Palestinians Present New Cabinet, Keeping Peace Efforts Alive
New York Times, April 23, 2003
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) -- Prime Minister-designate Mahmoud Abbas presented a new Cabinet to Yasser Arafat on Wednesday, ending a days-long standoff with the Palestinian leader over its composition and keeping a U.S.-backed peace plan on track.

Palestinian official: Arafat, Abu Mazen agree on new cabinet 
Haaretz, April 23, 2003
Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat and his prime minister-designate Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) have reached an agreement on the composition of the new cabinet, a senior Palestinian official said Wednesday.

Five Palestinian Civilians Wounded in Gaza and Jenin
International Press Center, April 23, 2003
GAZA, Palestine, April 22, 2003, (IPC)— Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) shot and wounded in less than 24 hours five Palestinian civilians in several parts of Gaza Strip and West Bank.

Senior Islamic Jihad militant seriously hurt in Nablus  
Haaretz, April 23, 2003 
IDF troops shot and seriously wounded a senior Islamic Jihad militant, Anas Sharitah, in the West Bank city of Nablus early Wednesday, after he fired at them when they arrived at his home to arrest him, Israel Radio reported. Five explosive devices were found in his house.

Israeli occupation army re-invades Tulkarm
Palestinian Information Center, April 23, 2003
Occupied Jerusalem - Thousands of Israeli troops, backed by tanks and helicopter gunships, reinvaded the northern West Bank town of Tualkarm Tuesday, apparently for the purpose of terrorizing the local population and fostering an atmosphere of fear and insecurity in the city.

IOF Dynamites Two Houses and Arrest Scores of Civilians
International Press Center, April 23, 2003
West bank, 23, April, 2003, (IPC)— Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) blew up Tuesday two Palestinian owned houses in the West Bank town of Beit Forik, near Nablus. A massive troop of the Israeli occupation forces supported by tanks and armored convoys thrust Tuesday into Beit Fourik.

Israel Expands Illegal West Bank Settlement
Palestine Media Center, April 23, 2003
IOF Persist in Detention Spree  -- April 23, 2003 - Despite international calls for a halt of illegal settlement-building in the occupied Palestinian territory, the speaker of the Israeli parliament, Reuven Rivlin, laid the first stone on Tuesday in a project to build more units in a West Bank Israeli settlement that Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon had earlier hinted “might be dismantled”, as part of futuristic peace settlement.

Charges against officer who ordered shots at press dropped 
Haaretz, April 23, 2003
Judge Advocate General Menachem Finkelstein recently decided to drop the indictment of a paratroopers officer who was accused of violating orders by shooting at a car carrying journalists in Hebron.

Hawks Rip Into Mideast Plan
Los Angeles Times, April 23, 2003
Neoconservatives and like-minded lawmakers blast State Department. -- WASHINGTON -- Emboldened by the U.S. military victory in Iraq, neoconservatives and their allies in Congress are mounting a preemptive campaign against the U.S. plan to implement a so-called road map for settling the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Netanyahu: surrendering right of return prerequisite to resumption of talks
Palestinian Information Center, April 23, 2003
Occupied Jerusalem - Zionist finance minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has affirmed that “Israel” would only resume negotiations with the Palestinian Authority when the later gave up the right of return for Palestinian refugees.

Bahar: Right of return inalienable
Palestinian Information Center, April 23, 2003
Gaza - Sheikh Ahmed Bahar, one of the leaders of the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, in the Gaza Strip, has affirmed that the Palestinian refugees’ right of return was natural, legitimate and historical.

Journalists stage sit-in protesting murder of colleague
Palestinian Information Center, April 23, 2003
Al-Khalil - Scores of Palestinian journalists have staged a sit-in on Monday in front of the international Red Cross headquarters in Al-Khalil district denouncing the Zionist occupation forces’ cold-blooded murder of their colleague Nazih Darwaza in Nablus.

Zionist court extends detention of Palestinian MP for the fourth time
Palestinian Information Center, April 23, 2003
Nablus - The Zionist court in Jalama area in the West Bank district of Nablus has extended the detention of Palestinian legislative council member Husam Khader for 17 more days.

CPJ, IFJ Criticize Killing of Darwazeh, Call to Bring “Those Responsible” to Justice
International Press Center, April 23, 2003 
GAZA, April 23, 2003, (IPC)— Two International Organizations, Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) criticized the tragic killing of the Palestinian journalist, Nazeh Darwazeh, by Israeli occupation forces last Saturday in Nablus.

New Mossad Chief Revives Focus On ‘Overseas Operations’
Islam Online, April 23, 2003
Dagan, 55, is considered to be closely allied to the politics of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon  -- JERUSALEM, April 23 (Islamonline.net and Agencies) - Israel's intelligence agency Mossad has turned its sights on “international terrorism” with a renewed focus on “overseas commando operations” under the leadership of its new head, reserve major general Meir Dagan, press reports said Tuesday, April 22.

Peace activists prepare mass protest after Briton is gunned down by Israelis
The Independent, April 23, 2003
Hundreds of protesters are expected to gather today at the place where Tom Hurndall was shot in the head by an Israeli sniper as he tried to rescue Palestinian children trapped under fire.

Breaking News: Israeli Forces Wound, Arrest Palestinian in Nablus
International Press Center, April 23, 2003
10:20-- Israeli occupation forces wounded and arrested Palestinian civilian, Anas Shraiteh, 27, in the city of Nablus, Palestinian security sources said.

Zionist soldiers wound and arrest activist and his wife
Palestinian Information Center, April 23, 2003
Nablus - Zionist occupation army forces stormed a suburb in the West Bank city of Nablus at dawn today seriously wounding a wanted Palestinian activist, according to eyewitnesses. They said that armored vehicles took part in the operation as well as helicopter gunship that were hovering over the area.

Qassams said fired at Sderot; Islamic Jihad man shot by IDF  
Haaretz, April 23, 2003 
A Qassam rocket was fired Wednesday at the western Negev town of Sderot, Israel Radio reported. There were no casualties and no damaged was caused, the radio said.

More shabby journalism from the Associated Press
Palestine Media Watch, April 20, 2003
PMWATCH - April 21, 2003 -- The Associated Press continues to dish out shabby journalism, as the hollow piece on the killing of Palestinian Journalist Nazeh Darwazeh below from Karin Laub again amply illustrates.

Zionist authorities keep Lawmaker in solitary confinement
Palestinian Information Center, April 23, 2003
Occupied Jerusalem - The Zionist occupation authorities are reportedly keeping Palestinian Lawmaker Husam Khader in solitary confinement and refusing to allow his family or lawyers to visit him.

ISM Action Alert - ISM Coordinator and Journalist Arrested
International Solidarity Movement, April 23, 2003
Nur Shams Refugee Camp, Tulkarem: ISM coordinator Osama Qashoo and an Italian journalist, Thomaso Besavi, were snatched yesterday, Tuesday April 22 at approximately 7:00pm, by Israeli soldiers while in the Palestinian refugee camp of Nur Shams, where the Israeli Army had surrounded the camp and were reportedly detaining a group of Palestinian women and beating a 15-year-old boy.

ISM Arrest update / Press release / Israeli Army Chief of Staff on ISM
International Solidarity Movement, April 23, 2003
1) Arrest update, 2) Press Release: Israeli Soldiers Arrest ISM Coordinator and Journalist, 3) Israeli Army Chief of Staff interview about ISM transcript

Palestinian leaders 'agree cabinet'
BBC, April 23, 2003
Yasser Arafat and his prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, have ended a dispute over who will take key security roles in a new Palestinian cabinet, according to a senior official. The Palestinian Authority's Secretary General Tayeb Abdul-Rahim said Mr Abbas will be interior minister as well as prime minister while Mohammed Dahlan will report to him on security affairs.

Arafat rejects plan by Abu Mazen to disarm Fatah
Haaretz, April 23, 2003 
The dispute between PA Chairman Yasser Arafat and Palestinian prime minister-designate Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) over the formation of a new government centers around the latter's plans to dismantle Fatah's Al Aqsa Brigades and his intentions to deal with the other armed factions in the territories.

Angry Arafat Hangs Up on EU Envoy
Arab News, April 23, 2003
RAMALLAH, West Bank, 23 April 2003 — The United States and European Union have weighed in behind Palestinian prime minister-designate Mahmoud Abbas in his leadership battle with President Yasser Arafat, senior officials said yesterday.

Palestinian "street" supports Arafat in showdown with Abbas
Jerusalem Post, April 23, 2003
"Who does Abu Mazen think he is?" said Nazem Rifai, a shopkeeper in Ramallah, referring to Palestinian prime minister-designate Mahmoud Abbas by his nom de guerre. "He has no right to stand up against President Yasser Arafat, who was elected by the majority of Palestinians.

Analysis / Deepest leadership crisis since 1983
Haaretz, April 23, 2003 
Senior Palestinian officials are hoping for a compromise today in the most severe leadership crisis in the Palestinian national movement since the 1983 rebellion against Yasser Arafat's authority after the PLO was evicted from Beirut.

As Their Leaders Wrangle, Palestinians Look Askance
New York Times, April 22, 2003  
GAZA CITY, April 21 — As his leaders clashed over what men would hold which seats in a new Palestinian government, Jamal Abu Rumi, college graduate and father of seven, sat at a curbside falafel restaurant here today with less than a dollar in his pocket, places to go and no hope of getting there.

New Palestinian cabinet offered to Arafat
CTV News, April 23, 2003
RAMALLAH, West Bank — Prime Minister-designate Mahmoud Abbas presented a new cabinet to Yasser Arafat, ending a dayslong standoff with the Palestinian leader over its composition, officials said Wednesday.

Now wating for the new cabinet to be declared
Middle East Online, April 23, 2003
RAMALLAH, West Bank - Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat allowed prime minister-designate Mahmud Abbas to name Mohammed Dahlan as internal security minister in his new cabinet Wednesday, breaking their deadlock, presidential secretary Tayeb Abdelrahim said.

Hamas warns new cabinet not to take on militants
Middle East Online, April 23, 2003
GAZA CITY - A leader of the radical Islamist group Hamas on Wednesday warned the moderate new cabinet of prime minister-designate Mahmud Abbas not to "make war" on Palestinian militants.

Mubarak presses for publication of 'roadmap'
Middle East Online, April 23, 2003
CAIRO - Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said Wednesday that the situation in Iraq should not divert attention from efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and pressed for publication of the internationally-drafted "roadmap" for peace.

Blair joins last push for Palestinian cabinet
The Guardian, April 23, 2003
Tony Blair made a last ditch attempt to save the Israeli-Palestinian peace process yesterday by urging Yasser Arafat to do whatever he could to help his prime minister designate, Mahmoud Abbas, form a cabinet.

Palestinian cabinet crisis: Egyptian envoy arrives in Ramallah; Powell urges Arafat to let Abu Mazen form new government
Al-Bawaba, April 23, 2003
Palestinian sources have confirmed to Al Bawaba earlier roday that the head of Egyptian Intelligence, Omar Suleiman is to arrive in Ramallah on Wednesday afternoon in a bid to help end the dispute between Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Palestinian prime minister designate Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen).

Final efforts to solve Arafat, Abu Mazen dispute
Al-Bawaba, April 22, 2003
Palestinian prime minister designate Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) said Tuesday that he would no longer conduct negotiations with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat regarding posts in his cabinet, a mediator who met with both Abu Mazen and Arafat said. Abu Mazen must present his new cabinet by the Wednesday midnight deadline. Arafat and Abu Mazen have not spoken since Sunday.

Rescuers find dead body of soldier who fell into Jordan River
Haaretz, April 23, 2003  
Rescue workers on Tuesday afternoon found the body of Guy Gamlieli, a soldier who was washed away in the strong currents of the Jordan River on Monday during an educational trip with his unit.

Israelis Storm Hospital, Hopes Of New Cabinet Fading
Islam Online, April 23, 2003
JENIN, West Bank, April 23 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – As frantic phone-calls heaped on Palestinian President Yasser Arafat from world leaders to find a way out of the cabinet dilemma, Israeli occupation troops continued their crackdown on Palestinian fighters Wednesday, April 23, and thrust into a hospital in the Wes Bank city of Jenin, abducted three fighters of the Islamic Jihad resistance movement.

How Israeli Soldiers Slaughtered Darwazeh?
International Press Center, April 23, 2003
Eyewitness talks to the IPC: Nablus, Palestine, 22 April, 2003, (IPC)— Palestinian photojournalist, Belal Bana, works at the Palestinian News Agency was in the accompany with Nazeh Darwaza, Palestine TV cameraman, who was slaughtered by the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) as on duty in Nablus, on the 19th of April, 2003.

Occupation Chronicle Events in Palestine April 23, 2003
Palestine Media Center, April 23, 2003
Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) detained at least fourteen Palestinians in the West Bank over night. Meanwhile, IOF shelled Palestinians’ houses in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah. IOF Wound Palestinian Activist in Nablus / IOF Detain 8 Palestinians in Qalqilia / IOF Detain 3 Palestinians in Jenin / IOF Attack Palestinian Students Near Ramallah / IOF Shell Palestinians’ Houses in Rafah

Occupation Chronicle Events in Palestine April 22, 2003
Palestine Media Center, April 22, 2003
Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) wounded three Palestinians after raiding the northern West Bank town of Jenin, and injured 2 Palestinians, including an 8 year-old boy in the southern Gaza Strip.

Report: Mossad plans to bring Jews in Iraq to Israel
Al-Bawaba, April 20, 2003 
The Jewish Agency and the Mossad are looking into the possibility of bringing the remaining Jews in Iraq to Israel, according to official Israeli sources.

Finance Ministry's announcements on economic austerity plan suffer from lack of accuracy 
Haaretz, April 23, 2003 
Announcements published by the treasury in newspapers, titled "The economic plan will save the economy", fail to mention cuts in nursing care benefits for the elderly and the decrease in purchase power of old-age stipends, and present inaccurate child benefit figures.

No reprieve for Nativ/Sharon's woes
Haaretz, April 23, 2003
Friends and politicians close to Ariel Sharon say that the prime minister's mood has taken a turn for the worse in recent days. However, they have different ideas regarding the diagnosis.

Arab liaison officers discuss reviving Israel boycott  
Haaretz, April 23, 2003 
DAMASCUS - Representatives of Arab regional offices for the boycott of Israel opened a two-day meeting in Damascus yesterday aimed at reviving a ban against companies that do business with the Jewish state.

Enter a Christian, exit a Jew  
Haaretz, April 21, 2003 
A Jewish immigrant who wants to marry a non-Jewish one, a Russian woman who wants to marry an Israeli, and even children who were adopted abroad come to the rabbinical courts for conversion. The rabbinic judges ask a lot of tough questions, but surprisingly, almost all the candidates are accepted.

ICRC: Humanitarian law programme introduced into Palestinian schools
International Committee of the Red Cross, April 22, 2003
On 16 April the ICRC signed a memorandum of understanding with the Palestinian Authority aimed at introducing the Exploring Humanitarian Law (EHL) programme into the Palestinian educational system. The programme..consists of a comprehensive teaching module and resource materials and can be easily included in existing school curricula.

interactive
Strategic Israel: The secret arsenal of the Jewish state
MSNBC, April 22, 2003

Other Middle East News

Not a drop that's safe to drink
BBC, April 23, 2003
War-ravaged Nasiriya is caught is a deadly cycle: with no electricity to pump water, locals are breaking into the underground pipes, allowing raw sewage to seep into the system. The danger of a cholera outbreak is a real one. -- Eight-month-old Ali Hussein is too young too know anything about the war, but he is feeling the effects now, in his stomach.

UN relief agencies report slow improvement in Iraq, but situation still ‘precarious’
United Nation News, April 22, 2003
22 April – United Nations relief agencies reported a slow improvement today in the humanitarian situation in Iraq but there were still many areas for concern, with spokesmen describing the state of affairs as “precarious” and “tense.”

Down for the Count
AlterNet.org, April 23, 2003
Why was it left to a bunch of volunteers to track the deaths of Iraqi civilians in a war supposedly receiving blanket coverage from Big Media? According to the Washington Post, the Pentagon announced last Monday that it "has no plans" to count civilian casualties. Previously, U.S. officials expressed similar sentiments regarding Iraqi military casualties. "We do not look at combat as a scorecard," Captain Frank Thorp, chief military spokesman of Central Command, told the New York Times.

Kucinich Requests DOD Release Number of Iraqi Casualties
CommonDreams, April 22, 2003    
WASHINGTON - April 21 - In a letter to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Congressman Dennis J. Kucinich (D-OH) requested that the Department of Defense release the total number of Iraqi casualties incurred in the war in Iraq.

Baghdad Doctors Report Suspected Diseases
Washington Post, April 23, 2003
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Doctors in Baghdad on Tuesday reported the first suspected cases of cholera and typhoid, two potential killers caused by bad water sanitation. About 50 percent to 60 percent of the children brought for treatment at Al-Iskan children's hospital were suffering from dehydration and diarrhea caused by dirty water and other unsanitary conditions, said Dr. Ahmed Abdul Fattah, the assistant director.

Hospitals Slowly Returning to Work: ICRC
Arab News, April 23, 2003
GENEVA/PARIS, 23 April 2003 — Hospitals in Baghdad are returning to work but at a diminished level following a wave of destruction caused by looting and fighting, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said yesterday.

UN aid programme identifies a further $60 million in priority deliveries for Iraq
United Nation News, April 22, 2003
22 April – The United Nations office overseeing the humanitarian Oil-for-Food programme said today it had identified a further $60 million worth of supplies that can be shipped to Iraq within the 45-day timeline adopted last month by the Security Council, bringing the total to $454.6 million.

Baghdad Rejoices That Power Is Back On
The Guardian, April 23, 2003
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Oil from Iraq's southern fields began flowing through pipelines Wednesday for the first time since the war, and power at last was restored to parts of Baghdad. In the holy city of Karbala, thousands of Shiite Muslims demonstrated against the United States.

Shia Muslims protest at arrest of cleric as interim leader arrives in Baghdad
The Independent, April 23, 2003
Jay Garner, the retired general appointed by the Pentagon to run Iraq until an interim government is established, arrived in Baghdad yesterday amid mounting anger from the city's Shia Muslims.

Chalabi's men shot dead by American Marines
The Independent, April 23, 2003
Two members of Mr Chalabi's pro-US Iraqi National Congress (INC) and one member of his militia, the Free Iraqi Forces, were shot dead by US Marines trying to protect a bank in Baghdad.

Gingrich: State Dept. Undermining Bush
The Guardian, April 23, 2003
WASHINGTON (AP) - Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich accused the State Department of undermining President Bush's foreign policy and denounced Secretary of State Colin Powell's plan to go to Syria as ludicrous.

A New War in Washington
AlterNet.org, April 22, 2003
It's been barely a week since the U.S. took control of Baghdad, but the Pentagon is already embroiled in a new war, this time with the State Department. The opening salvo was delivered Tuesday morning by the former Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives (1995-98) and member of the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board, Newt Gingrich, at the neo-conservative American Enterprise Institute (AEI).

Americans accused of turning blind eye to killings by Kurds
The Independent, April 23, 2003
A bitter conflict is unfolding in northern Iraq between two minority communities, with the Americans accused of turning a blind eye to killings and ethnic cleansing.

Shias stage anti-US protest
BBC, April 23, 2003
Protests against the US presence in Iraq have been staged by Shias in the central city of Karbala at the climax of a pilgrimage that has attracted up to one million people. Groups of marchers chanted slogans against a US-imposed government and called for unity among Shias.

U.S. Planners Surprised by Strength of Iraqi Shiites
Washington Post, April 23, 2003
As Iraqi Shiite demands for a dominant role in Iraq's future mount, Bush administration officials say they underestimated the Shiites' organizational strength and are unprepared to prevent the rise of an anti-American, Islamic fundamentalist government in the country.

We Will Resist Occupation ‘Peacefully’: Iraq's Islamic Party
Islam Online, April 23, 2003
BAGHDAD, April 23 (IslamOnline.net) - The Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP) will not adopt violence as an approach to resist the U.S.-Anglo occupation of Iraq, the party's Secretary General Dr. Mohsen Abdul Hamid said Wednesday, April 23.

France To Suffer Consequences For Anti-War Stance: Powell
Islam Online, April 23, 2003
WASHINGTON, April 23 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Making the first ever blunt statements against France, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell threatened late Tuesday, April 22, that France would suffer consequences for its staunch anti-war stance.

US rejects calls for Blix to return
The Telegraph, April 23, 2003
Washington yesterday dismissed calls for Hans Blix and United Nations weapons inspectors to return to Iraq, threatening a fresh diplomatic battle within the Security Council.

IAEA should return to Iraq as soon as possible, Security Council told
United Nation News, April 22, 2003
22 April – The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog body told the Security Council today that the agency should restart its work in Iraq as quickly as possible and that it was waiting for new instructions for its return.

Annan appeals for healing Security Council rifts on Iraq
United Nation News, April 22, 2003
Secretary-General Kofi Annan
22 April – Secretary-General Kofi Annan today appealed for a healing of the rifts within the United Nations Security Council that marked the run-up to the war in Iraq as the international community now seeks to help that country return to normalcy and rejoin the family of nations.

UN official seeks 3-week extension of Oil-for-Food programme for Iraq
United Nation News, April 22, 2003
22 April – The official in charge of the United Nations programme that is the only source of food for 60 per cent of Iraq's population today urged the Security Council to extend it for another three weeks so that supplies already in the pipeline can be delivered.

UN rights chief calls for action to head off potential expulsions in northern Iraq
United Nation News, April 22, 2003
22 April – Reacting to reports that a wave of reprisals against Arabs living in northern Iraq had swept the region last week, the top United Nations human rights official called for immediate action to protect the fundamental right of those populations to live free from fear and intimidation.

Iraq War Leaves Iran With Few Options
Washington Post, April 23, 2003
CAIRO, Egypt - Iranian opposition fighters, labeled terrorist allies of Saddam Hussein by Washington, are nevertheless trying to persuade the United States to let them keep fighting the Iranian government from their bases in Iraq.

US strikes accord with People's Mujahedeen
Middle East Online, April 23, 2003 
ASHRAF, Iraq - A ceasefire agreement reached with US forces allows the Iraq-based People's Mujahedeen guerrillas keep their arms while maintaining their war against the Iranian government, a spokesman for the group said Wednesday.

Iraqi National Congress distances itself from self-proclaimed mayor of Baghdad
The Independent, April 23, 2003
The self-delcared mayor of Baghdad held meetings around the city with tribal leaders and local people yesterday as he continued his efforts to form an administration that is recognised neither by the United States nor his putative Iraqi backers.

Russia demands UN role in weapons checks
The Guardian, April 22, 2003
Russia yesterday dragged the Iraq crisis back into the bitter acrimony of the security council by insisting that UN inspectors verify that Iraq has no weapons of mass destruction before it allows sanctions to be lifted and the "new Iraq" to freely sell its oil.

EU unblocks more Iraq aid, first airlift this week
Jordan Times, April 23, 2003   
BRUSSELS (AFP) — The European Union is to begin airlifting emergency humanitarian aid to Iraq, probably this week, its executive arm said Tuesday after unblocking a further 10 million euros in urgent funds.

Nasrallah: Countdown for ending US presence in Iraq starts
Al-Bawaba, April 23, 2003
Secretary General of Lebanese Hizbullah Hassan Nasrallah said on Tuesday that the arrival of hundreds of thousands of Shiite pilgrims to Karbala this year would click the start of the countdown for ending US presence in Iraq, and in the whole Middle East region.

Iraq: Restoring family links - Press kit
International Committee of the Red Cross, April 17, 2003
The ICRC has set up a special tracing unit for Iraq at its training centre near Geneva to centralize data on prisoners of war and information needed to restore family links.

Bush decides to send Powell to Damascus ''in the very near future'', says no war plans
Al-Bawaba, April 23, 2003
President Bush said on Tuesday he has no current plans for another war and played down Shi'ite demands for an Islamic state in Iraq, according to excerpts of an interview.

Syria bowing to US pressure
Middle East Online, April 23, 2003
Analysts say visa measures against Iraqis, Assad's comment on peace roadmap show Syria thinking of its own interests. -- Bowing to pressure from the United States, Syria has in recent days shown increasing signs of flexibility and cooperation on the key issues of Iraq and the Middle East peace process.

Syria expels Iraqi children
BBC, April 23, 2003
More than 30 Iraqi refugees - mostly children - have been expelled from a camp in Syria and sent back across the border, says the United Nations refugee agency. Another 12 Iraqis were expelled from the same camp, El Hol, last week.

Report: Japanese PM to visit Egypt, Saudi Arabia
Al-Bawaba, April 23, 2003
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will visit Egypt, Saudi Arabia and other countries in June to discuss reconstruction of Iraq and the Middle East peace process.

US claims to find materials, equipment related to chemical arms; Rumsfeld: No plans for long-term militay presence
Al-Bawaba, April 22, 2003
U.S. weapons experts in Iraq have discovered ingredients and equipment that can be used to make a chemical weapon, U.S. military officials confirmed.

Dying to belong
The Guardian, April 23, 2003
Thousands of non-Americans join the US military hoping it will speed up their citizenship applications -- Five of the first 10 Californians who died in combat were non-citizens. -- Rumours always float around during wars but one of the most pervasive in California and Mexico was that anyone who joined the US armed forces for the war would be automatically granted citizenship.

British DM believes Saddam still in Iraq; US officials surprised by Shiites' organizational strength
Al-Bawaba, April 23, 2003
British Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon said on Wednesday he believed Saddam Hussein was probably still hiding in Iraq...Meanwhile, amid Iraqi Shiite demands for a dominant role in Iraq's future, Bush administration officials were quoted Wednesday as saying that they underestimated the Shiites' organizational strength and were unprepared to prevent the rise of an anti-American, Islamic government in the country.

Rumsfeld Denies the U.S. Has Plans for Permanent Iraq Bases
New York Times, April 22, 2003
WASHINGTON, April 21 — Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld denied today that the United States had plans for establishing permanent military bases in a postwar Iraq, and said such an impression could damage the administration's efforts to pacify and rebuild the nation.

US warned to stay out of Turkey's EU entry talks
Salaam, April 22, 2003
Turkey's hopes of early entry to the European Union risk being damaged by US interference, according to Gunter Verheugen (pictured), the EU's enlargement commissioner. Mr Verheugen says US pressure has been "counter-productive" to the Turkish cause and insists it is better for the EU to conduct negotiations with Ankara in a low-key atmosphere.

Egypt Urges Quick Withdrawal From Iraq
The Guardian, April 23, 2003
CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak urged the United States and Britain to withdraw their forces from Iraq as soon as possible and start building a legitimate government to replace the deposed regime of Saddam Hussein.

Oil From Iraq Fields Began Flowing Again
The Guardian, April 23, 2003
BASRA, Iraq (AP) - Crude oil from Iraq's southern fields began flowing again through pipelines Wednesday, the first time since the start of the war, U.S. officials said.

U.S. General: Iraq Attitude Will Change
The Guardian, April 23, 2003
IRBIL, Iraq (AP) - Jay Garner, the retired U.S. general overseeing Iraq's reconstruction, acknowledged widespread discontent among Iraqis because of the postwar chaos, but predicted: ``In a very short order you'll see a change in the attitudes.''

Iraqi Shiite Pilgrims Criticize the U.S.
The Guardian, April 23, 2003
KARBALA, Iraq (AP) - Thousands of Shiite Muslims took advantage of their newfound freedom to hold a political protest Wednesday, railing at the United States as their brethren began the final prayers of a fervent religious pilgrimage that dramatized the Shiites' potential political clout.

Iraqis: We Were Told to Destroy Bacteria
The Guardian, April 23, 2003
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Six Iraqi scientists working at different Baghdad research institutions were ordered to destroy some bacteria and equipment and hide more in their homes before visits from U.N. weapons inspectors in the months leading up to the war, the scientists told The Associated Press.

Blix attacks 'shaky' intelligence on weapons
The Guardian, April 23, 2003
The UN chief weapons inspector, Hans Blix, yesterday condemned the prewar efforts of British and American intelligence to show that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, and insisted that, without UN verification, their postwar inspections lacked credibility.

Put sanctions on hold, says France
The Guardian, April 23, 2003
France startled British and American negotiators in the UN yesterday by calling for an immediate suspension of sanctions on Iraq - even though inspectors have not yet declared the country free of weapons of mass destruction.

Kurds give Garner a warm welcome
The Guardian, April 23, 2003
Jay Garner, the retired US general given the task of overseeing the rebuilding of postwar Iraq, began a two-day trip to the Kurdish-controlled north yesterday, praising local residents for helping get rid of Saddam and holding up their 12-year experiment in self-rule as "a model of leadership and freedom" that "should spread through all Iraq".

Sunnis and Shias
The Guardian, April 23, 2003
As thousands of Iraqi Shias make the pilgrimage to Kerbala for the first time in many years, here's a guide to the main branches of Islam.

WILPF-US on the War and "Post-War" Situation in Iraq
CommonDreams/WILPF, April 22, 2003    
PHILADELPHIA - April 22 - We, the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, U.S. Section, reject the recently announced "victory" in Iraq, and accompanying "liberation" of the people after the demise of their government. The U.S./U.K. military invasion and takeover of Iraq has resulted in the deaths of thousands of Iraqi civilians and military, a death toll that may never be reported.

Religion and politics resurface as the new voices of Iraqi freedom
The Guardian, April 22, 2003
Hundreds of thousands of Shia worshippers from all over southern Iraq converged here yesterday at one of the sect's holiest shrines, in a deliberate display of political and religious strength.

China Vows to Rev Up Its Engagement in the Middle East
Arab News, April 23, 2003
RIYADH, 23 April 2003 — Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal and his Chinese counterpart Li Zhaoxing are to exchange visits in the near future as part of the growing bilateral relations between the two countries that will also see China getting more politically engaged with the Middle East to counter any “hegemony” in the region by any single country.

Muslim Charity Fights Closure
Washington Post, April 23, 2003
The nation's largest Muslim charity, shut down after the Bush administration designated it a sponsor of terrorism, Tuesday asked a federal appeals panel to overturn a lower court decision upholding that action.

Shiite Muslims in Saudi Arabia Emboldened by Hussein's Fall
Washington Post, April 23, 2003
In an unprecedented move that suggested new assertiveness by Saudi Arabia's Shiite Muslim minority, a coalition of prominent Shiite clerics from the kingdom's Eastern Province issued a joint public statement Friday welcoming the demise of an Iraqi government that caused Shiites there to suffer for three decades "in the shadow of a bloody dictatorship, with a mixture of patience, pain and struggle."

I Will Stand As Independent If Dumped By Labor: Galloway
Islam Online, April 23, 2003
LONDON, April 23 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – After winning strong support from his Glasgow Kelvin constituency party Tuesday, UK Labor MP George Galloway said he would stand as an independent if Labor removed the whip.

Galloway to sue over Iraq cash claim
Trinity Mirror, April 22, 2003
Controversial Labour MP George Galloway has dismissed claims he was paid at least £375,000 a year by Saddam Hussein's Iraqi regime as "black propaganda" and "intelligence hocus pocus". Mr Galloway said that he intended to sue the Daily Telegraph for libel.

Galloway set to be dumped as Labour MP
The Independent, April 23, 2003
George Galloway's future as a Labour MP was under serious threat after the party leadership promised to investigate damaging newspaper allegations that he took massive sums of money from Saddam Hussein's regime.

Iraq War Propels Hate-US Songs to Top of Pakistani Charts
CommonDreams/OneWorld.net, April 22, 2003 
PESHAWAR - In Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP), the US-led war on Iraq has fueled the growth of a thriving music industry, based on rabble-rousing, anti-American audio cassettes, which analysts fear will give a fillip to Islamism.