Armed Settlers Attack Palestinian Farmers Israelis and Internationals
International Solidarity Movement, May 7, 2003
As two Internationals, five Israelis and 10 Palestinian farmers, including 3 very elderly women, plowed the fields of the West Bank village Sawiya this Wednesday morning, up to 20 armed settler/colonists with a German Shepherd from the illegal colony of Eli descended and began attacking them. 

Sharon demands Palestinians drop right of return
Sydney Morning Herald, May 8, 2003
The Israeli Prime Minister has demanded that, as a condition for movement in peace talks, the Palestinians drop a cornerstone of their policy - the "right of return" of refugees and their descendants to Israel.

Straw under fire for ignoring Israeli attacks on UK nationals
The Guardian, May 7, 2003
The father of a British peace activist left in a coma by an Israeli army bullet has accused the Foreign Office of showing more concern at the killings of Israeli citizens than investigating Israeli responsibility for the shootings of Britons.

Israeli Minister Accompanies Gang of Criminals to Break into Homes
Israeli Committee Against Home Demolitions, April 28, 2003
Israeli Tourist Minister Beni Elon was with the criminal gang that broke into homes and assaulted children -- They do it in the middle of the night. On dark nights. Quietly, stealthily. In large groups. Well organized militias - armed and all. A crowd of about 50 religious settlers. Came in the night to two houses in Israeli-annexed, Arab East Jerusalem, Sheikh Jarrah, over the Green Line.

House demolitions leave nearly 13,000 Palestinians homeless – UN agency
United Nations News, May 7, 2003
7 May – The number of Palestinians made homeless by Israel’s demolition campaign since the beginning the current strife in September 2000 has now reached nearly 13,000 following a sharp increase in house demolitions in recent months, the main United Nations agency providing assistance to Palestine refugees said today.

Hamas To Give Up Arms If Palestine Is Established: Yassin
Islam Online, May 7, 2003
GAZA CITY, May 7 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - The spiritual leader of the Islamic resistance movement Hamas, Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, said Wednesday, May 7, his movement would be the first Palestinian faction to lay down its arms if the Palestinian state was established.

Senior Hamas Fugitive Killed in Mysterious Explosion in West Bank
Lubbock Online, May 7, 2003
A senior Hamas fugitive was killed in a mysterious explosion in the West Bank on Wednesday, and the Islamic militant group accused Israeli troops of setting off the blast. The Israeli military had no immediate comment.

Release Medical Personnel
Palestine Monitor, May 7, 2003
Urgent Appeal -- Following on from our recent appeal regarding Israeli occupying army attacks on two medical relief clinics and training centers in Nablus and Ramallah, and the arrest of Dr Mohammed Skafi (Head of Emergency Services and First Aid), Mr Nasaif Al Dik (Coordinator of Community Health Projects) Shadi Abu Bakr and Ahmed Badwan (medical relief volunteers), we are pleased to announce the release of Dr Mohammed Skafi.

Sheikh Yasins: Hamas won’t allow Civil war
Palestine Information Center, May 7, 2003
Occupied Jerusalem - Hamas founder and spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yasin said Wednesday the Palestinian Islamic resistance movement would not allow civil war to take place among Palestinians under any circumstances.

Abu Mazen-Arafat struggle continues
Haaretz, May 7, 2003
Palestinian Prime Minister Abu Mazen announced at a Fatah Central Committee meeting Tuesday night that he was transferring the interior minister's responsibilities to Mohammed Dahlan, Israel Radio reported Wednesday.

Why was an unarmed Briton shot in the back?
The Guardian, May 7, 2003
Six months ago, Jack Straw sounded as if he really meant to lay bare how an Israeli army sniper came to shoot an unarmed British former army officer in the back. The foreign secretary said "everything" would be done to ensure a thorough investigation into the killing of Iain Hook, the head of a UN project to reconstruct the obliterated heart of the Jenin refugee camp. But today Mr Hook's colleagues accuse Israel of covering up "cold-blooded murder", and Britain and the UN of complicity by quietly trying to bury the truth to avoid a political confrontation.

PNA, EU Officials Discuss Reforms
Palestine Media Center, May 7, 2003
EU Allocates €345 million to Help Palestinians  -- May 7, 2003 - The European Union (EU) External Relations commissioner Chris Patten met with visiting Palestinian Finance Minister Salam Fayyadh on Tuesday to discuss financial reforms of the Palestine National Authority (PNA) and the obstacles facing their implementation.

Lebanese Army Already Deployed in South: UN
Arab News, May 7, 2003
BEIRUT, 7 May 2003 — A United Nations spokesman based in southern Lebanon said yesterday the Lebanese Army was effectively deployed in the region. “As far as I am concerned, (the army) is already deployed in south Lebanon,” said UN Interim Forces in Southern Lebanon spokesman Timor Goksel. He said the Hezbollah resistance group had contributed to the relatively calm situation in southern Lebanon over the past few months.

PFLP says ready to close offices to ease pressure on Syria
Haaretz, May 7, 2003
DAMASCUS - The leader of a radical Palestinian group confirmed Wednesday he is ready to shut offices in Damascus in order to ease U.S. pressure on Syria, but said Syrian officials had made no such demand.

Syria Denies 'In Camera' Negotiations With Israel
Islam Online, May 7, 2003
DAMASCUS, May 7 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Syria denied Wednesday, May 7, claims by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that he had received indirect messages from Damascus over the possibility of resuming talks.

Senior Hamas man killed in blast near Nablus  
Haaretz, May 7, 2003
A senior Hamas fugitive was killed in a mysterious explosion in the West Bank on Wednesday, and the Islamic militant group accused Israel Defense Forces troops of setting off the blast. Meanwhile in the Gaza Strip, Palestinain doctors said that one-and-a-half year old Alian Bashiti was killed by IDF gunfire in the refugee camp of Khan Yunis.

IOF Assassinates a Resident In Nablus, Dynamites a House in Hebron
International Press Center, May 7, 2003
NABLUS, Palestine, May 7, 2003 (IPC+WAFA)-- Israeli occupation forces (IOF) assassinated Wednesday morning a Palestinian civilian as they  dynamited his house in Zawata village, an outskirt of Nablus City. Ameen Al-Manzawali 30, was killed early this morning as he sustained critical injuries in different parts of his body after his house was detonated by the Israeli occupation force, local hospital officials said.

Blast at home of Western Christian missionary couple in Lebanon kills one person
Al-Bawaba, May 7, 2003
A bomb exploded outside the home of a Western Christian missionary couple in northern Lebanon overnight, killing one person, security sources said on Wednesday. According to AP, they said the device was planted outside the ground floor apartment of a Dutch missionary and his German wife in a suburb of Tripoli. It was the second attack on Christian missionaries in Lebanon in six months.

ISM: Correction, Israeli Forces Severely Injure Two Men During Home Invasion
International Solidarity Movement, May 7, 2003
1-Corrections to press release / 2-Israeli Forces Severely Injure Two Men During Home Invasion -- [Tulkaram Camp, TULKARAM] The Israeli Army violently entered a Palestinian home at about 5AM early Tuesday morning, severely injuring two men in the operation and arresting one. ISM volunteers (American, Dutch, Irish, Italian and Palestinian) arrived on the scene shortly after the army had left, after reports that an ambulance had been denied access to the wounded men by the army. Ambulance personnel reported that the Israeli forces threatened to open fire on them if they attempted to proceed into the refugee camp.

Sharon Plans to Meet With Palestinian PM Abu Mazen
Arab News, May 7, 2003
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, 7 May 2003 — Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said yesterday he would meet his Palestinian counterpart and linked a peace accord to the Palestinians giving up a demand that refugees be allowed to return to the Jewish state.

PLO Accuses Israel of Trying to Kill ‘Roadmap’
Palestine Media Center, May 7, 2003
May 7, 2003 - The Palestinian leadership condemned Israel’s refusal to announce its official acceptance of the “roadmap” for peace in the Middle East and warned the American administration against heeding to Israeli terms ahead of an American-Israeli debate on the internationally-adopted plan in Washington next week.

Israel asks MI5 to step up checks after Briton's suicide bombing
The Guardian, May 7, 2003
Israel has asked MI5 and the police to step up their operations against Islamist extremists after last week's suicide bombing by a British passport holder, but denied a report yesterday that it had sent Mossad agents to Britain.

Violence as Israel celebrates
BBC, May 7, 2003
An explosion near the West Bank town of Nablus has killed a commander of the Palestinian militant group Hamas wanted for attacks on Israelis. In the Gaza Strip, a one-year-old Palestinian child was also killed in a clash involving Israeli soldiers in the town of Khan Younis.

Palestinian Infant Killed in Gaza Strip
Rocky Mountain Telegram, May 7, 2003
JERUSALEM (AP)--A Palestinian infant was killed by Israeli army fire in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, as the Palestinian prime minister flatly rejected Israel's new condition for peace talks.

Dispute between Arafat, Abu Mazen over Dahlan powers resumed
Al-Bawaba, May 7, 2003
Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) gave a key aide broader powers to curb anti-Israel violence on Wednesday, loosening Yasser Arafat's security grip in line with demands by international peace mediators.

Syria wants peace talks, denies secret approach
Reuters, May 7, 2003
DAMASCUS, May 7 (Reuters) - Syria said on Wednesday the time was ripe to seek a just peace between Arabs and Israel, but insisted any negotiations must build on the outcome of previous peace efforts and U.N. resolutions.

Sheikh Aroori under renewed administrative detention
Palestine Information Center, May 7, 2003
Ramallah - Zionist occupation authorities have imprisoned Sheikh Saleh Al-Aroori, 36, under administrative detention on the day that he was supposed to be freed. Tawfik Bassool, lawyer of the Palestinian prisoners’ supporters society, said that Sheikh Saleh from the village of Aroora to the north of Ramallah should have been released on 4/5/2003.

Evangalical Book causes outrage among Muslims in Israel
Come and See, May 6, 2003
A book with the title "Who is the Greatest?" has caused the Islamic movement in Israel to publish large ads in the main Arab Israeli newspapers accusing Emmaus Bible school in Nazareth of being a part of a larger Zionist-American plot to combat Muslims all around the globe in inspiration of the American victory in Iraq.

IDF Chief Ya'alon: Yasser Arafat, not Hamas, is main threat to Abu Mazen
Haaretz, May 7, 2003
Lieutenant General Moshe Ya'alon, the chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces, sees the recent developments in the Palestinian Authority as "an authentic internal development, and the battle has not yet been decided."

Labor favors temporary chair to replace Mitzna
Haaretz, May 7, 2003
Most leading Labor Party members would prefer to choose a temporary replacement for Amram Mitzna, who announced his resignation as party chairman Monday evening, party leaders said yesterday.

Palestinians mourn fall of their hero Saddam after flow of dollars for 'martyrs' dries up
The Independent, May 7, 2003
With the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq, the flow of millions of dollars that the Iraqi leader sent to support the Palestinian intifada has abruptly ended.

Portraits Speak Louder Than Words
Islam Online, May 7, 2003
GAZA CITY, May 6 (IslamOnline.net & Al-Quds Press) - Words failed famed Palestinian caricaturist Omaya Goha after the martyrdom of her husband Rami Khedr in the battle of al-Shajaiyain, in Gaza City.

The First Comprehensive Palestinian Art Exhibition in the United States
MIFTAH, May 5, 2003
"Made in Palestine" is the first comprehensive art exhibition in the United States devoted to the contemporary art of Palestine. It is a survey of work by artists living in the West Bank, Gaza, and the 1948 Land. Also included in the exhibition are a smaller number of Palestinian artists from Syria, Jordan, and the United States.

"Bethlehem-Church of Nativity Crisis" Deportees In a Press Conference Marking the First Anniversary of Their Deportation
International Press Center, May 7, 2003
Hatem Hmood, one of the Palestinian deportees in the Bethlehem crisis, asserted that the deportation of 26 Palestinian strugglers from their homes to Gaza Strip, and 13 others to European countries, is considered as a violation of human rights, and compared to an assissintion.

Occupation Chronicle Events in Palestine May 7, 2003
An 18-month-old baby was critically injured by IOF in Khan Younis. Meanwhile, Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) shelled Palestinians’ houses in the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis. IOF also detained several Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, including two fishermen.  IOF Turn Citizen’s House into Military Outpost. Israeli Settlers Attack International, Israeli Peace Activists.

Letter to The Guardian: Must Lie to Protect Palestinians
Palestine Information Center/The Guardian, May 7, 2003
No one would stand a chance of passing through immigration at Tel Aviv airport or at the land borders if they identified themselves as "peace activists". Every genuine activist who comes to Palestine to work with the ISM (International Solidarity Movement) must lie through their teeth to immigration officials to stand any hope of gaining an entry visa.

Other Middle East News

Cholera outbreak feared in Basra
BBC, May 7, 2003
Damage to water supplies is being blamed -- The World Health Organization (WHO) says it expects a cholera epidemic in southern Iraq because of problems with poor sanitation. WHO disease specialist Denis Coulombier estimated that there were 10 times the number of cholera cases than the 17 registered in Basra since Tuesday.

Looters at key Iraqi nuke site terrify residents
Sydney Morning Herald, May 8, 2003
Ali Ghanem, a driver, said three people died last week in the town, just southeast of Baghdad, after being contaminated by something stolen from the Al-Tuwaitha site. -- Al-Tuwaitha, Iraq: Looters rifling through one of Iraq's main nuclear sites at Al-Tuwaitha and carting off whatever they can carry are making local residents terrified of the danger.

Palestinians flee as Iraqis vent their anger over Saddam link
The Times, May 7, 2003
“Anyone who hates Saddam in Iraq has turned their hatred on the Palestinians.” -- WHEN Ahmed Kadoura arrived in Iraq 55 years ago as a five-year-old refugee, his first home was a ragged tent in a camp for Palestinians fleeing the fighting in the new Jewish state.  Now greying and grizzled, he has, with the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime, found himself sheltering under the canvas of a tent once more, an outcast again in his adopted land.

Iraq Doctors Rally Against Health Ministry
The Guardian, May 7, 2003
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Hundreds of Iraqi doctors in white lab coats took to the streets Wednesday, insisting they will not accept the U.S.-appointed head the Health Ministry because of his ties to the overthrown regime of Saddam Hussein.

Paul Bremer: US' 'tough' man in Iraq
BBC, May 7, 2003 
The White House has named veteran diplomat and ex-State Department official Paul Bremer as the man whose task it is to supervise the transition to democracy in Iraq. Mr Bremer will be the top civilian official in the country, outranking the retired General Jay Garner, who had been appointed Iraq's chief civil administrator.

Former diplomat to take charge in Iraq
The Guardian, May 7, 2003
The US president, George Bush, has named Paul Bremer, a former ambassador and head of America's counter-terrorism office, to be his special envoy to Iraq and oversee its transition to democratic rule.

Marine patrols take wary step into the dark
The Guardian, May 7, 2003
Baghdad police role a challenge for US troops fresh from war -- With electricity still scarce, Baghdad is in near total darkness. And, with an 11 o'clock curfew, the place is eerily deserted - except for looters and other criminals, rogue elements from Saddam Hussein's regime and scouts of the US 464 Armoured Battalion.

America's weapons evidence flawed, say spies
The Times, May 7, 2003
THE continuing failure to find Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction has triggered a blame game in America’s intelligence agencies that erupted into public view yesterday.

U.S. W.M.D. Intelligence "defective or manipulated," says U.S. Senator
YellowTimes.org, May 6, 2003
CHICAGO (NFTF.org) -- As the world awaits the Bush administration to unveil Saddam Hussein's massive quantities of weapons of mass destruction, doubts over U.S. evidence within the United States government are beginning to surface.

Iraqi weapons scientists too fearful to surrender, UN man claims
The Guardian, May 7, 2003
Senior Iraqi weapons scientists who are in hiding from US troops have contacted former UN inspectors to discuss giving themselves up. But they fear they will be jailed if they do not tell their interrogators what they want to hear.

'Saddam' calls for resistance
BBC, May 7, 2003 
An Australian newspaper has published details of an audio tape purportedly by former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein urging Iraqis to fight the US-led "invasion". The Sydney Morning Herald said the 15-minute tape was given to their reporters in Baghdad on Monday by two men who were unable to deliver it to the Arab satellite television station Al-Jazeera.

Policing of Baghdad falls again on troops
San Francisco Chronicle, May 6, 2003
City's new officers, lacking weapons, stay off the streets -- Baghdad -- In a sprawling black market in Baghdad's Sadr City slum, three beefy American soldiers tackled a man who had fired a handgun and wrestled him to the ground, confiscating the weapon.

Iraqi Documents on Israel Surface on a Cultural Hunt
New York Times, May 7, 2003
BAGHDAD, Iraq, May 6 — What began today as a hunt for an ancient Jewish text at secret police headquarters here wound up unearthing a trove of Iraqi intelligence documents and maps relating to Israel as well as offers of sales of uranium and other nuclear material to Iraq.

'Saddam tape recorded this week in Iraq'
The Independent, May 7, 2003
An Australian newspaper said today it had been handed an audio tape purported to have been recorded by Saddam Hussein inside Iraq on Monday. The Sydney Morning Herald said its correspondent in Baghdad was given the tape by two men because they had been unable to pass it to Arab broadcasters.

Full transcript of the Saddam tape
Sydney Morning Herald, May 7, 2003

Saddam's fate uncertain: White House
Sydney Morning Herald, May 8, 2003
The United States is uncertain whether Saddam Hussein is dead or alive, and will examine an audiotape - obtained exclusively by the Herald - on which the deposed Iraqi leader is said to be speaking, a White House spokesman said today.

Saddam's circle could find use for $1.5bn
Sydney Morning Herald, May 8, 2003
A billion US dollars ($1.55 billion) that Saddam Hussein's family reportedly spirited from Iraq's central bank on the eve of war could underwrite a campaign of harassment against the country's new government for years.

Organised gangs 'were involved in looting of museum'
The Independent, May 7, 2003
Organised crime gangs may have been involved in the looting of invaluable, ancient treasures from the Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad last month, the US government admitted yesterday.

Onetime Cheney's Firm Operates Iraqi Oil
Islam Online, May 7, 2003
WASHINGTON, May 7 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - The U.S. Army has admitted for the first time that the contract granted to a subsidiary of Halliburton Co. -- run by U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney from 1995 to 2000 – encompasses the operation of Iraqi oil fields.

U.S. “Names” Iraqi Governor For Salaheddin Province
Islam Online, May 7, 2003
TIKRIT, Iraq, May 7 (Islamonline.net & News Agencies) - Starting its plan of democracy for Iraq, the United States on Wednesday, May 7, appointed Hussein al-Jaburi as governor of Salaheddin province which includes Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, north of Baghdad.

US links vehicle find to bioweapons, names top envoy to Iraq
Jordan Times, May 7, 2003       
WASHINGTON (AFP) — A vehicle seized by US forces in Iraq appeared to be part of a lab for making chemical and biological weapons, a US defence official said Tuesday, as Washington unveiled a new top envoy to the country.

US keeps close eye as fanatic Iraqi Shiite cleric ends exile in Iran
Salaam UK, May 7, 2003
TEHRAN, May 7 (AFP) - One of Iraq's most prominent Shiite clerics, Ayatollah Mohammad Baqer al-Hakim, is set to return home after more than two decades of exile in Iran -- an event set to be closely watched by US officials fearing any steps towards an Iranian-style Islamic regime.

Senior Baath Party official in US hands; Saudi Arabia to deal with Iraq transitional government
Al-Bawaba, May 7, 2003
U.S.-led forces in Iraq have taken a former official of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party into custody, U.S. Central Command announced Wednesday.

Secret Baath files may help Chalabi settle old scores
Sydney Morning Herald, May 8, 2003
Ahmad Chalabi, the exiled financier promoted by the Pentagon as a leader of postwar Iraq, claims to have obtained 25 tonnes of intelligence documents detailing Saddam Hussein's relationship with foreign governments and Arab leaders.

Top Gun Bush chose TV-friendly jet landing over simple helicopter ride
Sydney Morning Herald, May 8, 2003
For his dramatic jet landing on an aircraft carrier last week, George Bush wore a flight suit and a helmet and had to take underwater survival training in the White House swimming pool. But as it turns out, the United States President chose to make the jet landing even after he was told he could easily reach the ship by helicopter, the White House said, changing its explanation for Mr Bush's Top Gun-style event.

Legality of war no longer an issue: PM
Sydney Morning Herald, May 7, 2003
The [Australian] Prime Minister has said questions of the international legitimacy of the invasion of Iraq should be dropped now that the conflict phase of the war has ended....Key nations at the UN, including Security Council members Russia and France, strongly disagree with that view.

Poles Lobby U.S. for German Role in Iraq
The Guardian, May 7, 2003
WARSAW, Poland (AP) - Poland has been lobbying Washington to allow Germany to play a role in postwar Iraq, trying to use its favor with the United States to help mend a rift with Europe's anti-war nations.

Iraq embassy caretaker's lone stand
BBC, May 7, 2003 
After 12 lonely years of protecting and maintaining the deserted British embassy in Baghdad, caretaker Mehdi Alwan finally has company again. Britain is re-establishing an embassy in Iraq's capital, with an advance party already setting up offices in its grounds.

Saudi police hunt gunmen
BBC, May 7, 2003
Police in Saudi Arabia are hunting for a group of 19 suspected militants believed to be hiding in the capital Riyadh, security officials said. The group were involved in a shoot-out with security forces late on Tuesday evening which erupted as police stormed the "terrorists' lair".

Iran mourns Iraq's Shia dead
BBC, May 7, 2003 
Religious seminaries across Iran are closed on Wednesday in memory of scores of Shia clerics killed by the Iraqi regime. Around 180 senior religious leaders, more than half of them thought to be Iranian, were killed by the Baathist regime.

Russia Calls for Talks on Iraq Rebuilding
The Guardian, May 7, 2003
MOSCOW (AP) - A top Russian diplomat said Wednesday that it will take time to remove sanctions against Iraq and called for discussions in the U.N. Security Council on the country's reconstruction, reiterating positions that have set the Kremlin against the United States on issues involving postwar Iraq.

Media AWOL in noting irony of Bush's flight
Chicago Tribune, May 6, 2003
So much for the myth of the "liberal media." -- So much for that myth--the cynical distortion that has become conventional wisdom in many circles. During the presidential campaign of 2000, it started going around that Texas Gov. George W. Bush, then the leading Republican candidate, had significant gaps in his military record.

First Muslim TV In N.America To Be Launched
Islam Online, May 7, 2003
NEW YORK, May 7 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – In a bid to clear stereotypes about Islam and build bridges of friendship between American Muslims and mainstream America, Muslim businessmen huddled together to launch the first English-language Muslim television channel in North America, hoping that it would come to light by 2004 summer.

Kuwait says hatchet buried with Lebanon
Jordan Times, May 7, 2003   
KUWAIT CITY (AFP) — Kuwait said Tuesday that any strain in relations between the emirate and Lebanon over the war in Iraq had now eased, the state KUNA news agency reported.

US embassy launches reconstruction website
Jordan Times, May 7, 2003       
AMMAN (JT) — The US Embassy in Amman launched a new Iraqi reconstruction website Tuesday, dedicated to informing companies here about American government support for Iraq reconstruction efforts and opportunities for businesses here, according to an embassy statement. See: http://www.usembassy-amman.org.jo/reconstruction_iraq.htm

Leave Home Without It
City Limits, May 2003
Credit card companies cancel on Muslim New Yorkers. -- But what happens when private companies take the fight against terrorism into their own hands? If you're Pakistani, or Muslim, or both, you might just find your credit cards cancelled, despite the good credit you've worked hard to build. -- Say that you are one of those fortunate people who manage to pay off most of their credit cards every month. Then imagine your surprise when one of your cards is cancelled for no apparent reason. You'd be outraged, especially if you found out this was only happening to you and your friends.

US terror tactics in Iran
Asia Times, May 8, 2003
At the end of its military operation in April, the US military reached a ceasefire agreement with an Iraqi-based Iranian group, the Mujahideen-e Khalq Organization (MKO), a group declared by the US and British members of the "coalition of the willing" as terrorist. While the Americans described the agreement as a step toward the MKO's surrender, the group's backing by many members of the US Congress and its own claim of a rapprochement suggested a deal between the two sides.