BREAKING
NEWS April 10, 03: Palestinian
Killed, 12 Wounded in
Helicopter Strike, More
Deaths in Tulkarem
International Press Center,
April 10, 2003
15:30 One Palestinian
citizen, Mohammed Saqer
Al Zatma, 47, was killed
and 12 others wounded,
when an Israeli military
chopper rocketed the car
he was in, Palestinian
security sources said.
14:00-- Israeli undercover
units killed two Palestinian
civilians and wounded
four others in the West
Bank city of Tulkarem,
(IPC).
Israeli
Troops Wound a Boy in
Rafah, Blow up a House
in Beit Reema as Palestinian
Resistance Continues
International Press Center,
April 10, 2003
RAFAH, Palestine, April
10, 2003 (IPC+WAFA)--
Israeli occupation forces
shot and wounded Wednesday
night a Palestinian boy
in the Gaza Strip city
of Rafah, Palestinian
medical sources said.
Four
Palestinians, two Israeli
soldiers killed in West
Bank, Gaza Strip
Al-Bawaba, April 10, 2003
Palestinian fighters opened
fire near the West Bank
settlement of Beka'ot
before dawn Thursday,
killing two Israeli soldiers
and wounding at least
seven, Israel Radio reported.
Bulldozers
Pushing the Envelope in
Mas'ha
International Solidarity
Movement, April 9, 2003
Anna could hear the contractor
instructing the bulldozer
driver to bulldoze the
camp in general and Anna
in particular. I wonder
if the driver who killed
Rachel got an order like
that. After all, he was
a soldier and is supposed
to just carry out orders.
According to the driver
himself, "I only stop
if I'm ordered to stop".
Fatah
terrorists kill man in
Jordan Valley
Haaretz, April 10, 2003
Police and security forces
discovered yesterday afternoon
the scorched body of a
70-year-old Israeli man
who had been missing since
Wednesday. The body of
Massoud Mahlouf Allon,
a resident of Moshav Menahemya,
was found in a burned-out
car in the northern Jordan
Valley following a widescale
police search.
Woman
killed in Jordan Valley
attack
Haaretz, April 10, 2003
An Israeli woman was killed
and two other civilians
were injured when a terrorist
infiltrated Moshav Mechora
in the northern Jordan
Valley late last night.
The terrorist was shot
and killed by Israel Defense
Forces soldiers.
Israel
Arrests Palestinian Girls
They Say Planned Attacks
KSAT, April 10, 2003
NABLUS, West Bank -- Relatives
say four teenage Palestinian
girls were just talking
-- but Israel suspects
them of plotting suicide
bombing attacks. The relatives
say Israeli soldiers came
to their houses in the
West Bank in the middle
of the night and took
the girls away to an army
base for questioning.
Annan
deeply concerned by Israel's
air attack in Gaza neighbourhood
United Nations News, April
9, 2003
9 April – The United
Nations Secretary-General,
Kofi Annan, today voiced
his deep concern about
Israel's air attack last
night in Gaza, which left
seven Palestinians dead
and dozens more wounded,
and repeated earlier calls
for an end to violence
by all sides and a return
to the negotiating table.
Judge
and prosecutor clash in
trial of Marwan Barghouti
Haaretz, April 10, 2003
An argument erupted yesterday
between the judge and
prosecutor in the trial
of Marwan Barghouti, the
former Tanzim leader in
the West Bank. Warning
her to behave, Judge Sarah
Sirota threatened to complain
to the Bar Association
about prosecutor Dvorah
Chen.
People
and Politics / The olive
tree chain saw massacre
apparently stars settlers
Haaretz, April 10, 2003
He is convinced that settlers
are the ones with the
drills, and that they
poured some kind of chemical
into the holes to kill
off the olive trees. --
Few Israelis have ever
heard of the village of
Assawiyeh, not far from
Route 60, about five kilometers
south of Tapuah Junction
in the northern West Bank.
Ehud Kirnis of Kibbutz
Shuval and the five other
peace activists who visited
there last Saturday cannot
get the small village
out of their minds.
General
strike called off
Haaretz, April 10, 2003
The general strike that
was planned to start this
morning was called off
last night following an
agreement reached by the
Histadrut labor federation
and the treasury.
Arafat:
Prime Minister Abbas May
Present Government Saturday
Palestine Media Center,
April 10, 2003
Palestinian Prime Minister
Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen)
has been given an extra
two weeks to form a government
but could still announce
his team as early as Saturday,
President Yasser Arafat
said.
Hundreds
protest Negev Law annulment
Haaretz, April 10, 2003
Hundreds of Negev residents
- municipal employees,
administrators of southern
factories, Bedouin leaders
and representatives of
various social welfare
organizations - participated
yesterday in a protest
against the annulment
of the Negev Law and the
proposed economic austerity
plan.
Fischer
Concludes ‘Fruitful’
Talks with Palestinian
Leaders
Palestine Media Center,
April 10, 2003
April 10, 2003 - German
Foreign Minister Joschka
Fischer described his
talks Wednesday with Palestinian
leaders as “fruitful”
as the Palestine National
Authority (PNA) welcomed
his visit as “very
important,” which
“sends a very strong
political message that
there is a need for a
solution to the Middle
East crisis.”
Palestinian
Journalists Protest Over
the Anglo-American violation
of the Freedom of Journalism
International Press Center,
April 10, 2003
GAZA, April 10, 2003,
(IPC)-- Tens of Palestinian
journalists organized
Thursday a rally in Gaza
City protesting over the
Anglo-American aggression
on Iraq and targeting
the media offices in Baghdad.
Journalists from different
International and local
press organizations participated
in the rally.
Israel
kills 12 in Gaza, bomb
rocks Palestinian school,
as German FM meets Arafat
Jordan Times, April 10,
2003
GAZA CITY (AFP) —
The Israeli occupation
army killed 12 Palestinians,
among them several children,
in an air strike on a
Hamas leader and a foray
into a Gaza town, and
an extreme right-wing
Jewish group claimed responsibility
for a blast in a West
Bank school that injured
29 Palestinian pupils.
As the Palestinians slammed
a late Tuesday Israeli
air strike on Gaza City
as a bid to “sabotage”
an internationally backed
peace “roadmap,”
German Foreign Minister
Joschka Fischer pushed
their leader Yasser Arafat
to hurry reforms aimed
at sharing power with
his moderate new premier.
More
Deaths as Israel Tells
Palestinians:Heed Iraq
Reuters, April 10, 2003
JERUSALEM (Reuters) -
Palestinian gunmen killed
two Israeli soldiers in
the West Bank and an Israeli
missile strike killed
a senior militant in Gaza
on Thursday in a fresh
surge of violence ahead
of an anticipated U.S.-led
peace drive.
Four
Palestinians killed in
Gaza clashes
Haaretz, April 10, 2003
Clashes in the Gaza Strip
left at least four Palestinians
dead yesterday. IDF troops
shot and killed a 21-year-old
member of Hamas, a 35-year-old
policeman, a 27-year-old
security guard, and a
16-year-old boy, witnesses
said. A fifth man, about
25, died later in a hospital,
doctors said.
Continuous
Israeli state terrorism:
7 Palestinians killed
and dozens injured in
the latest assassination
in Gaza
The Palestinian Centre
for Human Rights, April
9, 2003
PCHR condemns the war
crime perpetrated by Israeli
occupying forces on Tuesday
evening in Gaza City,
which resulted in the
deaths of 7 Palestinians,
including two children.
This war crime comes in
the context of the policy
of extra-judicial assassinations
adopted by the Israeli
occupying forces in violation
of international law.
Such actions are defined
as war crimes, under the
Fourth Geneva Convention
of 1929.
More
violence in Palestine
as Iraqi war draws to
end
Islamic Association of
Palestine, April 10, 2003
Two Palestinian guerillas
and two Israeli occupation
soldiers were killed on
Thursday during a gun
battle at an army military
base in the West Bank.
An Israeli army spokesman
said Palestinian resistance
fighters attacked an army
camp in the northern Jordan
valley east of the Palestinian
town of Tubas, with automatic
weapons.
Arafat:”
Israeli Warplanes Crime
in Gaza is Unforgivable”
International Press Center,
April 10, 2003
RAMALLAH, Palestine, April
10, 2003, (IPC) -- President
Yasser Arafat described
the crime perpetrated
by the Israeli combat
airplanes in Gaza on Tuesday
as “an unforgivable
crime”.
Second
Israeli assassination
in past two days leaves
seven Palestinians dead
Palestine Monitor, April
9, 2003
Israeli soldiers last
night claimed the latest
victims of their policy
of extra judicial execution.
Witnesses report at 8pm
Israeli helicopters and
F16s were heard flying
over Gaza city.
Islamic
Jihad man killed in Gaza;
2 soldiers killed in W.
Bank
Haaretz, April 10, 2003
Israeli helicopter gunships
fired missiles at a car
in Gaza City on Thursday,
killing a senior Islamic
Jihad militant and injuring
at least 10 bystanders.
Several
Palestinian Students Wounded
in Israeli Terror Attack
Palestine Media Center,
April 10, 2003
Annan ‘Deeply Concerned’
Over Gaza F-16 Strike
-- April 10, 2003 - An
Israeli terrorist group
calling itself “Revenge
of the Babies” claimed
responsibility for Wednesday’s
attack, which injured
twenty-nine Palestinian
children in a school in
the northern West Bank.
Abed
Rabbo Condemns Attack
on Palestinian School,
Blames Israel
Palestine Media Center,
April 10, 2003
The Palestinian Minister
of Culture and Information,
Yasser Abed Rabbo, blamed
the Israeli government
for the terrorist attack
perpetrated by an Israeli
extremist group calling
itself “Revenge
of the Babies” on
a northern West Bank school,
which rendered 29 Palestinian
children injured, four
of them critically.
World
unions blast Israel over
broken labor pacts
Haaretz, April 10, 2003
International labor organizations
yesterday accused Israel
of blatantly violating
international pacts and
agreements it had signed.
In a letter to Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon, the organizations
expressed support for
the Histadrut labor federation's
struggle against the proposed
economic austerity plan,
and some of the groups
even threatened to file
legal suits against the
Israeli government.
Abu
Mazen gets two more weeks
to form his cabinet
Haaretz, April 10, 2003
The newly appointed Palestinian
prime minister delayed
naming his long-awaited
government yesterday.
Forming the new cabinet
has been a condition for
the publication of a U.S.-backed
"road map" to Palestinian
statehood, but Prime Minister-designate
Abu Mazen asked Arafat
yesterday for a two-week
extension.
Palestinian
faction leaders stunned
by Baghdad fall, but vows
to continue fight against
Israeli occupation
Al-Bawaba, April 10, 2003
Shocked by the sudden
fall of Baghdad in the
hands of the US forces
without any tangible resistance,
Palestinian faction leaders
said this “earthquake”
would enhance their determination
to continue resistance
and uprising against the
Israeli occupation.
Israel
hopes ouster of Saddam
will help bring new Palestinian
leadership
Space War, April 10, 2003
As the symbols of Saddam
Hussein's regime fall
in Baghdad, Israel hopes
that the ousting of the
Iraqi leader will help
loosen Yasser Arafat's
grip on power and favor
the emergence of a more
moderate Palestinian leadership.
Moran
Draws Fire With New Remark
Washington Post, April
10, 2003
Congressman Says Pro-Israel
Lobby Plans to 'Take Over'
Efforts to Defeat Him
-- A Jewish civil rights
organization and some
Alexandria Democrats have
criticized Rep. James
P. Moran Jr. (D-Va.) for
suggesting at a recent
party meeting that a major
American pro-Israel lobbying
group will raise $2 million
and "take over" efforts
to unseat him next year.
Foreign
cameramen finally receive
work permits
Haaretz, April 10, 2003
In the face of growing
international criticism,
the government has reversed
its decision and agreed
to issue work permits
to foreign cameramen on
the grounds they are not
taking away jobs from
their Israeli counterparts.
Report:
Israel prejudiced against
foreign reporters
Haaretz, April 10, 2003
The Government Press Office
(GPO) is prejudiced against
foreign reporters and
news services, according
to a new report compiled
by MK Tzali Reshef (Labor)
and presented yesterday
to the Knesset's Foreign
Affairs and Defense Committee.
Ministry:
Settlers have more than
10,000 weapons
Haaretz, April 10, 2003
There are more than 10,000
weapons in the hands of
settlers, according to
the Defense Ministry.
In response to a question
by MK Ran Cohen, a letter
from the minister's assistant
said some 8,000 weapons
are in the West Bank and
another 2,600 are in Gaza.
3
deported Palestinians
won't be returned to Israel,
court rules
Haaretz, April 10, 2003
The High Court of Justice
yesterday rejected a petition
to have three Palestinians
suspected of terrorist
attacks returned to Israel.
The three, who were deported,
were among dozens of Palestinians
who took refuge in Bethlehem's
Church of the Nativity
after the February 2002
terrorist attack in the
settlement of Nokdim.
Protest
movements mobilize against
Treasury plan
Haaretz, April 10, 2003
The joint campaign set
up by all opposition parties
and around 40 social pressure
groups will begin a concentrated
campaign of protests against
the Treasury's economic
plan today. The campaign
- calling on Treasury
officials to `get out
of their Volvos' - will
increase in intensity
in the coming days, with
billboards and demonstrations
planned across the country.
Energy
sources: Iraq-Israel oil
pipeline - pipe dream
Globes, April 10, 2003
Energy industry sources
said that Minister of
Infrastructure Joseph
Paritzky’s proposal
to reopen the oil pipeline
from Iraq to Israel was
unrealistic. They said
the pipeline, built in
the 1930s, was obsolete,
unfit and unnecessary.
Israel
suggests reopening oil
pipeline from Iraq via
Jordan
Financial Times, April
10, 2003
Israel has suggested that
a new democratic regime
in Baghdad could allow
the reopening of an oil
pipeline from Iraq to
Israel across Jordan.
Joseph Paritzky, Israel's
infrastructure minister,
said restarting the British
mandate-era pipeline would
slash up to 20 per cent
off fuel prices.
IMF
growth forecast for Israel:
0.5% in 2003, 2.2% in
2004
Globes, April 10, 2003
The International Monetary
Fund (IMF) biannual report
published yesterday forecasts
0.5% growth for Israel
in 2003 and 2.2% in 2004,
compared with a 1% decline
in 2002.
Deir
Yassin massacre, 55 years
on
Haaretz, April 10, 2003
Dozens of Jews and Arabs
yesterday marched around
the fence surrounding
Jerusalem's Kfar Shaul
psychiatric hospital,
the site of the Deir Yassin
massacre, to commemorate
its 55th anniversary.
Police
cannot demand detainees'
fingerprints or photos
for data bank
Haaretz, April 10, 2003
The police cannot fingerprint
or photograph an arrested
or detained individual
solely to store such details
in a data bank, Jerusalem
Magistrate's Court Judge
Carmi Musak ruled yesterday,
setting a legal principle.
6th
man arrested for placing
bomb near Arab girls'
school
Haaretz, April 10, 2003
Police arrested Amiur
Tsuriel, 23, for his alleged
assistance in placing
a bomb near an Arab girls'
school in East Jerusalem
last April, Army Radio
reported on Thursday.
The bomb was discovered
and neutralized before
it could cause any damage.
Israel
to help Turkey-US ties
Jerusalem Post, April
10, 2003
Foreign Minister Silvan
Shalom is slated to visit
Turkey for a one-day meeting
Sunday likely to deal
with ways to mend the
strained US-Turkish
relationship. This will
be the first visit of
an Israeli minister to
Turkey since the Islamic-based
Justice and Development
Party (AKP) was elected
last November.
Jewish
groups seek to block Al-Jazeera
in Canada
Jerusalem Post, April
10, 2003
The two largest Jewish
organizations in Canada
have come out against
a plan by the Canadian
Cable Television Association
to offer the Arabic satellite
TV channel Al-Jazeera
as part of its package
of "ethnic" offerings,
the Toronto Globe and
Mail reports.
Bush
to push Mideast peace?
Don't hold your breath
Jordan Times, April 10,
2003
CAIRO — US President
George W. Bush's vow to
throw himself into Israeli-Palestinian
peacemaking after the
Iraq war draws deep scepticism
in the Middle East, but
both sides say modest
progress is possible to
stabilise the conflict.
Voicing admiration for
British Prime Minister
Tony Blair's dedication
to peace in Northern Ireland,
Bush told a joint news
conference in Belfast
on Tuesday: “I'm
willing to spend the same
amount of energy in the
Middle East.”
Occupation
Chronicle Events in Palestine
April 10, 2003
Palestine Media Center,
April 10, 2003
Israeli Occupation Forces
(IOF) killed five Palestinians
after raiding the northern
Gaza Strip town of Beit
Hanoun. IOF also dynamited
a house near Ramallah
city and detained several
citizens in Tulkarem.
5 Palestinians Killed
in Beit Hanoun Invasion
/ Israeli Undercover Unit
Kills 2 Citizens / IOF
Dynamite House Near Ramallah
/ IOF Shell Rafah / IOF
Raid ‘Iteil Village
Weekly
Report on Israeli Human
Rights Violations in the
Occupied Palestinian Territories
03- 09 April 2003
The Palestinian Centre
for Human Rights, April
10, 2003
Israel Continued Acts
of State Terrorism, and
Its Occupying Forces Escalated
War Crimes in the OPT:
18 Palestinians, mostly
civilians, including 5
children, were killed
by Israeli forces / 11
of the victims were killed
in the past 24 hours /
9 of the victims, including
2 children were killed
in 3 assassinations /
Campaigns of arrests in
Tulkarm refugee camp and
hundreds of civilians
were transferred to the
nearby Nour Shams refugee
camp / 6 Palestinian houses
were demolished in the
southern Gaza Strip town
of Rafah / Israeli forces
conducted a series of
incursions into Palestinian
areas, accompanied by
indiscriminate shelling
/ Israeli forces continued
to use Palestinian civilians
as human shields in military
operations / The Israeli
retaliatory campaign continues
against families of wanted
Palestinians and those
who allegedly have carried
out armed attacks against
Israeli targets / A volunteer
of the International Solidarity
Movement was wounded by
Israeli forces in Jenin
Iraq
War News
Shia
Muslim cleric assassinated
The Guardian, April 10,
2003
A revered Shia Muslim
cleric was assassinated
today in the holy city
of Najaf after returning
from exile in London to
act as a peacebroker.
Abdul Majid al-Khoei,
41, was stabbed to death
at the shrine of Imam
Ali, one of Shia Islam's
holiest sites.
Crowd
Kills Two Islamic Clerics
in Iraq
The Guardian, April 10,
2003
NAJAF, Iraq (AP) - A crowd
rushed and hacked to death
two Shiite Muslim clerics
- one a Saddam Hussein
loyalist, the other a
returning exile who had
urged support for U.S.
troops - during a meeting
meant to forge reconciliation
at one of Shiite Islam's
holiest shrines, witnesses
said.
Aid
worker killed in Baghdad
shooting incident
The Guardian, April 10,
2003
A Canadian aid worker
for the International
Committee of the Red Cross
has been shot dead in
crossfire in Baghdad.
The body of 48-year-old
Vatche Arslanian, who
had been missing since
Monday, was recovered
today by his colleagues.
U.S.
Military Spurns Postwar
Police Role
Washington Post, April
10, 2003
Pressure Builds to Provide
Order, Protection --As
civic order breaks down
in Baghdad and large sectors
elsewhere in Iraq, U.S.
forces have neither the
troops nor the inclination
to police neighborhoods
or deter looters in the
next few days, according
to Bush administration
officials.
Aid
warning over Iraq war
BBC, April 10, 2003
The full damage of the
war is not known -- The
humanitarian impact of
the war in Iraq could
go on for many years after
the fighting stops, the
International Committee
of the Red Cross has warned.
The full extent of the
humanitarian crisis will
only start to be tackled
once all of Iraq is secure
and aid workers can move
freely, charities believe.
Child
war victim inspires appeal
BBC, April 10, 2003
British amputees have
helped launch an emergency
fund in aid of children
maimed in the Iraq war,
named after a young boy
who lost both arms in
a missile attack. Twelve-year-old
Ali Ismail Abbas suffered
60% burns in the attack
which destroyed his Baghdad
home and killed his family.
Suicide
bomb kills US marines
BBC, April 10, 2003
A number of US marines
have been killed and others
seriously wounded in a
suicide bomb attack on
a military checkpoint
in Baghdad. US marines
spokesman Major Matt Baker
said that "some" servicemen
had been killed, although
he could not say how many.
Arab
Media Slam US ‘Killing
of Witnesses’
Arab News, April 10, 2003
CAIRO, 10 April 2003 —
Arab media accused the
United States yesterday
of intentionally “killing
the witnesses” in
angry condemnation of
attacks in which three
journalists died in Baghdad.
UN
doing 'whatever we can'
to rush emergency medical
aid to Baghdad, Annan
Arabic News, April 10,
2003
UN Secretary-General Kofi
Annan said yesterday the
United Nations was trying
to do everything possible
to rush emergency medical
supplies to Baghdad.
Under
new management: Garner
plan will divide the country
into three zones
The Independent, April
10, 2003
Iraq is to be divided
into three zones by the
interim civil administration
headed by the retired
American general Jay Garner,
whose staff have just
established a foothold
in the far south of Iraq.
Shi'ite
Group to Boycott U.S.
Talks on Iraq
Salaam, April 10, 2003
The main Iraqi Shi'ite
opposition group said
on Wednesday it would
boycott a political meeting
the United States is trying
to arrange in southern
Iraq next week because
of the U.S. military presence.
Baghdad
hit by arson, US troops
asked to take control
Times of India, April
10, 2003
BAGHDAD: Looting surged
and buildings were set
on fire across Baghdad
on Thursday while US troops
focused more on fighting
pockets of resistance
than on keeping order.
Fierce
firefight at Baghdad mosque
Times of India, April
10, 2003
BAGHDAD: US Marines fought
a fierce four-hour battle
on Thursday at a Baghdad
mosque where senior Iraqi
leaders had been thought
to be holed up, as US
warplanes attacked areas
of the city under the
control of Arab fighters.
Gains
by Kurd militia leave
road to Mosul open
The Independent, April
10, 2003
The Kurdish militia has
taken a strategic mountain
overlooking Mosul as their
soldiers, acting with
US Special Forces, prepared
to attack at different
points along the northern
front.
Bodies
Scattered On Baghdad Streets
Islam Online,
April 10, 2003
BAGHDAD, April 10 (IslamOnline.net
& News Agencies) -
Around 20 bodies and burnt-out
cars littered the streets
of the southwestern Baghdad
neighborhood of Al-Dora
on Thursday, April 10.
Bodies, including those
of children, were still
strewn over the road between
Al-Dora and the international
airport, which is under
the control of U.S. forces,
reported Agence France-Presse
(AFP).
TV
Images Stir Anger, Shock
and Warnings of Backlash
Washington Post, April
10, 2003
CAIRO, April 9 -- As the
cold reality of Baghdad's
occupation by U.S. forces
descended on the Arab
world today, there was
anger, shock and frustration,
along with warnings of
new battles ahead. "Please,
America must hear our
voices. The American media
and people are in a state
of euphoria right now,
but they are not seeing
it the way we are seeing
it at all," said Diaa
Rashwan, a political scientist
at Cairo's Ahram Center
for Political and Strategic
Studies.
Far
From Capital, a Fight
U.S. Forces Did Not Win
Washington Post, April
10, 2003
Attack in North Fails
To Dislodge Artillery
-- SOUTHWEST OF IRBIL,
Iraq, April 9 -- A battalion-size
force from the Army's
173rd Airborne Brigade
attacked Iraqi positions
between the major northern
cities of Mosul and Kirkuk
early today, trying unsuccessfully
to remove an Iraqi artillery
battery that has held
up an advance by Kurdish
militiamen.
Turkey
Deploys Military Observers
In Northern Iraq
Islam Online, April 10,
2003
ANKARA, April 10 (Islamonline.net
& News Agencies) -
To dispel revived Turkish
fears over the fall of
the northern Iraqi oil-rich
Kirkuk city to U.S.-backed
Kurdish fighters, Washington
and Ankara agreed on deploying
Turkish military observers
in northern Iraq, Turkish
Foreign Minister Abdullah
Gul told NTV television
on Thursday, April 10.
Blair
launches new Iraqi TV
The Guardian, April 10,
2003
Tony Blair and George
Bush will address the
Iraqi nation later today
on a new television station
set up by coalition forces,
in a bid to win the hearts
and minds of the Iraqi
people...Towards Freedom
will broadcast for one
hour a day from the US
flying TV station Commando
Solo - a specially equipped
Hercules aircraft fitted
with a television studio.
Bush-Blair
Message Fails To Reach
Iraqis
Islam Online, April 10,
2003
WASHINGTON, April 10 (IslamOnline.net
& News Agencies) -
U.S. President George
W. Bush and British Prime
Minister Tony Blair spoke
Thursday, April 10, directly
to the Iraqi people on
television to reassure
them that Iraq would be
theirs, but Iraqis failed
to receive the recorded
messages because they
have no electricity at
the first place.
Iraq:
Civilians Under Fire
Common Dreams/Amnesty
International, April 9,
2003
April 9 - Amnesty International
is deeply concerned about
the mounting toll of civilian
casualties in Iraq and
the reported use of cluster
bombs by US forces in
heavily populated areas.
Despite repeated assurances
from US and UK authorities
that they would do everything
possible to protect the
Iraqi people, since 20
March hundreds of civilians
have reportedly been killed.
Battle
for Iraq's oil begins
Middle East Online, April
10, 2003
Russia's LUKoil threatens
to appeal to international
court if work on Iraq's
Qurna-2 oilfield blocked
after war. -- MOSCOW -
A top US energy expert
warned Russian oil companies
Wednesday that they will
likely be shut out of
contracts to develop Iraq's
vast oil reserves once
the US-led war in the
country is over.
UN
agencies denounce killing
of reporters
Jordan Times, April 10,
2003
AMMAN — United Nations
agencies condemned Wednesday
the rising number of civilians
and journalists that have
been killed as the war
reached into the heart
of Baghdad and a trickle
of Iraqi refugees made
their way into Jordan.
Unease
in Basra about who will
rule it
Middle East Online, April
10, 2003
Basra resident[s] remain
skeptical about British
proposal to put tribal
leader in charge of Iraq's
second city. -- British
plans to put a tribal
leader in temporary charge
of Basra have received
a mixed reaction here,
with many residents skeptical
that one figure can suddenly
unite Iraq's second city.
British
launch gun amnesty in
Basra
BBC, April 10, 2003
British soldiers have
offered a gun amnesty
in Basra in an effort
to restore order to the
southern Iraqi city. The
troops say they have been
largely successful in
stamping out the looting
which has dogged the city
in the two days since
they entered it.
Basra
residents call for more
food
BBC, April 10, 2003
Ordinary Iraqis around
Basra claim they have
only four days worth of
food left and are calling
for coalition forces to
pull out of their war-torn
country. "Now they have
got rid of Saddam, they
have no reason to fight
against the Iraqi people,"
said Moaed Abd Alih, a
23-year-old student, amid
a crowd of cheering locals.
`Game
is over,' says Iraq's
UN envoy
Haaretz, April 10, 2003
Iraq's UN ambassador Mohammed
Al-Douri declared the
end of the war late last
night. "The game is over,"
he told reporters in the
first admission by an
Iraqi official that U.S.-led
forces had overwhelmed
Iraqi forces after a three-week
campaign.
Central
Kirkuk falls to US-Kurdish
forces
Middle East Online, April
10, 2003
Reports northern oil capital
Kirkuk falls to US-Kurdish
forces, Turkey says it
'will do what is necessary'.
-- KIRKUK, Iraq &
ANKARA - US-backed Kurdish
forces took possession
of the centre of northern
Iraq's key oil city of
Kirkuk without a fight
Thursday, witnesses reported
on the outskirts of the
city.
US
lobby could threaten Iraqi
heritage
The Guardian, April 10,
2003
Apparent lobbying by American
art dealers to dismantle
Iraq's strict export laws
has heightened fears about
the looting of the country's
antiquities as order breaks
down in the last stages
of the war.
Germany's
Schroeder Softens Tone
on Iraq
The Guardian, April 10,
2003
BERLIN (AP) - While Germans
remain skeptical about
the war in Iraq, their
anti-war chancellor has
gradually and somewhat
grudgingly altered his
course, first calling
for regime change and
on Thursday welcoming
the approaching end of
the war.
Security
Council Balks at Postwar
Plans
The Guardian, April 10,
2003
UNITED NATIONS (AP) -
Most members of the U.N.
Security Council want
the United Nations to
have a political role
in Iraq's future and object
to the supporting duties
envisioned for it by the
United States and Britain.
As
regime falls, Iraqis rush
to fill power vacuum
Christian Science Monitor,
April 10, 2003
NEAR NASIRIYAH, IRAQ –
Inside a ramshackle building
on a former Iraqi Army
base, a motley group of
soldiers bang out rhythms
on shoe boxes and dance
on top of old military
cots. They are singing
in Arabic and wearing
newly issued fatigues
bearing the initials FIF,
or Free Iraqi Fighters.
Rumsfeld
accuses Syria of sheltering
Ba'athists
The Guardian, April 10,
2003
The US defence secretary,
Donald Rumsfeld, accused
Syria yesterday of helping
senior members of Iraq's
Ba'ath regime to escape.
Syria
silent on U.S. claim it
is helping Saddam's supporters
Haaretz, April 10, 2003
DAMASCUS - Syria's government
and official media maintained
silence on Thursday in
the face of U.S. accusations
that the country is helping
supporters of President
Saddam Hussein flee Iraq.
Jordanian
information minister:
Kingdom supports Iraqi
people, rejects US threats
against Syria
Al-Bawaba, April 10, 2003
Jordan’s minister
of information, Mohammed
al Adwan emphasized the
need for an effective
Arab role in Iraq in collaboration
with the United Nations
and the international
community.
US
under secretary of state:
Syria should give up WMD
programs
Al-Bawaba, April 9, 2003
A top US official said
on Wednesday that Syria
should heed the lesson
of the war in Iraq. "We
are hopeful that a number
of regimes will draw the
appropriate lesson from
Iraq. That the pursuit
of weapons of mass destruction
is not in their interest,"
said John Bolton, US under
secretary of state for
arms control and international
security.
Syrian
oil exports dry up following
Iraqi pipeline sabotage
by US troops
Al-Bawaba, April 10, 2003
Syria's state-owned oil
marketing company Sytrol
has informed its clients
that export volumes for
the remaining part of
the year 2003 would drop
to half, effective immediately.
The cutback was announced
some 10 days after US
forces have cut off an
Iraqi pipeline that was
long claimed to have been
feeding Syria, in defiance
of the United Nations
sanctions regime.
U.S.
Marines Battle Holdouts
in Baghdad
The Guardian, April 10,
2003
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - U.S.
forces battled holdout
fighters Thursday at a
palace and a mosque in
Baghdad, with one Marine
killed and up to 20 wounded.
In the north, America's
Kurdish allies triumphantly
entered the city of Kirkuk
near some of Iraq's most
productive oil fields.
Hand
on the trigger
Al-Ahram Weekly On-line,
3 - 9 April 2003
With troops amassed on
the Iraqi border, the
smallest spark could rekindle
Turkey's slow-burning
Kurdish question -- Driving
through Istanbul's Taksim
district, Mehmet, an off-duty
intelligence policeman,
is heatedly expounding
on why government policy
is driven by fear of an
independent Kurdistan.
Iraqi
opposition sources reveal
names of expected interim
government ministers,
al Chalabi name left out
of list
Al-Bawaba, April 10, 2003
Informed sources from
the Iraqi opposition told
Albawaba that 30 portfolios
in the planned interim
government have already
been endorsed.
UN
Assembly demands immediate
end to military incursions
and terror in Middle East
United Nations News, April
5, 2003
"..the Assembly passed
the measure by a vote
of 114 in favour to 4
against – the Federated
States of Micronesia,
Israel, Marshall Islands
and the United States
– with 11 abstentions."
-- 5 August – Following
a daylong debate on Secretary-General
Kofi Annan's recent report
on events in Jenin and
other Palestinian cities,
the United Nations General
Assembly this evening
adopted a resolution demanding
an immediate end to military
incursions and all acts
of violence, terror, provocation,
incitement and destruction
in Israel and the occupied
Palestinian territories.
Looters
ransack Baghdad hospitals
BBC, April 10, 2003
The International Committee
of the Red Cross (ICRC)
says two key Baghdad hospitals,
and many other smaller
ones, have been ransacked,
as looting spreads across
the capital. ICRC
spokeswoman Nada Doumani
told BBC News Online that
armed looters had stripped
the al-Kindi, a key hospital
in north-eastern Baghdad,
of everything, including
beds, electrical fittings
and medical equipment.
'Black
day' in Arab world
BBC, April 10, 2003
Analysts say Iraqis may
turn against the coalition
-- There may be excited
crowds welcoming the Americans
in Baghdad, but for many
in the Arab world this
is still a black day.
It is not that anyone
is mourning the collapse
of the regime of Saddam
Hussein. But the Americans
are still being seen as
foreign occupiers.
Al-Jazeera's
cash crisis
BBC, April 10, 2003
By any conventional measure,
Arab news service Al-Jazeera
should be a runaway commercial
success. The station has
provoked fury in London,
Washington and Baghdad
with its no-holds-barred
coverage of the war in
Iraq.
Anti-war
marches go on
BBC, April 10, 2003
Anti-war demonstrations
will continue despite
the apparent successes
of coalition forces in
Iraq, protesters have
vowed. Students gathered
in Parliament Square on
Thursday as the Stop the
War Coalition announced
plans for an anti-war
march in London on Saturday.
Baseball
Hall of Fame Cancels 'Bull
Durham' Ceremony, Cites
Actors' Anti-War Views
Common Dreams/ESPN, April
9, 2003
"We believe your very
public criticism of President
Bush at this important
-- and sensitive -- time
in our nation's history
helps undermine the U.S.
position, which ultimately
could put our troops in
even more danger." --
Plans to commemorate the
15th anniversary of the
popular baseball movie
Bull Durham later this
month in Cooperstown,
N.Y. were cancelled Wednesday
because of anti-war criticisms
made by two of the film's
co-stars.
Will
US Fabricate WMD Evidence?
Common Dreams/Al-Jazeera,
April 9, 2003
With the US-led war to
change the government
of Iraq all but over there
is still little sign of
the weapons of mass destruction
for which this campaign
was fought. Daily reports
of suspected finds have
all so far turned out
to be false alarms and
the distinct lack of success
that the United States
could resort to fabricating
evidence.
Army
Must Halt Iraq Chaplain's
'Coerced Baptisms,' Says
Americans United
Common Dreams, April 10,
2003
WASHINGTON - April 9 -
U.S. military officials
should order a chaplain
in Iraq to stop offering
food and fresh water for
bathing to soldiers in
exchange for being baptized
and listening to his sermons,
Americans United for Separation
of Church and State told
the Army today.
News
analysis: Iraq war gives
Bush new leverage
International Herald Tribune/New
York Times, April 10,
2003
WASHINGTON In the run-up
to the three-week war
to take Baghdad, President
George W. Bush and his
aides sometimes acknowledged
that war against Iraq
was about far more than
just Iraq.
Maher
welcomes De Villepin's
visit to Egypt
Arabic News, April 10,
2003
Egypt's Foreign Minister
Ahmad Maher welcomed Tuesday
the visit of his French
counterpart Dominique
de Villepin to Egypt on
Friday. The latest developments
need consultations among
friends to unify their
efforts to end this tragic
situation in Iraq that
will have serious repercussions
in the region, Maher said.
video
"The
war in the north is still
ferocious"
BBC, April 10, 2003