Activists face deportation after suicide bombing
The Independent, May 3, 2003
The Israeli authorities said yesterday that they intended to step up deportations of foreign activists in the occupied territories. They said the alleged British suicide bomber, Asif Mohammed Hanif, and his accomplice, had posed as human shields to travel freely between Israel and the Gaza Strip.

Israel Kills U.K. Journalist Filming Houses Demolition
Islam Online, May 3, 2003
GAZA CITY, May 3 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Israeli occupation forces gunned down late Friday, may 2, a freelance British television journalist while filming demolition of Palestinian houses in the southern town of Rafah in the Gaza Strip. "We were very visible to the troops, with a white flag and 'TV' markings on our vests, but still the troops opened fire, hitting James Miller," he said.

Israel Plans Palestinian Statehood In Jordan
Islam Online, May 3, 2003
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, May 3 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Jordan can be the new homeland of Palestinians in return for allowing it to have lucrative reconstruction contracts in Iraq, revealed an Israeli plan Saturday, May 3.

Powell demands end to Syrian support for anti-Israel groups
Haaretz, May 3, 2003
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell arrived in Damascus on Friday demanding Syria stop supporting anti-Israel guerrillas and alter other policies which Washington says do not fit in a changing Middle East.

Powell urges Lebanon to end Hezbollah border presence
Haaretz, May 3, 2003
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell ended a one-day visit to Lebanon and Syria on Saturday by calling on the Lebanese government to deploy its army along the border with Israel and end the Hezbollah's armed presence there.

Israeli Army Raids Denabah Suburb in Tulkarim
International Press Center, May 3, 2003 
TULKARIM, Palestine, May 3, 2003, IPC + WAFA-- An Israeli occupation force backed by an Israeli tank and a number of military jeeps broke today afternoon into the Denabah suburb in Tulkarim, after the curfew been left off.

Palestinians Vent Anger at Funeral of 13 Killed in Gaza Onslaught
Palestine Media Center, May 3, 2003
British Cameraman Killed, Elderly Dies of Wounds -- May 3, 2003 - After Friday prayers in Gaza City, some 50,000 angry Palestinians joined the funeral procession for the thirteen victims of Thursday’s deadly Israeli military onslaught on the densely-populated al-Shujaiya neighborhood.

Inquiry call after UK journalist's death
BBC, May 3, 2003
James Miller had won numerous awards for his work -- An investigation into the death of a British cameraman shot by Israeli soldiers has been demanded by UK diplomats and fellow journalists. James Miller, 35, was killed in the Gaza Strip when an Israeli armoured vehicle opened fire and wounded him in the neck, according to reports.

U.K. Police Arrest 6 in Tel Aviv Bombing
The Guardian, May 3, 2003
LONDON (AP) - Police have detained six people in England in connection with a Tel Aviv suicide bombing believed to have been carried out by a British man, Scotland Yard said Saturday.

Breaking News: Four Arrested in Nablus
International Press Center, May 3, 2003
10:20-- Israeli occupation forces arrested four Palestinian civilians in the West Bank city of Nablus, (IPC).

Israeli occupation rampage through Jenin
Palestinian Information Center, May 3, 2003
Occupied Jerusalem - Israeli occupation troops on Saturday rampaged through the northern West Bank town of Jenin, apparently in order to terrorize the local population. Eyewitnesses said nervous-looking Israeli soldiers were shooting heavily into the air and often on buildings and markets. At one point, the occupation forces opened fire near a school, but luckily nobody was injured.

Peace activists caught up in Mid-East conflict
BBC, May 3, 2003 
Reports that two Britons suspected of having mounted a suicide operation in Israel had tried to associate with peace activists in Gaza to disguise their activities have highlighted the difficulties of campaigners operating in the Middle East. The International Solidarity Movement (ISM) told BBC News Online that reports that the alleged bombers had attended a memorial service organised by the group were "totally unfounded".

Histadrut, treasury to resume talks Sunday on ending strike  
Haaretz, May 3, 2003 
The officials from the Histadrut labor federation and the Finance Ministry will resume talks Sunday in a fresh effort to reach an agreement over the disputed economic austerity plan, which earlier in the week resulted in a crippling two-day strike.

Hizbullah's TV reporter not allowed to attend Powell briefing
Al-Bawaba, May 3, 2003
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell's talks with the Syrian president Bashar Assad on Saturday tackled, among other issues, Lebanon's Hizbullah group and needed calm in south Lebanon. In what could be seen as a clear message, the reporter of al-Manar, Hizbullah's TV station, was prevented from attending Powell's briefing at the Sheraton Hotel in Damascus.

For Arabs, Quartet Plan a Road without a Map
Inter-Press Service, May 3, 2003
DUBAI, May 3 (IPS) - Because too many Middle East peace initiatives have failed in the past, Arabs are sceptical about the possibility that the new ''road map'' for peace, released this week, can end Israeli occupation and Palestinian resistance. ''Ridiculous'', some say of the draft. A ''road to nowhere'', ''meaningless'' and ''a road without a map'', others add.

Israel Cracking Down on Foreign Peace Activists
Arab News, May 3, 2003
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, 3 May 2003 - Israel is stepping up the detention and deportation of pro-Palestinian foreign peace activists and will try to block new “human shields” from entering the country, Israeli security sources said yesterday.

C4 cameraman killed in Gaza
The Guardian, May 3, 2003
A British cameraman was shot dead by Israeli tankfire last night as he filmed after dark in Rafah in the Gaza strip. Israeli soldiers said they found the man, believed to be James Miller, a respected freelance cameraman, after shooting in his direction when they came under fire. He was reportedly hit in the neck.

British cameraman killed by IDF fire while filming in Gaza  
Haaretz, May 3, 2003 
Israel Defense Forces troops demolishing a home suspected of concealing an arms-smuggling tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip shot dead a British television cameraman late Friday, military officials and Palestinian witnesses said.

Exclusive: U.S. hawks seeking to block plan worry Blair
Gulf News, May 2, 2003
British Prime Minister Tony Blair is keeping in close contact with U.S. President George W. Bush, to prevent U.S. hawks from killing the roadmap, a British source revealed.

ISM: Article on Tom Hurndall Plus Important Corrections
International Solidarity Movement, May 3, 2003
The International Solidarity Movement would like to make sure that all who received the originial "update on Tom Hurndall" that was circulated and published on our site on April 15, also received the following correction and apology that we issued...

More Innocent Victims loose their lives and another foreign journalist killed by Israeli fire
Palestine Monitor, May 3, 2003
In yet another Israeli invasion on the Alshojayyeah neighbor hood in Gaza yesterday, Israeli soldiers shot and killed two-year-old Amer Ahmad Ayyad in his home. According to Amer’s mother who was holding him in her arms at the time of his murder, a bullet entered the child’s head leaving it from the other side. Amer died instantly.

PLO Re-emphasizes: ‘Roadmap’ is Not for Renegotiation
Palestine Media Center, May 3, 2003
Security Council Experts to Study US Draft Resolution Monday -- May 3, 2003 - While the Palestinian Higher Committee of Negotiations (PHCN) on Friday re-emphasized that the internationally-adopted ‘roadmap’ to peace in the Middle East is for implementation and not for renegotiation, the United Nations Security Council decided to refer a draft US resolution on the plan to a panel of UN experts for examination on Monday.

Hamas statement: Road-map’s ugly image revealed in Shuja’iah
Palestinian Information Center, May 3, 2003
Gaza - The Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, has charged that the American Road-map plan was a new chain in the series of conspiracies targeting liquidation of the Palestine cause through disarming resistance and arresting or murdering Mujahideen.

IOF Kill British Documentary Cameraman in Rafah
Palestine Media Center, May 3, 2003
Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) shot dead a British freelance cameraman on Friday night after a group of journalists came under fire in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah, along the Egyptian border. James Miller, 29, was shot in the neck when IOF soldiers, who were destroying a Palestinian’s house, shot at the journalists even though eyewitness accounts testify they were waving white flags and identifying themselves as media personnel in Hebrew and English.

Palestinians bury 12 in mass funeral after Israeli raid; militants warn Abbas
Sioux City Journal, May 3, 2003
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) -- Popping rifle shots into the air and hoisting bodies over their heads, tens of thousands of Palestinians filled the streets Friday to mourn 12 people killed in an Israeli raid, and warned their new prime minister against any attempts to disarm militant groups.

Palestinian anger at Gaza funeral
BBC, May 3, 2003 
Tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza have taken part in a mass funeral for 12 people killed in an Israeli raid on Thursday. Militants fired into the air and mourners shouted slogans hostile to new Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas - also known as Abu Mazen.

Sha’th Condemns the Murder of British Journalist by Israeli Army
International Press Center, May 3, 2003
GAZA, Palestine, May 3, 2003, IPC-- Dr. Nabeel Sha'th, Palestinian foreign affairs minister condemned today the murdering of the British cameraman James Miller in Rafah by the Israeli army, describing this act as a “war crime”.

In the Eve of the International Day of Press Freedom, Israeli Occupation Forces Murder a British Journalist in Gaza
International Press Center, May 3, 2003
RAFAH, Palestine, May 3, 2003, (IPC)-- Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) killed early on Saturday  a British cameraman in the  southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah.

Zionist minister advocates expelling Palestinians to Jordan
Palestinian Information Center, May 3, 2003
Occupied Jerusalem - Zionist tourism minister, Benny Eilon, has repeated previous ideas championing the forced expulsion of the Palestinian people to Jordan and establishment of a state for them on the ruins of the Jordanian Kingdom after dismantling the Palestinian Authority. The ideas were included in a political program prepared by Eilon’s rightist party to pose as an alternative to the American peace plan called the Road-map.

U.S. scholar played key role in Abbas appointment
Daily Yomiuri, May 3, 2003
WASHINGTON--The diplomatic wrangling over the nomination of a Palestinian prime minister and confirmation of a Cabinet that would allow the resumption of the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks was made possible in part by an unassuming scholar whose close ties to the key Palestinian principals were a crucial factor, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.

PA, Israel working to schedule Sharon, Abu Mazen meeting  
Haaretz, May 3, 2003
Palestinian and Israeli officials are working to schedule a meeting between Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his newly-appointed Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), Palestinian sources said Saturday.

Report: Efforts to schedule meeting between Sharon, Abu Mazen
Al-Bawaba, May 3, 2003
Palestinian and Israeli officials are working to schedule a meeting between Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian PM Abu Mazen, Israel Radio reported Saturday.

6 arrested in U.K. in connection with Tel Aviv suicide bomb
Haaretz, May 3, 2003 
British anti-terror police said early on Saturday they had arrested six people in connection with a suicide bombing at the entrance to a Tel Aviv beachfront pub.

The day I met suicide bomber
The Guardian, May 3, 2003
It was a Thursday afternoon in March, and the al-Muhajiroun offices in Tottenham, north London, seemed dingier than usual. I was researching a profile of Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammad, the controversial Islamist leader of the al-Muhajiroun group.

EU ministers agree to improve relations with Israel
Haaretz, May 3, 2003 
European Union foreign ministers meeting in the Greek island of Rhodes agreed that ties with Israel must be improved and insisted that Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat not be neutralized from participating in the renewed peace process, Israel Radio reported Saturday.

Hillary Urges Prosecution for Hijacker Pardoned by Bill
NewsMax, May 3, 2003
New York Sen. Hillary Clinton is urging Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Attorney General John Ashcroft to prosecute Palestinian terrorist Abu Abbas, the notorious mastermind of the 1985 Achille Lauro hijacking who was given a defacto exemption from prosecution by her husband because of the Oslo Peace accords.

Israeli Soldiers kill two Palestinians in a schoolyard in Qarawat Bani Zaid
Palestine Monitor, April 28, 2003
Two Palestinians were killed this morning in Qarawat Bani Zaid, a village nearby Ramallah, when Israeli Forces shoot towards the village’s Secondary Boys School. According to witnesses, Israeli soldiers suddenly opened fire at the school after some students were throwing rocks at two Israeli military armored jeeps.

Israeli Army greets the new Palestinian government with a death toll of 25
Palestine Monitor, May 1, 2003
Over the last 48 hours Israeli Forces in the Gaza Strip killed 23 people.

EU, Egypt: Arafat Key to Peace, Palestinian Legitimacy
Palestine Media Center, May 3, 2003
The European Union and Egypt have confirmed that President Yasser Arafat continues to be a key player in the Middle East peace process, warning that “sidelining” him “would be dangerous for the legitimacy of (Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud) Abbas.”

EU Ministers Censure the Sideline of Arafat from Peace Negotiations
International Press Center, May 3, 2003
GREECE, May 3, 2003 (Agencies)- - The European Union Foreign Ministers, meeting in the Greek island of Rhodes, insisted that President Yasser Arafat should not be sidelined from taking a role in the revival of the peace process.

Occupation Chronicle Events in Palestine May 3, 2003
Palestine Media Center, May 3, 2003
Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) killed 13 Palestinians after raiding al-Shujaiya neighborhood in Gaza City on Thursday. IOF also killed a British cameraman in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah and a Palestinian elderly died of wounds he sustained last month when IOF invaded the Jabalya refugee camp.

Board Director of SIS & WAFA: Condemns the Murder of the British Journalist by Israeli Army in Rafah
International Press Center, May 3, 2003
GAZA, Palestine, May 3.2003, IPC+ WAFA-- Mr. Ziad Abdul Fatah, the board director of the State Information Service (SIS) and WAFA Palestine news agency strongly condemned today’s murder of the British journalist James Miller in Rafah by the Israeli occupation army.

Roadmap 'breathtakingly ambitious'
BBC, May 3, 2003 
Criticised so long for avoiding the Middle East peace process, President George W Bush has now launched an initiative that's almost breathtakingly ambitious. The Middle East roadmap, unveiled by the administration on Wednesday, aims to solve half a century of conflict in just over two years.

Press doubts over roadmap
BBC, May 3, 2003 
Papers in the Middle East reflect a growing anxiety over the "roadmap" for peace. Arabic editorials reveal a deep-seated mistrust of the plan and question America's true intentions for the region. The Israeli press is more upbeat but nevertheless is in no doubt that the road ahead will be a long one.

Ben Gurion Airport reopens after Shabbat closure
Jerusalem Post, May 3, 2003
Thousands of Israelis began returning home Saturday night after Ben Gurion Airport reopened. The airport was closed throughout Shabbat despite the suspension of the general strike, which began Friday morning.

Other Middle East News

Iraq still ripe for humanitarian disaster
Middle East Online, May 3, 2003
UN chief of mission warns two-thirds of Iraqis are fully dependent on food aid, 40% suffer from severe malnutrition. -- Iraq is still ripe for a humanitarian disaster even though the shooting has all but stopped, the UN chief of mission here warned Saturday, saying too many people were going without food, water and power.

American denials enrage Fallujah
The Independent, May 2, 2003
American Central Command has dismissed reports that US troops shot dead 13 civilians at a demonstration in Fallujah as "allegations" that are unlikely to be proved. The claims came as relatives of one of the victims, a 13-year-old boy, gathered for a third day of mourning at his home.

US/UK occupying forces must protect refugees
Electronic Iraq/Amnesty International, May 3, 2003
Amnesty International calls on the US/UK coalition forces to urgently address the situation of refugees, asylum-seekers and third country nationals in Iraq. The US and UK should guarantee their protection against attacks, arbitrary arrest and from being returned to countries where they might be at risk of human rights abuses.

Bush plans to carve Iraq into three sectors
The Times, May 3, 2003
THE Bush Administration is planning to divide Iraq into three military sectors overseen by US, British and Polish troops and bolstered by forces from six European countries.

US appoints new Iraq oil chief
Middle East Online, May 3, 2003
The US-led coalition on Saturday named an Iraqi oil ministry official as the nation's new oil chief and again pledged the Iraqi people would reap the benefits of the nation's vast oil reserves.

Iraqis Invade Media Hotel Demanding Work, Aid
Islam Online, May 3, 2003
“Bush promised to liberate Iraq and he has not done anything for us. At least Saddam gave us our salaries," Iraqis -- BAGHDAD, May 3 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - "There is no money, no work and no electricity. What are you doing here?" an exasperated Iraqi shouts in the face of a U.S. soldier guarding Baghdad's Palestine Hotel.

France, Germany Concerned About Iraq Force Plan
Islam Online, May 3, 2003
PARIS, May 3 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - France and Germany expressed their reservations over the U.S. plans to form a stabilization force with their exclusion Saturday, May 3, as it seems to be a punishment for their staunch anti-war opposition.

Shias in Iraq told to reject all Western customs
The Independent, May 3, 2003
Hundreds of thousands of worshippers in the Shia heart of Baghdad were exhorted by their spiritual leaders yesterday not to use their newfound liberation by US forces to absorb Western habits which were designed to "harm Islam".

Children of Sadr City bear brunt of crisis made worse by war
The Independent, May 2, 2003
It is hardly surprising that listless six-month-old Sajad Abbas has been suffering from diarrhoea and vomiting for the past 10 days. For an outbreak of gastroenteritis in Sadr City (formerly Saddam City) – asprawling and for-decades wilfully neglected Shia suburb to the north-east of Baghdad – owes almost everything to a chronic shortage of clean water, which has been suddenly intensified by the war.

U.S. Plans International Force in Iraq
The Guardian, May 3, 2003
WASHINGTON (AP) - The United States plans to set up an international military force in three regions of Iraq, with Poland and Britain controlling two zones and U.S. forces the third, a senior Bush administration official says.

France, Germany Back Plan for Stable Iraq
The Guardian, May 3, 2003
KASTELLORIZO, Greece (AP) - France and Germany, America's harshest critics of the Iraq war, halfheartedly endorsed a U.S. plan Saturday to divide Iraq into three zones and deploy a stabilization force - that excludes them.

EU ministers to discuss defence and post-war Iraq
EU Observer, May 3, 2003
Europe's foreign affairs ministers will meet today and tomorrow for a so-called Gymnich meeting to discuss in-depth and informally a host of current political problems on the European agenda. Top of that list though will be discussions on post-war Iraq and the Middle East.

Iraqis Won't Admit to Banned Weapons
The Guardian, May 3, 2003
Before the war, the Bush administration pressured U.N. inspectors to question reluctant Iraqi scientists as part of the hunt for unconventional weapons. Once Saddam Hussein was removed, U.S. officials expected the scientists and others would feel free to reveal secrets about Iraq's suspected hidden arsenal.

Final tests find no nerve agents in Iraqi chemical
Washington Times, May 3, 2003
TIKRIT, Iraq — Military officials yesterday said suspicious 55-gallon drums found in northern Iraq do not contain a chemical agent used to make weapons of mass destruction, nullifying earlier field tests that indicated nerve agents were present.

US troops crack Iraqi bank safes
BBC, May 1, 2003
American soldiers in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk have broken into the vaults of a fire-gutted bank to release money to pay local oil workers. Employees of the North Oil company collected overdue wages after US army engineers used pneumatic drills to penetrate the vaults - which were damaged when the bank was looted last month.

Shia clergy push for Islamist state
The Guardian, May 3, 2003
Majority sect builds up power base and ridicules western 'liberty' -- The acting director of the Qadissiya hospital in Sadr City, Baghdad, is Sheikh Tahsin al-Ekabi, a Shia cleric. As he chatted to three people at the same time amid the chaos of post-Saddam medical services, a woman knocked on his office door and requested two tins of powdered milk. He signed a piece of paper and told her to take it to the local mosque, where she would be given the milk.

Key Iraqi 'weapons official' held
BBC, May 2, 2003
US hopes the arrests will help search for Iraqi weapons
US military officials say they have arrested three senior members of Saddam Hussein's regime, including the official in charge of developing Iraqi weapons. The man - former Deputy Prime Minister Abd al Tawab Mullah Huwaysh - was 16th in the list of 55 most-wanted Iraqi officials.

Power vacuum angers Iraqis
BBC, May 3, 2003 
Iraqis now want a new Iraqi-led government to be set up urgently to fill the power vacuum. -- About 50 Iraqis on Friday became the first looters to be taken to jail since Baghdad fell to US forces last month. Had Saddam Hussein still been in power, the men would each have had their right hand cut off for theft.

Powell Rejects Syrian Weapon Proposal
The Guardian, May 3, 2003
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) - Secretary of State Colin Powell on Saturday turned aside the idea of immediate U.S. support for an Arab-backed U.N. resolution on ridding the Middle East of weapons of mass destruction - a proposal obviously aimed at Israel.

Rice actions on Syria disputed
UPI, May 2, 2003
WASHINGTON, May 2 (UPI) -- Anna Perez, White House communications counselor, Friday sharply contested a United Press International report that national security adviser Condoleezza Rice and political adviser Karl Rove shut down a Pentagon plan to expand the Iraqi ground war to Syria in closing days of combat.

Following talks with Assad, Powell says Syria starts forcing ''terrorist'' groups to close Damascus offices
Al-Bawaba, May 3, 2003
Secretary of State Colin Powell said Saturday that Syria has begun forcing groups the Bush administration considers terrorist organizations to close their offices in Damascus, but more is expected.

Syria Getting Terrorists to Close Offices
The Guardian, May 3, 2003
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) - Secretary of State Colin Powell said Saturday that Syria has begun forcing groups the Bush administration considers terrorist organizations to close their offices in Damascus, but more is expected.

Powell's Call to Syria
Sky News, May 3, 2003
US Secretary of State Colin Powell has urged Syria's president to adapt to new strategic "dynamics" in the Middle East by ending support for anti-Israel groups. Mr Powell, on his first trip to the Middle East in more than a year, said the fall of Saddam Hussein in neighbouring Iraq, coupled with reform in the Palestinian leadership that triggered the release of the long-awaited roadmap for peace with Israel, had fundamentally altered the situation in the region.

Powell Spurns Syrian Arms Proposal
CBS News, May 3, 2003
(CBS) Secretary of State Colin Powell on Saturday turned aside the idea of immediate U.S. support for an Arab-backed U.N. resolution on ridding the Middle East of weapons of mass destruction - a proposal obviously aimed at Israel. "I think it is a goal that we have to pursue over time, and not ... at the moment of any particular declaration that might be put forward for political purposes, or to highlight the issue".

Syria slips up on oil
Australian Sunday Times, May 4, 2003
DAMASCUS: US Secretary of State Colin Powell accused Syrian President Bashar Assad of misleading him about oil deliveries from Iraq as they prepared to meet on the implications of the fall of Saddam Hussein.

Lahoud: No concessions to US
Middle East Online, May 3, 2003
BEIRUT - Lebanese President Emile Lahoud has said neither his country nor Syria, its political overlord, will make any concessions over their rights in the Middle East, the As-Safir newspaper reported Saturday.

Branson's airliner is first to bring aid to the heart of Iraq
The Independent, May 3, 2003
It was a sweet moment for Sir Richard Branson as he stepped on to the sand-whipped tarmac of Basra airport yesterday from a Virgin Atlantic plane bearing 60 tons of aid for Iraq's war-ravaged hospitals – but curiously there were no Iraqis in sight.

Basra: Where life is upside down
BBC, May 3, 2003 
Walking down a rubbish-strewn pavement was a foxy-faced young man clutching a five-foot-high brass chandelier; bits of it dangled and twinkled all too obviously in the drab street of boarded-up shops and shabby traders' stalls of central Basra. There has been widespread looting in Basra. "Don't tell me," said the sunburnt soldier, signalling to his mates on patrol over the road. "Got it from me uncle."

Quiet Power Struggle in Southern Iraq
Washington Post, May 2, 2003
Longtime Hussein Opponent Controls Amarah, but Other Leaders Question Authority -- AMARAH, Iraq, May 1 -- Karim Mahoud, a longtime guerrilla fighter from the southern marshes of Iraq, is lauded by his followers for opposing the government of ousted President Saddam Hussein. Shortly before Hussein fell, Mahoud began to take charge in this rough-and-tumble city near the Iranian border.

Greenpeace Launches Anti-Nuclear Parody
Yahoo! News, April 30, 2003
GENEVA - In a play on the deck of cards distributed to U.S. troops in Iraq (news - web sites), anti-nuclear campaigners on Wednesday issued their own most-wanted list — with President Bush (news - web sites) replacing Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) as the ace of spades.

Iraq communists mark May Day
BBC, May 1, 2003
A few hundred Iraqi communists took to the streets of Baghdad for the first time in decades to mark May Day. The party was banned by the regime of Saddam Hussein, even though 1 May was observed as a national holiday.

Contacts win diplomat top Baghdad job
The Times, May 3, 2003
PAUL BREMER, a career diplomat whom President Bush is expected to appoint next week as Iraq’s senior civilian administrator, has earned one of the world’s most difficult jobs more because of his wide and powerful support base in Washington than his experience of the Gulf.

UN role in Iraq remains mired in confusion
The Guardian, May 3, 2003
Tony Blair is struggling to get the US to agree to UN involvement in the reconstruction of Iraq -- Tony Blair yesterday seized the opportunity of his first meeting with US defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime to press for a role for the UN in the reconstruction of Iraq. However, it became clear last night he was struggling to get the US to agree to UN involvement.

Murdered cleric 'was given £8m by CIA'
The Guardian, May 3, 2003
The London-based Iraqi cleric killed in the holy city of Najaf last month received as much as $13m (£8m) from the CIA to win over moderate Shia clerics in Iraq, the US newspaper Newsday alleged yesterday

Bush Says Iraq's Aziz Skirting the Truth
The Guardian, May 3, 2003
CRAWFORD, Texas (AP) - President Bush expressed unshakable confidence Saturday that banned weapons will be found in Iraq and complained that Tariq Aziz, one of Saddam Hussein's closest deputies, is not cooperating with U.S. forces who have him in custody.

Who’s Who In America’s Most Wanted Dick
Islam Online, May 3, 2003
The 55 most wanted U.S. officials -- SWITZERLAND, May 3 ( Islamonline.net & news Agencies) - Following the U.S. "pre-emptive" destruction of Iraq, its people and culture, the Trade Regulation Organization(TRO) issued a "55 most wanted" playing-card deck similar to the one that the Pentagon issued in Iraq...According to the TRO, the victims of the unprovoked U.S. invasion fall into three categories, first is “the Iraqi people”.

Iraqi Da'wa Party Resists Occupation By "Word"
Islam Online, May 3, 2003
BAGHDAD, May 3 (IslamOnline.net) - After more than 20 years of banned and underground activities, al-Da'wa (Islamic Call) Party has come to light after the downfall of Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, calling for the establishment of an Islamic government that represents all ethnic and religious Iraqi communities and rejecting the U.S. occupation.

Bloggers unite to fight
BBC, May 2, 2003
Web log writers around the world are joining forces to protest against the detention of a fellow blogger. Iranian Sina Motallebi has been held by the authorities on, so far, unspecified charges and now fellow web users are banding together to press for his release.

'20th hijacker' taunts US attorney general with quiz
The Guardian, May 3, 2003
In a gambit surely unprecedented in US legal history, Zacarias Moussaoui, awaiting trial for conspiracy in the September 11 attacks, has set the US attorney general a multiple choice quiz, offering a seat at his execution as a mock reward for getting the right answer.