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Israel
Declares All-Out War On Hamas
Palestine Chronicle, June 12, 2003
"The Israeli television quoted senior Israeli officials on Wednesday, June 11,
as saying that everyone 'from the lowliest member to Sheikh Ahmad Yassin' is a
legitimate target .." -- OCCCUPIED JERUSALEM - Israeli Internal Security Minister
Tzachi Hanegbi warned Hamas leaders Thursday, June 12, that not one of them was
safe any more.
Hamas
Wants Foreigners Out Of Israel, Sharon Targeted
Palestine Chronicle, June 12, 2003
GAZA CITY - The military wing of the Palestinian Islamic resistance group Hamas
warned foreigners Thursday, June 12, to leave Israel for their own safety while
declaring for the first time that "the head" of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
was now targeted and threatening new operations against the Israelis.
Bush
Under Fire in Congress for Criticizing Israel
New York Times, June 12, 2003
WASHINGTON, June 11 — Supporters of Israel in and out of Congress assailed
President Bush today for criticizing Israeli attacks on Palestinian militant groups
as the administration worked to protect its Middle East peace initiative from
a new cycle of violence.
Israeli
Missiles Kill Nine in Gaza City
The Guardian, June 12, 2003
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - In the third Israeli airstrike in 24 hours, Israeli
helicopters fired several missiles at the car of a Hamas fugitive Thursday, killing
seven people, including the wanted man, his wife and 2-year-old daughter...Israel
targeted the car in Gaza City's Sheik Radwan neighborhood, near a cemetery, where
relatives earlier buried 11 dead from Wednesday's airstrikes. At least one missile
landed as bystanders surrounded Taha's car, witnesses said.
Dead,
the people who tried to help
The Guardian, June 12, 2003
"When we started trying to evacuate them from the car, another missile attack
took place while a huge number of people were gathering trying to help the wounded."
-- The news of the Jerusalem suicide bombing had not even hit the streets of Gaza
City when between three and six missiles slammed into a line of slow-moving cars
in the Saja'iya district of the city. Nobody expected a second Israeli rocket
attack so soon after the previous day's failed attempted assassination of Abdel-Aziz
al-Rantissi, a senior political leader in Hamas.
Jerusalem
bus attack death toll rises to 17
Haaretz, June 12, 2003
The body of an Israeli was found in car adjacent to the village of Yabed, in the
northern West Bank, Thursday evening. The man was wounded in a shooting attack,
and the Magen David Adom crew that arrived at the scene pronounced him dead. The
death toll in the Jerusalem suicide bombing rose to 17 on Thursday when Tzipora
Levy, 70, from Jerusalem died of wounds sustained in Wednesday's attack.
audio
Suicide
bomb attack kills 23 in Jerusalem
The Guardian, June 11, 2003
June 11: Some Israelis are for the first time questioning the government's targeted
assassination policy, following today's suicide attack in central Jerusalem, reports
Chris McGreal from the Israeli capital. (2min 25s)
Seven
Palestinians Killed and Tens Injured in a New Wave of Israeli Terror
International Press Center, June 12, 2003
GAZA, Palestine, June 11, 2003, IPC+WAFA-- Seven Palestinian civilians were killed,
including two women, and tens others were wounded when two Israeli Apache helicopters
hit a vehicle with six rockets in a busy market in Al-Zaitoun neighborhood, in
Gaza city.
Israeli
Raid Assassinates Another 2 In Gaza
Islam Online, June 12, 2003
The Israeli army detained many Palestinian residents in Hebron --GAZA CITY, June
12 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Two Hamas members were killed
in a fresh Israeli air raid on Gaza overnight Wednesday, June 12, as the Israeli
army were ordered to “wipe out” the Islamic resistance movement.
Rocket
attacks harden mood in Gaza
BBC, June 11, 2003
Four Israeli helicopter strikes in less than two days have left many people in
Gaza stunned. -- The cynics who said that the latest plan for peace in the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict would never succeed have a feeling that they are about to be proved right.
U.S.
Demands Arab States To Crack Down On ‘Hamas’
Islam Online, June 12, 2003
WASHINGTON, June 12 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - U.S. Secretary of
State Colin Powell demanded Arab states Thursday, June 12, to crack down hard
on Palestinian resistance factions like Hamas, while Palestinian officials say
that Israel has declared war on all Palestinians.
Hamas
leader Calls Bush's Call for Severing Finances ‘Silly'
Palestine Chronicle, June 12, 2003
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM - A Palestinian Islamic leader has scoffed at President Bush's
call on Wednesday for severing financial support to Palestinian groups, calling
his remarks ''silly and vacuous.'' ' 'Hamas doesn't receive financial assistance
from abroad. Hamas doesn't need financial assistance from abroad. Hamas exists
in the heart and conscience of every man, woman and child of our people,'' said
Hamas representative in Bethlehem, Abu Ahmed.
Israel
Demolishes House Of Disabled Arab-Israeli
Islam Online, June 12, 2003
GAZA CITY, June 12 (IslamOnline.net) - Israeli troops bulldozed flat Wednesday,
June 11, the house of a wheelchair bound Palestinian citizen in the pre-1948 town
of Al-Lydd, now the Israeli mixed town of Lod. Backed by an Israeli helicopter
gunship and over 200 Israeli policemen, two Israeli bulldozers demolished the
40 square meter house of the 23-year-old Hany Zbeidah, a computer engineer, according
to a human rights activist at the scene.
Monitoring
panel head slams `trend to deligitimize Arabs'
Haaretz, June 12, 2003
The remand of senior members of the Islamic Movement's Northern branch was slammed
by Shoki Hatib, chairman of the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee, as "a
continued trend in policy to delegitimize the Arab population" at a press conference
yesterday, to mark one month's remand of five members of the movement.
Bush
Reacts Cautiously to Violence
Washington Post, June 11, 2003
President Addresses Middle East With Moderate Pleas for Peace -- The Bush administration
has reacted with deliberate caution to the mounting violence in the Middle East,
limiting the level of direct presidential involvement despite President Bush's
vow at last week's summits to remain engaged in the new U.S.-backed peace plan.
Breaking
News: Bush: Abbas is weak
Jewish Telegraphic Agency, June 12, 2003
President Bush told Jewish leaders that he believed the Palestinian prime minister
is "weak." Bush hosted what is believed to be the first kosher White House dinner
for nearly 100 Jewish leaders and officials Wednesday, to mark the opening of
an exhibit of Anne Frank’s writings at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Bush
learns brutal reality
The Independent, June 12, 2003
Not surprisingly, some look to the internationalisation of the peace enforcement
effort. John Warner, the influential chairman of the Senate armed services committee,
called for Nato to be sent in. -- George Bush has taken only seven days to learn
for himself the brutal, unyielding realities of the Middle East.
Israel
Prevents UNRWA Management from Meeting
Alternative Information Center/UNRWA, June 11, 2003
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has
today protested to the Israeli Government at the actions of its security services
that prevented the entire headquarters management of the Agency from leaving the
Gaza Strip to attend a high-level meeting.
Army
to hold hearings against removal of outposts
Haaretz, June 12, 2003
The army has accepted a recommendation from the High Court of Justice to hold
hearings for outpost settlers trying to stop an order to remove them from Havat
Gilad and Shave Shomron West. Based on the results of the hearings, the court
will decide how to proceed with the petitions against the evacuation of the two
outposts.
The
settlers of Gilad's Farm defy America
The Independent, June 12, 2003
On a dusty hilltop in the West Bank, where the hills stretch into the blue horizon,
a group of young men sit under an open tent. One is strumming badly on a guitar
and the others sing along happily. A small boy sits astride a white horse. A beautiful
young mother holds a baby in her arms. There are a couple of shipping containers
that have been converted into very basic homes.
At
West Bank outposts, settlers prepare to meet army bulldozers
Jewish Telegraphic Agency, June 11, 2003
Some joked about sending bulldozers to Sharon’s ranch in the Negev, to “see
how he feels when someone tries to rip apart his home.” -- TEL AVIV, June
10 (JTA) — “This is the real war,” said Itai Zar, the founder
and spiritual leader of Gilad’s Farm, a settlement outpost just over the
hill from Nablus in the West Bank.
Missing
Muslim Students Detained by Israel Returning to UK
Palestine Chronicle, June 12, 2003
"The two students, both aged 23, briefly spoke with their families after being
held in an Israeli jail for 11 days on June 4, but there was no further contact
.." -- LONDON - Two Muslim medical students, who disappeared without trace after
being detained by Israeli authorities, were returning to the UK Wednesday, IRNA
has learnt.
Hear
Palestine, June 12, 2003
Hear Palestine
NEWS: 7 Killed, Over 40 Wounded in Israeli Air Strike on Gaza City / Rafah: 10
Homes Demolished; Agricultural Land Bulldozed
Arafat,
Abbas Condemn 'Terrorist Operations' in Jerusalem, Gaza
Palestine Chronicle, June 12, 2003
"Arafat gave a live landmark speech on television after one of the worst eruptions
of violence in the 32-month-old Intifada against the Israeli occupation, which
left at least 30 people dead in two days .." -- RAMALLAH - President Yasser Arafat
and Prime Minister Mahmud Abbas (Abu Mazen) on Wednesday condemned the “terrorist
operations” against Palestinian and Israeli civilians and called on all
Palestinian factions to declare an “immediate” ceasefire and a stop
to all forms of operations.
Arafat
calls bombing `terror' for first time
Haaretz, June 12, 2003
About three hours after the suicide bombing of Bus 14, PA Chairman Yasser Arafat
condemned the attack, calling it, for the first time since the start of the current
intifada, "a terrorist attack." In a statement which he read out on television
from the Muqata in Ramallah, Arafat said: "I strongly condemn this terrorist attack
that targeted Israeli civilians in Jerusalem."
Annan
Condemns Palestinian Attack in Jerusalem as 'Utterly Reprehensible'
Palestine Chronicle, June 12, 2003
NEW YORK - Calling such attacks "utterly reprehensible," United Nations Secretary-General
Kofi Annan yesterday condemned "in the strongest possible terms" the suicide bombing
by the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Jerusalem, saying such actions "only
serve to spur further hatred and mistrust."
Berlusconi
Asks Israel to Show ‘Greater Wisdom’
Arab News, June 12, 2003
CAIRO/BEIRUT, 12 June 2003 — Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi yesterday
urged Israel to show “greater wisdom” following its failed bid to
assassinate a Palestinian leader. “Even if I understand Israel’s reaction,
Israel must demonstrate greater wisdom, prudence and lucidity,” Berlusconi
told a press conference with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, following their
talks here.
Political
stability above all
Haaretz, June 12, 2003
An examination of the Aqaba summit and the contacts that preceded it lead to two
conclusions regarding Israeli-Palestinian talks in the future. First, with the
absence of trust between the sides, American involvement is vital for the process
to take place. Second, it appears that the political stability of the government
in Jerusalem is more important than its partisan makeup or even its ministers'
views.
Powell
to Try Patching Mideast Truce Plan
The Guardian, June 12, 2003
WASHINGTON (AP) - Secretary of State Colin Powell plans to meet in Jordan with
leaders of Russia, the European Union and the United Nations in an effort to repair
the tattered road map for peacemaking between Israel and the Palestinians.
Powell
plans Quartet meeting in bid to save Mideast peace
Haaretz, June 12, 2003
Secretary of State Colin Powell is preparing to meet in Jordan with UN, Russian
and European Union leaders in an effort to repair the tattered road map for peacemaking
between Israel and the Palestinians, U.S. and diplomatic sources said Thursday.
Sharon:
I'll continue to pursue terrorists
Haaretz, June 12, 2003
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said yesterday that Israel "will continue to pursue
until the end the terrorists and those that send them," but added that he remained
committed to carrying on the political process of the road map.
Fearing
assassination, Hamas official ends live interview
Haaretz, June 12, 2003
In a sign indicative of the growing fear within the Hamas leadership of being
targeted for assassination by Israel, senior Hamas official Ismail Hania on Thursday
abruptly ended a live interview on Al-Jazeera television, due to the sound of
helicopters in the distance.
Hamas
warns foreigners to leave Israel
Haaretz, June 12, 2003
Hamas vowed on Thursday to carry out more attacks inside Israel following a bus
bombing in Jerusalem on Wednesday, and warned all foreigners to leave the country
for their own safety. In a pamphlet released Thursday the militant organization
said that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was a wanted terrorist and therefore a target
for assassination.
Hamas
warning after Gaza strikes
BBC, June 12, 2003
Israeli strikes on Hamas have multiplied -- Palestinian militant group Hamas has
warned foreigners to leave Israeli soil and pledged to bomb the Israeli state
into "rubble". The group's military wing issued its statement on a day when an
Israeli helicopter strike on Gaza City killed seven people, including a well-known
Hamas figure.
Sheikh
Hassan: Assassination attempt targets breaking Palestinian willpower
Palestinian Information Center, June 12, 2003
Al-Khalil - Sheikh Hassan Yousef, the detained Hamas Movement leader, has denounced
the Zionist attempt on the life of Dr. Abdul Aziz Ranteesi, political bureau member
of the Hamas Movement....He said that the Zionist government hoped that the liquidation
of Dr. Ranteesi would break the Palestinian people’s willpower and block
any attempt to reach inter-Palestinian understanding.
Day
of carnage leaves Middle East in chaos
The Guardian, June 12, 2003
Israel and Hamas count the dead -- A teenage suicide bomber dressed as an Orthodox
Jew killed 16 people on a rush-hour bus in the heart of Jerusalem yesterday, fulfilling
a vow by the militant Islamic movement Hamas to avenge a botched Israeli attempt
to assassinate itspolitical leader a day earlier.
Carnage
returns to Jaffa Street
The Guardian, June 12, 2003
Fear and anger sweep area after bombing strikes -- The killer set out to look
like his victims. It was not the first time a suicide bomber has dressed as an
Orthodox Jew - the bulky, loose clothing favoured by religious men and women is
good for shielding explosives - but that did not alert anyone.
Israeli
Forces Take Aim at Hamas for Third Strike in 24 Hours
New York Times, June 12, 2003
A new round of violence erupted in the Mideast today as Israeli helicopters fired
missiles at a car in Gaza City, killing a senior official of the militant group
Hamas and at least six other Palestinians, news agencies reported. The official
was identified by Palestinian officials as Yasser Taha, Reuters said, adding that
Mr. Taha's wife and 3-year-old daughter were among those killed.
16
killed, scores hurt in Jerusalem bus bomb
Haaretz, June 12, 2003
Sixteen people were killed and more than 100 injured when a Palestinian suicide
bomber, dressed as an ultra-Orthodox Jew, blew himself up on a bus in central
Jerusalem yesterday afternoon.
Jerusalem
Bus Bomb Kills 17 as Strife Rises
Washington Post, June 11, 2003
Airstrikes in Gaza Kill 9 Palestinians; Bush Plan Is Tested -- JERUSALEM, June
11 -- A suicide bomber set off a massive explosion today that killed 16 Israelis
aboard a crowded passenger bus at rush hour here, and within hours, Israel launched
two airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, killing nine Palestinians.
IOF
Kills 11 Palestinians in Gaza and West Bank Within 24 Hours
International Press Center, June 12, 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.
Israeli
Raid On Gaza Kills 7, Including Hamas Cadre
Islam Online, June 12, 2003
GAZA CITY, June 12 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - At least seven Palestinians
were killed, including a Hamas cadre, his wife and one-year-old daughter, when
several Israeli helicopter gunships fired late Thursday, June 12, missiles at
a car in northern Gaza City.
Israel
kills two senior Hamas men in Gaza
Haaretz, June 12, 2003
Six civilians, including two women, also killed in missile attack -- Israel
assassinated two senior Hamas men with missiles fired from attack helicopters
in Gaza yesterday. In the attack six civilians including two women were also killed
and several others wounded.
Victim
was top Hamas fighter
The Guardian, June 12, 2003
Tito Massaoud, killed by an Israeli helicopter missile attack yesterday, was one
of the most senior commanders in Hamas, the Islamist Palestinian group responsible
for most of the suicide bombings against Israel. The strike is one of a long list
of assassinations carried out by Israeli forces against Palestinian militants,
both in the occupied territories and in their havens in neighbouring Arab countries.
Familiar
Scenes of Horror in Two Communities
Washington Post, June 11, 2003
JERUSALEM, June 11 -- The woman passenger was on fire by the time Eliyahu Shmueli
reached the bus. He tried to pull her out but she was wedged between two seats.
Zionists
resume air strikes on Gaza, 2 more Palestinians killed
Palestinian Information Center, June 12, 2003
Occupied Jerusalem - The Israeli occupation army resumed air attacks on Palestinian
population centers in Gaza last night, killing two more Palestinians. Palestinian
sources in said Zionist apache helicopters fired several missiles on a stadium
in central Gaza shortly before midnight, killing two people.
Eight
killed, scores wounded, in fresh Israeli atrocity in Gaza
Palestinian Information Center, June 12, 2003
Occupied Jerusalem - At least eight people, including a two-year-old toddler,
were killed and more than thirty others injured Thursday when Israeli helicopter
gunships attacked a crowded neighborhood in central Gaza.
Zionist
MP demands banishment of Arafat, Yassin and Ranteesi
Palestinian Information Center, June 12, 2003
Occupied Jerusalem - Ehud Yatum, a Zionist MP, has proposed the banishment of
Palestinian Authority chief Yasser Arafat along with Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, founder
and spiritual leader of the Hamas Movement, and Dr. Abdul Aziz Ranteesi, one of
the senior Hamas leaders.
Analysis:
Is Sharon to blame? Israelis wonder
The Guardian, June 12, 2003
PM's bid to kill Hamas leader condemned -- It is question rarely asked by Israel's
Jews, and almost never in public. But yesterday one member of the Israeli parliament,
Roman Bronfman, cautiously wondered if the prime minister, Ariel Sharon, did not
have Jewish blood on his hands.
Analysis
/Hamas has more than one equation
Haaretz, June 12, 2003
The concept "timing," which was a key element to understanding the significance
of Tuesday's attempted Israeli assassination of Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi,
showed up again yesterday in the timing of the bombing in Jerusalem.
Focus
/ Americans fear Abu Mazen is further weakened
Haaretz, June 12, 2003
WASHINGTON - From here the serious bombing in Jerusalem looks like a direct extension
of Israel's abortive attempt to assassinate Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi on
Tuesday. The American administration is now less interested in Palestinian terrorism
and more in the question of why Ariel Sharon broke his promise, as they see it,
to Secretary of State Colin Powell.
Bush
struggles to salvage road map
The Guardian, June 12, 2003
George Bush yesterday led a desperate effort to salvage his Middle East road map,
only a week after pledging his personal commitment to brokering peace. The scale
of the violence of the last 48 hours appeared to have deeply shaken the US president.
Yesterday, he could barely disguise his frustration.
No
buckling up for resistance activists wanted by Israel
Jordan Times, June 12, 2003
GAZA (R) — Seat belts and door locks are car safety features that can prove
fatal to Palestinian resistance leaders on the Israeli occupation army's most-wanted
list. As Hamas official Abdul Aziz Rantisi showed on Tuesday, quick moves are
key to surviving helicopter-fired missiles — favoured weapons in Israel's
track-and-kill operations against leaders of a 32-month-old Palestinian uprising
for independence.
Occupation
Chronicle Events in Palestine June 12, 2003
Palestine Media Center
Ten Palestinians were killed, dozens others were wounded, in two Israeli air raids
on al-Shujaiya and al-Zaitoun neighborhoods in Gaza city. IOF also demolished
ten houses in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah.
Fadlallah:
Attempt on Rantissi is message to US
Daily Star, June 12, 2003
Israel ‘using war on terror’ to own ends -- Shiite cleric Mohammed
Hussein Fadlallah on Wednesday described Tuesday’s assassination attempt
against Hamas activist Abdel-Aziz Rantissi as the first fallout from last week’s
Aqaba and Sharm el-Sheikh summits. During his weekly forum, the cleric said the
attempted assassination represented a “message to US President George W.
Bush” telling him that the Israelis have started to implement his anti-terrorism
war.
Israel
calls for tighter checks on Iran atomic plan
MSNBC, June 10, 2003
MOSCOW, June 9 — Israel, backing U.S. fears over Iran's nuclear programme,
called on Monday for closer scrutiny of Tehran's atomic plans, saying they posed
a threat to global security.
A
Pro-Palestine Lobby is Born
Alternative Information Center/AAPER, June 11, 2003
Pro-Palestine Lobby was established on June 10. It is called the American Association
for Palestinian Equal Rights (AAPER). AAPER is dedicated to representing all Americans
who support the great cause of Palestinian rights to freedom and equality.
Survey:
41% go to work on Fridays
Haaretz, June 12, 2003
More than 780,000 workers, constituting 41 percent of all salaried employees in
the country, work on Fridays, according to a survey published yesterday by the
Manpower Planning Authority of the Labor Ministry. In addition, some 230,000 workers,
12 percent of all salaried employees, work on Saturdays.
Head
of World Food Programme to visit occupied Palestinian territories
International Press Center/World Food Program, June 12, 2003
With increasing numbers of Palestinians becoming dependent on international food
aid, the Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme, James
T. Morris, on Wednesday began in Jerusalem a three-day visit to review first hand
WFP’s efforts to provide food aid to Palestinians impoverished by deteriorating
security and economic conditions over the past two years.
Statistics
for the Palestinian Intifada, 28 September, 2000 - 11 June, 2003
Palestine Monitor, June 11, 2003
Whether a student, community activist, politician or an average citizen, these
fact sheets will provide you with concise information on the different issues
related to the current Intifada and Palestine. Feel free to print and distribute
them as long as they are accredited to the Palestine Monitor.
Finance
Ministry chiefs: Arab investors bought Israel gov’t bonds
Globes, June 12, 2003
Minister of Finance Benjamin Netanyahu will arrive in New York tomorrow for meetings
with investment houses and ratings companies -- The war in Iraq and the Ministry
of Finance economic plans have changed the attitudes of foreign investors towards
Israel, Ministry of Finance Account General Nir Gilad and his deputy, Eldad Fresher,
told “Globes”. They made their comments following the $750 million
state of Israel bond issue on Wall Street this week, which raised $250 million
more than planned.
Netanyahu
to meet US, British leaders in coming days
Globes, June 12, 2003
The Minister of Finance will meet US government officials and ratings agencies
Fitch and Moody’s. -- Minister of Finance Benjamin Netanyahu will leave
tonight for the US for a series of meetings with business leaders, investors,
US government officials and analysts from credit rating agency Moody’s Investors
Service.
Ban
on Playboy channel lifted
Haaretz, June 12, 2003
The Cable and Satellite Broadcast Committee approved Thursday the airing of the
Playboy channel on cable and satellite stations....The significance of the decision
is that the committee no longer regards the content of the Playboy channel as
pornography, which is banned from TV broadcasts under the Communications Law.
Jordan:
Legislative elections, a test for the role of woman
Arabic News, June 12, 2003
While Jordan is preparing for legislative elections that the country has been
waiting for since years, on June 17, there is a heated debate on the significance
of allocating 6 seats for women in the next parliament, in the conservative society.
Other
Middle East News (June 11, 2003)
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.
ISM
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