13
Killed in Israel; 6 Dead in Gaza City
The Guardian, June 11, 2003
JERUSALEM (AP) - A suicide bomber blew himself up on a bus in downtown Jerusalem
on Wednesday, killing at least 13 people and wounding nearly 70 a day after Hamas
threatened bloody revenge for an Israeli attack on one of its leaders. About an
hour later, an Israeli helicopter fired missiles at a car in Gaza City, targeting
a senior Hamas militant identified as Tito Massoud, a commander of the Hamas military
wing, Israel TV reported. Doctors said six Palestinians were killed in what Israel
TV said was the second assassination attempt on a Hamas leader in two days.
Six
killed in Israeli helicopter raid on Gaza
Middle East Online, June 11, 2003
Israeli helicopter fires missile on car of senior member of Ezzedin al-Qassam
Brigades in Shajayah neighbourhood. -- GAZA CITY - Six Palestinians were killed
Wednesday when an Israeli helicopter fired a missile on a car in the Shajayah
neighbourhood in Gaza City, Palestinian medical and security sources said.
IDF
agrees to hold hearings for outpost residents
Haaretz, June 11, 2003
The Israel Defense Forces agreed Wednesday afternoon with a High Court of Justice
order to hold hearings for residents of the illegal West Bank outposts slated
for removal, before deciding whether or not they should be dismantled.
Sharon,
U.S. reach deal on building in territories
Haaretz, June 11, 2003
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has reached a new agreement with the American administration,
under which no construction will be permitted in existing settlements "except
within the area circumscribed by existing construction." Israel also promised
not to build any new settlements and not to expropriate any Palestinian land for
construction purposes.
Israel
Unapologetic About Gaza Attacks
The Guardian, June 11, 2003
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was unapologetic
Wednesday about the botched missile strike against a militant Hamas leader, despite
President Bush's reprimand that the attack made it harder for the Palestinian
prime minister to fight terrorism.
Israeli
closures spur phenomenon of Palestinian 'one shekel kids'
Defence of Chidren International - Palestine, June 10, 2003
A one shekel kid is an under-age worker selling nic-nacs, sweets, cakes or cheap
plastic items for a shekel a piece. DCI took a small sample of these children
this week for International Child Labour Day on June 12. DCI Palestine notes that
the deteriorating economic situation in the Palestinian territories due to Israeli
closures and curfews is having a significant impact on children, both in terms
of a falling standard of living and loss of opportunities and the rising incidence
of child labour to supplement meager family income.
Blair
criticizes West Bank security fence
Haaretz, June 11, 2003
LONDON - British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Wednesday that Israel should knock
down a barrier it is building around the West Bank but said Israeli-Palestinian
peace talks had to make headway first. Blair, challenged in parliament over the
muted international protests over Israel's construction of what one lawmaker called
a new "Berlin Wall," said it was important Israelis were given security guarantees
as part of the peace process.
Egyptian
Intelligence Chief Meets Arafat, Abbas on Truce
Islam Online, June 11, 2003
Al-Jazeera said Suleiman was to propose a six-month truce with Israel -- RAMALLAH,
West Bank, June 11 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Egyptian intelligence
chief Omar Suleiman met Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and his Premier Mahmud
Abbas Wednesday, June 11, as part of a bid to broker a truce between Palestinian
resistance groups and Israel.
Yassin:
All Zionists are now legitimate targets
Palestinian Information Center, June 11, 2003
Gaza - Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, founder and spiritual leader of the Islamic Resistance
Movement, Hamas, has denounced the failed Zionist attempt to assassinate Dr. Abdul
Aziz Ranteesi, one of the Movement’s prominent leaders in the strip. The
Zionist assassination attempt led to the martyrdom of three Palestinians including
a mother and her three years old baby girl and the bodyguard of Ranteesi.
Settlers
try to stop Israeli army closing five outposts
The Independent, June 11, 2003
Hundreds of Jewish settlers flocked to remote hills in the West Bank yesterday
in an effort to prevent Israeli soldiers from dismantling any more of the outposts
that Ariel Sharon promised at the Aqaba summit last week to remove.
Israeli
army welds Hebron University gate shut
Palestine MOnitor/CPTnet, June 10, 2003
HEBRON: The Israeli military welded shut the main gate of Hebron University at
2:00 AM on June 10, resuming the fifth month of a six-month closure, and declared
the area a closed military zone. Soldiers turned away the students at the gate
in the morning and fired percussion grenades at them. The military then imposed
a strict curfew on the surrounding neighborhood.
Two
Palestinian factions call for Abbas’ resignation
Palestinian Information Center, June 11, 2003
Occupied Jerusalem - Palestinian Authority (PA) Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas,
popularly known as Abu Mazen, is coming under increasing public pressure to resign
following the failed Israeli attempt on the life of Hamas political leader Abdul
Aziz al Rantisi yesterday. On Wednesday, the Islamic Jihad organization and the
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) issued separate calls, urging
the PA premier to resign.
Opinion
poll: Hamas popularity on the rise
Palestinian Information Center, June 11, 2003
Occupied Jerusalem - A recent opinion poll conducted in the West Bank and Gaza
Strip has displayed that popularity of the Hamas Movement had exceeded that of
the Fatah Movement for the first time.
Palestinian
prisoner’s family calls on Amnesty International to help save son’s
life
Palestinian Information Center, June 11, 2003
Occupied Jerusalem - The family of Palestinian political prisoner Musa Dudin has
appealed to Amnesty international and other human rights groups to intervene to
end “the harsh physical and psychological torture” to which Dudin
has reportedly been subjected to at the notorious Holokdar prison in Beir Shiva,
in southern Israel.
With
tears still wrung from their pillows
Haaretz, June 11, 2003
The repeated protest demonstrations by Ethiopian Jews in Israel and their alternative
memorial observances are but an expression of the feelings of oppression and frustration
that the members of this community suffer all the time.
Belgium
moves to try ex-IDF chief Yaron
Haaretz, June 11, 2003
BRUSSELS - A Brussels court yesterday cleared the way for a war crimes investigation
into the alleged involvement of an Israeli general in the 1982 massacre of Palestinians
in Lebanon, a lawyer said. The Brussels appeals court ruled that a complaint against
former Israeli army commander Amos Yaron by a group of Palestinians was admissible
under Belgium's controversial human rights law.
Nine
killed in Jerusalem bus bomb
The Independent, June 11, 2003
A suicide bomber blew himself up on a bus in a busy Jerusalem street today, killing
at least nine people and wounding dozens, police said. Paramedics and police reported
a total of 55 casualties, including 15 people in serious condition. There was
no immediate claim of responsibility. However, the Islamic militant group Hamas
has threatened to take bloody revenge for the misssile attack by Israel on one
of its leaers, Abdel Aziz Rantisi yesterday.
Egypt
trying to save roadmap
Middle East Online, June 11, 2003
RAMALLAH, West Bank - Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman met Palestinian
leader Yasser Arafat and premier Mahmud Abbas Wednesday as part of a bid to broker
a truce between radical militants and Israel.
Arafat
may be expelled soon, Mofaz tells Knesset
Haaretz, June 11, 2003
There "may be no choice" but to expel Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat
in "the very near future," Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz told the Knesset Foreign
Affairs and Defense Committee yesterday. "My opinion in the past was that we should
deport Arafat," he said, responding to questions from MKs Benjamin Ben-Eliezer
(Labor) and Ehud Yatom (Likud). "At this moment, it would not be right to do so,
but it is very possible that in the very near future, there will be no choice
but to do so."
Putin
snubs Israeli foreign minister over Iran
Yahoo! News, June 10, 2003
Russian President Vladimir Putin has refused to meet with visiting Israeli Foreign
Minister Silvan Shalom, possibly because of their dispute over Iran, the Kommersant
business daily reported. However an Israeli official in Moscow denied that a meeting
between Shalom and Putin had ever been planned.
At
first road-map stop: settlers
Christian Science Monitor, June 11, 2003
Israel had torn down 10 Jewish outposts by early Tuesday in an initial peace step.
-- BEIT EL MISHRACH, WEST BANK – When her father gave her the news, 10th-grader
Shlomit Wasserteil beamed and hopped in glee. Micky Wasserteil told Shlomit that
their family would move Tuesday into a mobile home set on a West Bank hilltop
to prevent the Israeli government from clearing the site of Israeli settlers.
Settlers
prepare for long haul
BBC, June 10, 2003
Drive up the main road along the north of the West Bank and the outposts are clear
to see. They are clusters of white caravans and trailers on hilltops, often near
red-roofed Jewish settlements. The US-sponsored peace plan known as the roadmap
says that around 90 of these outposts - those set up since Ariel Sharon came to
power in March 2001 - should be taken down.
Defiant
settlers prepare to resist demolition
The Guardian, June 11, 2003
Hundreds of Israeli settlers congregated yesterday at Havat Gilad, one of dozens
of outposts in the West Bank which President Ariel Sharon has pledged to dismantle.
The settlers waited anxiously for the Israeli supreme court to decide whether
the army had the right to expel them or if they were living on private land.
Hear
Palestine, June 11, 2003
NEWS: Khan Younis: Resident Wounded in Israeli Fire during Funeral / Rafah: Home
Demolished; Rafah Crossing Halls destroyed / Ramallah: Israeli Soldiers Invade
City, Arrest Youngster / Tulkarem: Ongoing Curfew; More Military Roadblocks /
Hebron: Ongoing Curfew and Home Raids / Jenin: Arrests in Zabouba; Invasion of
City / Nablus: Escalation of Terror Campaign; 2 Youngsters Wounded
FEATURES: Jenin: Israeli Special Forces behind Assassination of Ibrahim / Ongoing
Military Escalations against Residents of Beit Hanoun / 20 Palestinians Killed
Since Aqaba Summit
Hear
Palestine, June 10, 2003
NEWS: Jabalya: 3 Members of Family Killed; 40 Wounded / 2 Killed, 37 Wounded
in Failed Assassination Attempt / Khan Younis: 2 Youths Murdered by Israeli Soldiers
/ Jenin: Resident Killed, 3 Wounded in Kufer Ra / Two Palestinians Killed near
Netsarim Settlement / Deir al-Balah: Military Invasion and Arrests / Nablus: Israeli
Soldiers Besiege Home, Arrest Resident / Tulkarem: Resident Arrested, Child Physically
Attacked / Hebron: Ongoing Military Attacks, Raids and Arrests; Land Confiscation
/ Qalqilya: More Land Confiscated under Isolation Wall; Pretexts FEATURES:
Waiting at Rafah Crossing / 228 Palestinians Killed in 3 Months
Occupation
Chronicle Events in Palestine June 11, 2003
Palestine Media Center, June 11, 2003
Three Palestinians from the same family were killed in an Israeli Apache gunship
raid on the northern Gaza Strip town of Jabalya. IOF also killed two Palestinians
in the southern Gaza Strip towns of Rafah and Khan Younis. Israeli Bulldozers
Demolish Rafah Crossing Offices.
Focus
/ Calls to disobey evacuation orders go largely unheeded
Haaretz, June 11, 2003
One does not need to be a great detective to figure out which rabbis have instructed
their students to disobey an order to evacuate settlement outposts. Although a
spokesman for the Council of Yesha (Judea, Samaria and Gaza) Rabbis has refused
to reveal their names, on Torah Internet sites it is still possible to read a
statement by one of the leading Yesha rabbis - Rabbi Zalman Melamed, head of the
Beit El Yeshiva and rabbi of the Beit El B settlement - which declares that it
is "totally prohibited for any person from Israel to evacuate Jewish outposts
in the land of Israel, and just as a person is required to disobey an order to
desecrate the Sabbath, he must refuse to obey an order to evacuate an outpost,
even if he will be punished as a result."
Turkish
PM reiterates offer to host Mideast summit
Haaretz, June 11, 2003
ISTANBUL - Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday renewed an offer
to host a peace conference to help bring peace etween Israel and the Palestinians.
Turkey, which enjoys warm relations with both Israel and the Palestinians, made
a similar offer last year.
Bush
upset at Israel for trying to kill Hamas chief
The Independent, June 11, 2003
President Bush said to be furious as the Israeli attack is condemned as an attempt
to scupper peace talks with Palestinians -- George Bush reacted angrily when Israel
attempted to assassinate a leading Palestinian militant yesterday - an attempt
that could seriously damage the peace process which is personally sponsored by
the US President.
Analysis
/ The missile aimed at Hamas hits Abbas and Bush
Haaretz, June 11, 2003
If the strategy of assassinations - it is no longer accurate to qualify them as
them "pinpoint prevention" - was "only" controversial up until yesterday, yesterday
the structural flaw inherent in the policy was proven.
Angry
U.S. asks, 'why the attempt on Rantisi?'
Haaretz, June 11, 2003
Israel's attack on a Hamas leader could make it harder for the new Palestinian
leadership to combat terrorism, President George W. Bush said yesterday. Bush
said he was "troubled" by the Israeli helicopter attack on Abdel Aziz Rantisi
in Gaza. Such incidents don't promote Israel's security, he said, and may "make
it more difficult for the Palestinian leadership to fight off terrorist attacks."
audio
Anger
and suspicion in Gaza City
The Guardian, June 11, 2003
June 10: Palestinians are furious at Israel's failed attempt to assassinate Hamas
leader Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi. Many see the attack as an operation launched directly
against the peace process with some alleging the collaboration of the Palestinian
prime minister, Abu Mazen. Chris McGreal reports from Gaza City. (1min 45s)
Press
united on Rantissi strike
BBC, June 11, 2003
In a rare show of unity, most leading Israeli papers join their counterparts in
the Arab world and Iran in condemning the assassination attempt on Hamas political
leader Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi. The consensus among Israeli commentators is that
the attack was aimed at the heart of the new peace process known as the roadmap.
There is a fear it will trigger off a new spate of suicide attacks. Commentators
in the Islamic world question Israel's commitment to peace.
Israeli
challenge to US roadmap
BBC, June 11, 2003
After the spectacle and symbolism of last week's summits in Egypt and Jordan,
the attack against Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi marks a brutal return to the cycle of
Arab-Israeli violence. The summits, attended by President Bush, formally launched
the latest Middle East peace plan - known as the roadmap - and were designed to
give new hope to the people of the region.
Washington
raps Israel over rocket attack on Hamas leader
The Guardian, June 11, 2003
Israel drew stinging criticism from Washington, accusations of terrorism from
its Palestinian partner in the peace process and a vow by Hamas to respond in
kind after an army helicopter tried to assassinate the Hamas political leader
in Gaza.
Israel
defends pre-emptive strike
BBC, June 11, 2003
Rantissi was targeted by at least seven missiles -- Israel has defended its policy
of pre-emptive strikes after US President George W Bush rebuked the country over
two deadly missile attacks. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's spokesman told the BBC
that Israel would not hesitate to act "if the Palestinian Authority fails to take
action against ticking bombs".
2
Palestinian civilians killed and more than 30 wounded by Israeli forces in an
assassination attempt on a senior member of Hamas
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, June 10, 2003
PCHR condemns the latest war crime perpetrated by Israeli occupying forces this
morning, which left dead 2 Palestinian civilians and wounded more than 30 others,
including a number of children. The failed assassination attempt targeted Dr.
'Abdul 'Aziz al-Rantisi, a prominent leader of the Hamas movement. This latest
attack is further evidence of the continuous escalation of illegal actions perpetrated
by Israeli occupying forces against Palestinian civilians, including extra-judicial
killings (assassinations).
“Unauthorized”
Settlement Outposts
Palestine Media Center, June 10, 2003
PLO Negotiations Affairs Department: “If we are evacuated, we’ll return
the night after and establish 10 new outposts.” -Settler spokesman Yehoshua
Mor-Yosef FACT SHEET: In an effort to demonstrate compliance with the Road
Map, the Israeli government has started to dismantle 15 of what it calls “unauthorized”
settlement outposts in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Palestinian
PM Slams Israel’s Attack as ‘Crime’, ‘Terrorist Act’
Palestine Media Center, June 11, 2003
Bush, Annan, Arabs Warn Israel against Drailing Peace Efforts -- June 11, 2003
- Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) condemned an Israeli missile
strike against the political leader of the Islamic Hamas movement Abdul-Aziz Al-Rantisi
Tuesday as a “terrorist” attack, as the US, UN, UK and Arab foreign
ministers warned that the Israeli extra-judicial assassination attempt could sabotage
the “roadmap” peace-making efforts.
10
Palestinians Killed in ‘Black Tuesday’
Palestine Media Center, June 11, 2003
Gaza’s Failed Assassination Attempt Sparks Domestic, Int’l Anger
-- June 11, 2003 - Three Palestinians from the same family were killed Tuesday
afternoon when Israeli Apache gunships fired several missiles at a car and a civilian
building in the northern Gaza Strip town of Jabalya, a few hours after a failed
assassination attempt on a top Hamas political leader in Gaza city, which left
an elderly woman, and a man dead.
World
Wide Condemnation following Israel's Terror Attacks in Gaza
International Press Center, June 11, 2003
RAMALLAH, Palestine, June 11, 2003 (IPC + Agencies)-- After a day of terror attacks
on Gaza Strip, which reached its peak when Israeli helicopter gunship attempted
Tuesday morning to assassinate senior Hamas leader, Dr. Abdel Aziz Al Rantisi
in Gaza City, the world strongly condemned the attacks left ten Palestinian civilians
killed and more than 70 others wounded.
Bush
warns Israel over attack on Hamas leader
Financial Times, June 10, 2003
George W. Bush on Tuesday scolded Israel for launching a helicopter assault on
a Hamas leader that killed three people, injured more than two dozen and undermined
efforts to restart the Middle East peace process.
IOF
Kills 11 Palestinians in Gaza and West Bank Within 24 Hours
International Press Center, June 11, 2003
GAZA, Palestine, June 11, 2003, IPC+WAFA-- Within less than 24 hours the
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) killed 11 Palestinian civilians in Gaza Strip
and West Bank. Palestinian sources affirmed that two Palestinian civilians were
killed late Monday near the Jewish illegitimate settlement of “Natzarim”,
southern Gaza City.
Wounded
Hamas leader vows to fight Israel
Sydney Morning Herald, June 11, 2003
Wounded Hamas leader Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi, who survived yesterday's Israeli
attempt to kill him, has vowed the Palestinian militant group would continue to
attack Israel until every last "Zionist" is gone. "We will maintain our jihad
(holy war) and resistance until we kick out every single criminal Zionist from
our land," he told al-Jazeera television by phone from a hospital following the
helicopter missile attack on his car in Gaza.
Bush,
Aides Criticize Israeli Action
Washington Post, June 11, 2003
U.S. Concern for 'Road Map' Noted -- President Bush criticized Israel for a pair
of missile attacks on Palestinian targets yesterday, as administration officials
expressed fear that a resurgence of violence could derail the nascent peace process
just six days after an upbeat summit meeting in Jordan. The two Israeli helicopter
attacks -- the second of which came despite warnings from the White House that
Bush was "deeply troubled" by the first strike -- produced an unusual rebuke of
Israel by the president and concerns that the U.S. "road map" to Middle East peace
was already moribund.
Father
Attalla Hanna: Assassination of Ranteesi targeted national unity
Palestinian Information Center, June 11, 2003
Occupied Jerusalem - The official spokesman of the Orthodox Church in Jerusalem
and the Holy Land, the Archimandrite Attalla Hanna, has denounced the Zionist
assassination attempt of the Hamas Movement leader Dr. Abdul Aziz Ranteesi in
Gaza yesterday.
Arafat:
PA officials to resume cease-fire talks with Hamas
Haaretz, June 11, 2003
Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat said Wednesday that Palestinian officials
plan to resume meetings with Hamas representatives aimed at reaching a cease-fire
agreement. "We will have a very important meeting with our brothers (in Hamas),"
he said.
PM:
Attempt on Rantisi does not signal policy shift
Haaretz, June 11, 2003
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told his cabinet Wednesday that Israel's failed assassination
attempt on Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi does not indicate a shift in Israel's
diplomatic policy, Army Radio reported. "Our policy remains the same. The IDF
will continue to work against terrorism in every place," the radio quoted the
prime minister as saying.
Nazzal:
Hamas will continue resistance against occupation
Palestinian Information Center, June 11, 2003
Beirut - Mohammed Nazzal, political bureau member of the Islamic Resistance Movement,
Hamas, has said that his Movement would strongly retaliate to the Zionist assassination
attempt against Dr. Abdul Aziz Ranteesi, one of the prominent Hamas leaders in
the Gaza Strip.
Stop
Attacks on Medical Relief Services
Palestine Monitor/Palestine Medical Relief, June 11, 2003
The Israeli occupying army has again attacked a Medical Relief Center. In Gaza
City on Tuesday the 10th of June, the army attempted to assassinate Hamas Leader,
Dr Abdel Aziz Rantissi. An Apache helicopter gunship fired missiles at Dr Rantissi’s
car, despite it being in a heavily crowded, civilian area.
Hamas
vows to resist systematic Israeli persecution of Palestinians
Palestinian Information Center, June 11, 2003
Hamas spokesman in Gaza Mahmoud Al-Zahhar said Wednesday Hamas and the Palestinian
people at large would forcefully and determinedly resist Nazi-like Israeli efforts
to annihilate the Palestinian people and turn millions of Palestinians into wanderers,
dispersed in the four corners of the globe.
`1967
made me'
Haaretz, June 11, 2003
Three 36-year-old women look at how their lives have been affected by the year
in which they were born. -- They did not conquer, liberate or "unite" any
pieces of land. You won't find their pictures in any victory album and their story
is not memorialized in any heroic poem. Their only association with the war is
the fact that all three were born in 1967.
Histadrut
to bring Haifa to a standstill today
Haaretz, June 11, 2003
The Histadrut labor federation and the Haifa unions are planning to bring the
northern port city to a complete standstill today as part of their protest against
the government's planned pension reforms.
Mofaz:
No way to cut NIS 300 million from defense budget
Haaretz, June 11, 2003
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz told the cabinet Wednesday morning that he does not
know how to cut an additional NIS 300 million from the defense budget, as proposed
by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as part of the government's economic austerity
plan.
“Yediot
Ahronot”: British Gas to discuss withholding gas from Israel
Globes, June 11, 2003
"...in the absence of progress in our prolonged efforts to enter the Israeli market,
British Gas is obligated as a commercial concern to considered its alternatives.."
-- The “Yediot Ahronot” Hebrew daily reports that British Gas Israel
general manager John Field went to Britain to attend a company board meeting.
The meeting will discuss cutting off contacts with the Israeli government, and
the sale of the company’s natural gas in other markets, by means of the
gas pipeline connected to El Arish in the Sinai peninsula in Egypt.
PM
and Goldberg square off at Knesset panel
Haaretz, June 11, 2003
A bitter clash erupted yesterday in the Knesset State Comptroller's meeting between
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and the State Comptroller, retired Justice Eliezer
Goldberg, over charges that Sharon was in a conflict of interests when he intervened
in an Israel Lands Administration decision, because the Sharon family own farms
on leased ILA land.
Fitch
assigns "A-" rating to Israel’s $750m bond
Globes, June 11, 2003
The outlook on Israel's ratings remains negative, the agency said. -- Fitch Ratings,
the international rating agency, has assigned a long-term foreign currency rating
of “A minus” to the State of Israel's $750 million ten-year bond,
issued yesterday. The outlook on Israel's ratings remains negative, the agency
said.
EU
to investigate Israeli research spending
The Guardian, June 10, 2003
Two academic bodies are to investigate how EU money is being spent on Israeli
research, it emerged today, as the European Commission for research renewed its
links with the country. Israel and the commission have signed an agreement that
makes the country eligible to bid for some of the £11bn available under Europe's
research programme, framework six.
US
soldier killed in Baghdad grenade attack
The Guardian, June 11, 2003
One US soldier was killed and another injured when their unit was hit by a rocket-propelled
grenade in Baghdad, the US army said today. The two men, serving with the 82nd
Airborne Division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team, were attacked while on duty at a
waste collection point in the south-west of the city yesterday.
Blix:
I was smeared by the Pentagon
The Guardian, June 11, 2003
Hans Blix, the UN chief weapons inspector, lashed out last night at the "bastards"
who have tried to undermine him throughout the three years he has held his high-profile
post. In an extraordinary departure from the diplomatic language with which he
has come to be associated, Mr Blix assailed his critics in both Washington and
Iraq.
Hans
Blix interview
The Guardian, June 11, 2003
One last warning from the man who made an enemy of Bush - UN weapons inspector
says Iraqi guilt is still not proven -- It is, even by the standards of understatement
for which Hans Blix is now renowned, "something special". It stands where he can
see it best - opposite his desk on the 31st floor of the United Nations: a cartoon
depicting the balding Swede as a stick of dynamite with President George Bush
demonically waving a match over his head.
Toll
grows as attacks on troops get smarter
Sydney Morning Herald, June 10, 2003
Almost every day, well-organised groups of assailants armed with assault rifles,
rocket-propelled grenades and mortars are ambushing United States Army convoys,
patrols, checkpoints, garrisons and public offices. The US forces respond with
house-to-house searches, arms seizures and force, sometimes killing bystanders.
G.I.'s
in Iraqi City Are Stalked by Faceless Enemies at Night
New York Times, June 11, 2003
FALLUJA, Iraq, June 10 — Since the American command quadrupled its military
presence here last week, not a day has gone by without troops weathering an ambush,
a rocket-propelled grenade attack, an assault with automatic weapons or a mine
blast.
U.S.
Occupation Leaves 10 Million Iraqis Jobless: Experts
Islam Online, June 11, 2003
Jobless Iraqis protest their deplorable conditions caused by the U.S. occupation
-- BAGHDAD , June 11 (IslamOnline.net & Al-Quds Press) – The U.S. occupation
of Iraq has left Iraq 's workforce, some 10 million Iraqis in both the private
and public sectors jobless, economic experts told the London-based Al-Quds Press
news agency. They charged the U.S.-led occupation authority of according the envisaged
oil exports revenues to U.S. companies to carry out "bogus" reconstruction projects.
U.S.
Causalities In Iraq Rising, Rumsfeld Concerned
Islam Online, June 11, 2003
BAGHDAD, June 11 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - A U.S. paratrooper was
killed and another seriously wounded in a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) attack
Tuesday, June 10, at a weapons collection centre in Baghdad, bringing the death
toll of U.S. soldiers in Iraq to a total of 30 since May 1, when U.S. President
George W. Bush declared the war on Iraq effectively over.
US
prints Saddam banknotes
BBC, June 10, 2003
The US authorities in Iraq are printing millions of banknotes with the face of
Saddam Hussein on them - in defiance of their own ban on the former leader's image.
Officials say they have been forced to begin printing 250 dinar notes - which
carry a picture of a young Saddam in jacket and tie - in an effort stem a growing
cash crisis.
Pretender
joins battle for Baghdad
The Guardian, June 11, 2003
Cousin of murdered King Faisal bids for restoration of Iraq's short-lived monarchy
-- An immaculately dressed investment banker flew home from London yesterday for
the first time in 45 years to stake his claim to the Iraqi throne. Sharif Ali
bin al-Hussein, a cousin of Iraq's last king, Faisal II, arrived on a private
jet at the military-occupied Baghdad international airport.
In
Holy City, Things Are Going Right
Washington Post, June 11, 2003
U.S. Forces and Iraqis Work Together in Shiite Stronghold of Karbala -- KARBALA,
Iraq -- Hundreds of demonstrators surged through streets snarled with traffic.
They coursed past the gold-leaf dome of one of Shiite Islam's most sacred shrines,
past grimy walls plastered with portraits of young men killed by Saddam Hussein's
government and past the hovels of pilgrims. Through a rickety bullhorn came chants
demanding that U.S. forces occupying Karbala pay the salaries of soldiers in the
disbanded Iraqi army and pensions to veterans.
'Iraqis
did have Scuds'
The Guardian, June 11, 2003
Channel 4 News diplomatic correspondent Lindsey Hilsum has admitted that she "self-censored"
her reports from Baghdad and did not tell viewers that Saddam Hussein's regime
was hiding Scud missile launchers in residential areas, because she did not want
to be thrown out of the city.
U.S.
Policies Lead to Dire Straits for Some in Iraq
CommonDreams/Los Angeles Times, June 10, 2003
BAGHDAD — From the Americans' perspective, recent decisions to disband the
defeated Iraqi army and bar full members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party from
state posts seemed like no-brainers. But both decrees from the head of the U.S.-led
occupation have angered Iraqis and created new problems for American and British
authorities trying to run the country.
GOP
Doesn't Want Iraq Intelligence Probe
The Guardian, June 11, 2003
WASHINGTON (AP) - Senate Republicans are resisting Democrats' calls for a full-blown
investigation of whether intelligence on Iraq's weapons programs was inaccurate
or manipulated to make the case for war.
Bush
Insists Iraq Weapons Will Be Found
CommonDreams, June 10, 2003
"Whether or not they find weapons of mass destruction doesn't matter, because
the rationale for the war changed. Americans like a good picture. And one photograph
of an Iraqi child kissing a U.S. soldier is more powerful than two months of debate
on the floor of Congress." - Republican pollster Frank Luntz --- WASHINGTON
- President Bush is brushing aside the failure so far of U.S. and British forces
to find mass-killing weapons in Iraq, insisting that time will prove him right.
Senators
Urge Congress to Hold Hearings on Iraq
CommonDreams, June 10, 2003
WASHINGTON - Two key senators said on Tuesday that Congress should hold hearings
on what intelligence led the United States to go to war against Iraq. Concerns
have been rising in the United States and worldwide that the banned arsenal the
U.S. administration cited as the reason for launching the war has not been found
in the weeks since the ousting of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
Security
watchdog attacks Blair over Iraq intelligence
The Independent, June 11, 2003
The Parliamentary watchdog responsible for security accused the Government yesterday
of manipulating intelligence on Iraq while failing to provide political leadership
for the war on terror.
Norway
rubs salt into Bush's war wound
Nettavisen AS, June 10, 2003
The pressure against the US and Great Britain is increasing as no weapons of mass
destruction have yet been found. On Tuesday Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne
Bondevik rubbed salt into the wounds. "It is interesting that no weapons of mass
destruction have been found in Iraq», said Bondevik during a conference in Oslo
on Tuesday. "As long as no weapons of mass destruction have been found, it strengthens
the stand Norway took against the war», the PM said, stressing that the whole
point of the war was the fear that weapons of mass destruction existed in Iraq."
Chalabi
Defends Intelligence on Arms
Washington Post, June 11, 2003
NEW YORK, June 10 -- Ahmed Chalabi, a former Iraqi exile who fed the United States
intelligence on Iraq's banned arms program that helped justify the U.S.-led war,
today dismissed charges that he exaggerated the threat posed by Saddam Hussein's
weapons. Chalabi, 58, the leader of the Pentagon-backed Iraqi National Congress,
insisted that U.S. authorities would find the former Iraqi government's hidden
weapons once they locate Hussein. Chalabi maintained that Hussein is still alive
and directing attacks against U.S. soldiers.
Iraq
weapons: Where does the buck stop?
BBC, June 10, 2003
In the aftermath of the Iraq war, you can almost hear the buck being passed between
political leaders and their intelligence advisers. There are two main issues.
The first is whether the British and US Governments exaggerated ("sexed up" in
the words of one unnamed source) the basic intelligence on Iraq weapons in order
to justify a war.
Cheers
and Grumbles for Democracy and a Would-Be King
New York Times, June 11, 2003
BAGHDAD, Iraq, June 10 — It was another day in postwar Iraq. On the north
end of town, hundreds of tribal sheiks in colorful robes sat in plastic chairs
outside the royal mausoleum to hear the first words of Sherif Ali bin Hussein,
a member of the former Iraqi royal family, who returned today to offer himself
as a successor to the last king, overthrown by Arab nationalists in 1958. "Iraq
is for the Iraqis," he said to cheers from the crowd. "We won't accept being under
the mandate of anyone. Iraqis will choose their future."
Armitage
Encourages Japan to Send Troops to Iraq
Arab News, June 11, 2003
TOKYO, 11 June 2003 — US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage encouraged
Japan yesterday to “get out of the stands” and send troops to Iraq
to help with its reconstruction. Armitage, who was in Japan to attend a donors’
meeting for Sri Lanka, held separate talks with Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary
Yasuo Fukuda at the prime minister’s office.
Saddam's
daughters need 'safe haven'
BBC, June 11, 2003
Saddam Hussein's daughters have enemies "who would like to hurt them" and need
a place of safety, a cousin of the former Iraqi leader has reportedly said. Izzedin
Al-Majid denied reports he was seeking to gain permanent asylum in the UK for
two of Saddam's daughters, but said they were thinking of visiting the country.
Iraqi
boy steps in to help bring civil order
Boston Globe, June 9, 2003
BAGHDAD -- Through the toxic haze of Baghdad's traffic jams, unbowed by 105-degree
heat that turns the asphalt into a sizzling griddle beneath him, Muslim Abdullah
has an intimate view of Iraq's postwar malaise. From the intersection of al-Maalive
and al-Shortha al-Arab streets, 12-year-old Abdullah directs traffic with his
red baseball cap.
Rumsfeld:
Iran fast approaching nuclear weapons capability
Haaretz, June 11, 2003
GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany - U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said
on Wednesday Iran was fast approaching a point where it may have nuclear weapons,
although it did not appear to have any at present. "The intelligence community
in the United States and around the world currently assess that Iran does not
have nuclear weapons," he told a meeting with students in the southern German
town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
Bremer
attacks Iran for 'meddling' in Iraqi politics
Financial Times, June 10, 2003
The US civil administrator in Iraq on Tuesday criticised "meddling and interference"
by neighbouring Iran, as relations between the US-led coalition and an Iranian-backed
Iraqi political party continued to deteriorate.
Thousands
protest in Tehran
The Guardian, June 11, 2003
A student protest against the privatisation of Iranian universities today snowballed
into a mass demonstration against Tehran's hardline clerics. Iranians demanding
reform staged their biggest protests in months, chanting slogans against the powerful
Muslim clerics they accuse of limiting freedoms and the reformist government for
failing to rein them in.
Iran
greets Iraqi Shia militant
BBC, June 9, 2003
The Iranian Government has invited a militant Iraqi Shia leader, Moqtada Sadr,
to the country despite warnings from the US that Iran should stop meddling in
Iraqi affairs. The official Iranian news agency said Mr Sadr was visiting Iran
to take part in a ceremony to mark the anniversary of the death of Ayatollah Khomeini,
the founder of Iran's Islamic regime.
US
should back up nuke accusations: Iran
Jang Groupo, June 11, 2003
Tehran tells US not to interfere in its internal affairs -- TEHRAN: The head of
Iran's atomic energy body asserted on Tuesday that the country was not concealing
any of its facilities from UN nuclear inspectors, and challenged the United States
to back up accusations to the contrary with hard evidence. "There are no remaining
facilities that should be declared under the provisions of the International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA)," Gholam Reza Aghazadeh told a press conference.
US
expects IAEA to issue 'non-biased' report on Iran
Middle East Newsline, June 11, 2003
WASHINGTON [MENL] -- The United States has demanded that the International Atomic
Energy Agency issue what officials termed a non-biased report on Iran's nuclear
program. The U.S. demand was relayed amid growing suspicion in Washington that
IAEA director Mohammed El Baradei was planning to play down or ignore evidence
of alleged Iranian violations of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and agency
regulations.
Iran
agrees Iraq hid arms
Washington Times, June 11, 2003
NEW YORK — An [unnamed] Iranian government official with ties to Supreme
Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says Tehran sides with the Americans on one big
issue — Saddam Hussein's weapons. "Yes, we agree with the Americans. Our
intelligence indicated that Iraq did possess weapons of mass destruction and was
hiding them from the U.N.," the official said.
Saudi
FM to head to Tehran
Middle East Online, June 11, 2003
RIYADH - Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal will travel to Tehran "within
days" for talks about members of the al-Qaeda terror network detained in Iran,
a diplomatic source said here Wednesday. Prince Saud will want to know from his
Iranian hosts, particularly Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi, if the detainees include
any Saudis, the source said.
Row
erupts over ancient bust
BBC, June 10, 2003
The director of Berlin's Egyptian Museum has denied claims that a video installation
featuring the bust of Queen Nefertiti has defamed Egypt's history. The German
museum allowed Hungarian artists temporarily fuse a 3,300 year-old bust of the
Egyptian queen to a bronze statue of a semi-naked woman for a video installation.
Nefertiti
mummy 'found in Egypt'
BBC, June 10, 2003
Scientists in Egypt say they may have discovered the mummy of Queen Nefertiti,
one of the most famous figures of ancient Egypt. A group of scientists believe
that she is one of three mummies discovered in a secret chamber of a tomb known
as KV35 in Egypt's Valley of the Kings in Luxor.
Saudi
Arabia Launches New PR Campaign in US
Arab News, June 11, 2003
WASHINGTON, 11 June 2003 — In an effort to curtail a public relations crisis
in the United States, the Saudi Embassy yesterday announced a nationwide advertising
campaign aimed at improving the country’s image by explaining that Saudi
Arabia, like the United States, is a victim of extremists and a reliable ally
in President Bush’s war on terrorism.
Bombs
Thrown at U.S. Consulate in Turkey
The Guardian, June 11, 2003
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) - A man was arrested after allegedly tossing two homemade
bombs into the garden of the U.S. Consulate in the southern Turkish city of Adana
on Wednesday, causing minor damage but no injuries, an official said.
Opec
keeps production quotas unchanged
Financial Times, June 11, 2003
The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries on Wednesday decided to keep
its output limits unchanged while Iraq continues to struggle with restarting its
exports. Opec ministers, entering a meeting in Doha, Qatar, said the group's production
ceiling would remain at 25.4m barrels a day, erasing market concerns that the
group would tighten supply.
Muslims
Irked By BBC Hatred-Inciting Program
Islam Online, June 11, 2003
LONDON, June 11 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Despite appeals by senior
Muslim figures that it was a distortion of the reality of Muslims in Britain and
an incitement to religious hatred, the BBC 1 aired Monday, June 9, a controversial
episode of the MI5 drama, Spooks, featuring an Imam of a fictional mosque in Birmingham
who recruited Muslim students and teenagers to be “suicide” bombers,
a leading British news paper reported Wednesday, June 11.
Envoy
to 'Arab Street' Stays Hopeful
Washington Post, June 10, 2003
For the past 18 months, a retired Foreign Service officer named Christopher Ross
has had one of the most challenging jobs in the U.S. government: selling the United
States, and U.S. foreign policy, to Arabs and Muslims.
Britain
asks US to resolve Guantanamo situation
Jang Group, June 11, 2003
LONDON: Britain said on Tuesday it had called on the United States to resolve
the "anomalous situation" faced by al-Qaeda and Taliban suspects held at Guantanamo
bay in Cuba. "We have made it very clear that we do expect international standards
to be applied in the way in which individuals are detained, particularly where
they are British nationals," junior Foreign Office Minister Mike O'Brien said
in parliament.
Guantanamo
May Set Up Execution Chamber
The Guardain, June 10, 2003
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - Guantanamo officials are working on plans to provide
a courtroom, a prison and an execution chamber if the order comes to try terror
suspects at the base in Cuba, the mission commander said.
Court
allows veterans to reopen chemical cases
Washington Times, June 11, 2003
The Supreme Court, for lack of a tie-breaking vote, cleared the way yesterday
for veterans who believe Agent Orange caused their cancer to reopen long-settled
legal actions against Dow Chemical Co. and Monsanto Co.
Rumsfeld
choice of army chief angers top brass
The Telegraph, June 11, 2003
Donald Rumsfeld, the American defence secretary, yesterday selected a retired
general as head of the US army, bypassing the military's top brass and stoking
tensions within the Pentagon. Gen Peter Schoomaker, who retired after heading
the US special operations command from 1997 to 2000, is to become chief of staff,
according to US defence sources.
Britain
moves to expand Security Council
Sydney Morning Herald, June 12, 2003
Britain's Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, is planning to put forward detailed proposals
at the United Nations to reform the Security Council in a move to mend some of
the damage done by disagreements over the Iraq war. The British Foreign Office
confirmed on Tuesday that it wants to see the 15-member security council expanded
to 24 to give a wider reflection of world opinion.
U.S.
Resolution on World Court Revives Hostility
New York Times, June 11, 2003
UNITED NATIONS, June 10 — An American resolution that would extend United
States citizens' immunity from the jurisdiction of the International Criminal
Court has rekindled some of the trans-Atlantic hostility that led to the diplomatic
debacle over the Iraq war.
After
war, a new rift between U.S. and EU
International Herald Tribune, June 11, 2003
Europe opposes world court exceptions -- With relations still strained over the
war in Iraq and other issues, the United States has warned European Union countries
not to lobby actively against a U.S. campaign for bilateral national agreements
that put U.S. citizens beyond the reach of the new International Criminal Court.
U.S.
Warns E.U. Over Blocking ICC Deals, Signs More
Islam Online, June 11, 2003
Several U.S. officials, including Gen Tommy Franks, are facing war crimes accusations
-- WASHINGTON, June 10 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – The U.S.
warned the E.U. not to block bilateral deals with future E.U. members on immunity
for U.S. citizens from prosecution by the International Criminal Court (ICC) over
war crimes accusations as it hammered out deals with two non-European countries.
War
crime vote fuels US anger at Europe
The Guardian, June 11, 2003
The US has bitterly attacked European leaders for trying to stop the UN security
council voting tomorrow to renew America's exemption from prosecution by the new
war crimes tribunal.
New
book hails glory of DH Rumsfeld, poet
Sydney Morning Herald, June 11, 2003
You might think that he's just the US Secretary of Defence, but Donald Rumsfeld
is also a poet even though he doesn't know it. In fact, says journalist, humourist
and verse compiler Hart Seely, the man's poetry has been hidden - embedded, if
you will - deep inside his numerous press briefings and it took around-the-clock
perusals of Pentagon transcripts to liberate the poems, free the verses.
