article published Friday. "Whatever the military outcome of the battle of Baghdad, the Americans and the British have lost the war politically and morally," he said in an opinion column in the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper.

Damage control
Haaretz, March 28, 2003
In Ankara these days, there is talk of repairing relations with Washington, a change of tone toward the Kurds and the need to remove the threat of a Turkish invasion of northern Iraq.

Missionaries To Follow U.S. Forces In Iraq
Islam Online, March 28, 2003
Two months after the Sept. 11 attacks, Graham called Islam "a very evil and wicked religion" during an interview on NBC television network. --
CAIRO, March 28 (IslamOnlien.net) - Enhancing the conviction among some Arabs and Muslims that the U.S.-led war of aggression on Iraq is part of a new "crusade" campaign, the Beliefnet.com and Newhouse.com websites recently reported that two leading evangelical Christian missionary organizations were readying teams to enter Iraq to address "the spiritual needs" of the population.

Analysis: 1,000 U.S. paratroopers is not a northern front
Haaretz, March 28, 2003
".. the movement of Kurdish soldiers toward Kirkuk, which the Kurds see as their future capital city, might bring Turkish troops into northern Iraq and compel the United States to open an additional front earlier than it had planned." -- While 1,000 American paratroopers have landed in northern Iraq and the coalition has seized an airport in Kurdish-controlled territory, the northern front has not yet been opened.

Dozens of volunteers crossing Syrian border into Iraq to join fight against allied troops
Haaretz, March 28, 2003
Syria is granting free passage across its border with Iraq to volunteers who wish to join the fight against the U.S. and British forces. Thus far, dozens of volunteers, primarily Palestinians from the refugee camps in Lebanon, have crossed over into Iraq through Syrian-controlled border posts.

audio
Baghdad inhabitants angry at US tactics
The Guardian, March 28, 2003
Audio: The bombing of a third telephone exchange in less than 36 hours has caused outrage among Baghdad's inhabitants, reports Suzanne Goldenberg in Baghdad. (2min 35s)

cartoon
'I can keep it up all day'
The Guardian, March 28, 2003
Cartoon: Steve Bell on the size of George Bush's coalition.