October 2004
Day
535:
Saturday, October 16, 2004
British
troops may go to Baghdad as cover for American offensive
The Independent, Kim Sengupta in Baghdad
 |
|
Will
British troops be used to cover for a US assault on Fallujah? |
British troops may be sent to Baghdad to help US forces poised
for a major assault on Fallujah. Under plans being considered, a
battalion of the Black Watch will deploy in the Iraqi capital to
replace American troops needed for the offensive against fighters
led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and other Sunni militant groups in the
rebel stronghold. Another possibility under discussion is for the
British troops to be stationed further north, near Kirkuk and Irbil,
freeing US forces there for Fallujah. The American high command,
however, has stated that it would prefer the British presence to be
in Baghdad. There are no plans to send the Black Watch to Fallujah.
But the Iraqi capital has been the scene of some of the worst
violence in recent months. Defence sources stressed last night that
no decision had been made on the deployment. Contingency talks have
been held with the US, however, and the Black Watch battalion, a
reserve force, is being kept specifically for such an eventuality.
One senior officer said "the decision is 50-50 whether they go
north. There are serious reservations". Any such move is bound to
prove highly controversial. It will identify British troops with US
military actions and this may have repercussions in the Basra area,
where the British forces have a far better relationship than the
Americans with the local population.
more
Promotion on the way for US head of Abu Ghraib jail
Sydney
Morning Herald
As US officials in Iraq were counting
the cost of the devastating suicide attack in Baghdad's green zone,
Defence Department insiders in Washington said that the Pentagon is
angling to promote Lieutenant-General Ricardo Sanchez, who ran
prisons in Iraq at the time of the abuses in Abu Ghraib jail. Senior
Pentagon officials, including the Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld,
and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Richard
Myers, have told colleagues they are determined to pin a fourth star
on General Sanchez. Mr Rumsfeld and others recognise that General
Sanchez remains politically "radioactive," according to an unnamed
Defence Department official, and would wait until after the
presidential election next month and continuing investigations of
the Abu Ghraib affair have faded before putting his name forward.
Top Pentagon strategists do not have a specific four-star job in
mind for General Sanchez, the former head of military operations in
Iraq, and officials concede the appointment would probably not go
ahead if President George Bush was defeated for the presidency by
his Democratic rival, Senator John Kerry.
more
Day
534:
Friday, October 15, 2004
Poll reveals world anger at Bush
The Guardain, Alan Travis
 |
|
Eight out of 10 countries favour Kerry for president
|
George
Bush has squandered a wealth of sympathy around the world towards
America since September 11 with public opinion in 10 leading
countries - including some of its closest allies - growing more
hostile to the United States while he has been in office.
According to a survey, voters in eight out of the 10 countries,
including Britain, want to see the Democrat challenger, John Kerry,
defeat President Bush in next month's US presidential election. The
poll, conducted by 10 of the world's leading newspapers, including
France's Le Monde, Japan's Asahi Shimbun, Canada's La Presse, the
Sydney Morning Herald and the Guardian, also shows that on balance
world opinion does not believe that the war in Iraq has made a
positive contribution to the fight against terror. The results show
that in Australia, Britain, Canada, France, Japan, Spain and South
Korea a majority of voters share a rejection of the Iraq invasion,
contempt for the Bush administration, a growing hostility to the US
and a not-too-strong endorsement of Mr Kerry. But they all make a
clear distinction between this kind of anti-Americanism and
expressing a dislike of American people. On average 68% of those
polled say they have a favourable opinion of Americans.
read more
Arabs start Ramadan under shadow of violence
Violence across much of Arab world brings
reminders from their leaders of true Islam's tolerant nature.
By Lydia Georgi
 |
|
Yemenis join
buying spree that marks Ramadan |
Arabs began the Muslim holy month of
Ramadan on Friday in reflective mood, as violence across much of
their world brought reminders from their leaders of true Islam's
tolerant nature - backed by increases in security. Across the
Middle East, most were getting into Ramadan mode for a month of
fasting and prayer as well as lavish banquets in Bedouin-style tents
and late-night social gatherings. Just a few countries were
still waiting to sight the crescent moon and begin Ramadan on
Saturday, while in Iraq the Sunnis saw violence usher in the start
of the month as their Shiite compatriots waited a further 24 hours.
Palestinians too saw Ramadan greeted with continued violence,
despite an announcement by the Israelis that their lethal offensive
in the northern Gaza Strip was being scaled back, but not ended.
In Saudi Arabia, home to Islam's holiest sites in Mecca and Medina,
authorities geared up to receive pilgrims from abroad during the
holy month when Muslims fast and abstain from smoking and sexual
intercourse from dawn to dusk. An official at the pilgrimage
ministry said three million pilgrims were expected for the umra
(small pilgrimage), in addition to an anticipated 1.5 million from
within the kingdom. The kingdom's leaders, King Fahd and Crown
Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, said in a joint statement: "Muslims
must act ... in keeping with the tolerant Islamic creed, which
rejects violence, extremism, terrorism and the intimidation of
peaceable people, while advocating... moderation and centrism."
Saudi Arabia has been hit by a wave of attacks by suspected Islamist
extremists, and the authorities are taking no chances during
Ramadan. The government is deploying an estimated 3,000 policemen to
provide security in Mecca.
read more
Day
533:
Thursday, October 14, 2004
Several killed in Baghdad Green Zone blasts
Al Jazeera
 |
|
The zone houses
embassies and interim Iraqi government offices |
Twin
blasts inside Baghdad's Green Zone have killed at least eight
people, according to a hospital source. "There were body parts
scattered everywhere. There could be more than eight dead, and
several are wounded," the source said on Thursday. Thick black
smoke billowed from the heavily fortified zone, which houses Iraqi
government offices and the US and British embassies, witnesses said.
The exact location of the blasts was not known, but smoke appeared
to be rising from near the main entrance to the Green Zone.
Fighters have frequently attacked the sprawling compound on the
western bank of the Tigris river in their campaign against US forces
and Iraq's interim government. Meanwhile, 15 members of the
Iraqi National Guards were killed in an attack on a building housing
Iraqi police and National Guards in al-Qaim city near the
Iraqi-Syrian border.
read more
British FOREIGN OFFICE
issues stark warning on Iraq security
The Guardian, Jackie Dent
The British Foreign Office has issued a severe warning
about the security situation in Iraq stating that British nationals
face a direct threat of kidnap and suggesting that terrorists could
use chemical or biological weapons in an attack. "The threat to
British nationals in Iraq from terrorism remains high ... there
continue to be widespread outbreaks of violence and threats to
kidnap British and other foreign nationals," the warning said.
"If you are in Iraq you should review your security arrangements
carefully ... a wide range of conventional weapons have been used so
far ... terrorist attacks in the region could also involve the use
of chemical and biological materials." The British embassies
in Baghdad and Basra are also now only offering limited consular
assistance for "the foreseeable future". A travel advice
warning was also issued against Egypt, where recent terrorist
attacks at popular tourist resorts near Nuweiba killed 34 people and
injured 59.
read more
Hundreds of Kurds found buried in Iraq mass graves
The
Guardian, Rory McCarthy
US investigators preparing war crimes trials against Saddam Hussein
and his deputies have uncovered the bodies of hundreds of Kurdish
men, women and children in the first forensic exhumation of a mass
grave in Iraq.
The grave site, in Hatra, near the ancient city of Nineveh, is
thought to hold the bodies of several thousand Kurds in nine
separate trenches. One, named Grave 002, holds the corpses of around
300 women and children. "It is my personal opinion that this is a
killing field. Someone used this field on significant occasions over
time to take bodies up there, and to take people up there and
execute them," said Greg Kehoe, a former US federal prosecutor who
spent five years working on the war crimes tribunal in the Balkans
and who is leading the excavation team. "I've been doing grave sites
for a long time, but I've never seen anything like this, women and
children executed for no apparent reason," he said.
more
Day
532:
Wednesday, October 13, 2004
Civilians killed in Falluja missile strike
Al Jazeera
 |
|
The city has been the target of many US missile attacks |
The US military has killed at least six Iraqis in two separate
missile strikes on the city of Falluja. The first attack just
after midnight on Tuesday destroyed one of the biggest
restaurants in central Falluja, leaving two night guards dead.
Nearby shops were also destroyed. The second strike
flattened a house in al-Askari neighbourhood, killing at least
four members of an Iraqi family and injuring an unknown
number. An Iraqi journalist told Aljazeera that the
family was one of the few remaining in Falluja. Many have
already fled the city because of continued US air strikes.
more
UN warning
over missing Iraqi 'nuclear' material
AP / Reuters
The United States will investigate a report by the
International Atomic Energy Agency that equipment and
materials that could be used to make nuclear arms are
vanishing from Iraq, a U.S. diplomat said Tuesday. In
Baghdad, a government minister said UN nuclear inspectors
barred from Iraq by Washington during the U.S. occupation,
which ended in June with the handover of power to the
provisional government, would be welcome to return to check
for missing equipment and materials. "Obviously we'll do
a full investigation, working with the Iraqis," the U.S.
deputy ambassador, Anne Patterson, said at the UN when asked
about the report by the Vienna-based agency. The agency,
relying on satellite imagery, said entire buildings in Iraq
that once housed high-precision equipment that could help a
government or terror group make nuclear bombs had been
dismantled since the start of the war in Iraq in March 2003.
more
Day
531:
Tuesday, October 12, 2004
U.S. steps up Iraq attacks before Ramadan
Associated
Press, Robert H. Reid
 |
|
British forces seal off the aera after a bomb planted in a trash
can exploded in Basra, southern Iraq, Tuesday
|
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- U.S. troops went on the offensive from the
gates of Baghdad to the Syrian border Tuesday, pounding Sunni
insurgent positions from the air and supporting Iraqi soldiers
in raids on mosques suspected of harboring extremists.
American and Iraqi forces launched the operations ahead of
Ramadan, expected to start at week's end, in an apparent
attempt at preventing a repeat of the insurgent violence that
took place at the start of last year's Muslim holy month.
Clashes broke out in a string of militant strongholds from
Fallujah, 40 miles west of Baghdad, northward along the
Euphrates Valley to the Syrian border town of Qaim - all major
conflict areas. Some of the sharpest exchanges took
place in Hit, 90 miles northwest of Baghdad, where residents
and hospital officials said U.S. aircraft attacked two sites,
killing two people and wounding five. The U.S. command had no
comment.
more
A daily look at U.S. Iraq military deaths
Associated Press
As of
Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2004, 1,072 members of the U.S. military have died
since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to the
Defense Department. Of those, 817 died as a result of hostile action
and 255 died of non-hostile causes. The figures include three
military civilians. The British military has reported 67
deaths; Italy, 19; Poland, 13; Spain, 11; Bulgaria, six; Ukraine,
eight; Slovakia, three; Thailand, two; the Netherlands, two; and
Denmark, El Salvador, Estonia, Hungary and Latvia have reported one
death each. Since May 1, 2003, when President Bush declared
that major combat operations in Iraq had ended, 934 U.S. military
members have died - 708 as a result of hostile action and 226 of
non-hostile causes, according to the military's numbers as of
Tuesday.
more
Day
530:
Monday, October
11, 2004
Iraqi forces to protect oil facilities
Associated Press
AMMAN, Jordan -- The Iraqi border patrol took over
responsibility for protecting southern oil installations on
Monday, days after insurgents carried out their latest attack
aimed at hampering oil exports, a commander said. At
least 200 officers were deployed along a 100-mile stretch
between the southern Iraqi cities of Nasiriyah and Basra, said
Brig. Ali al-Moussawi, commander of Iraq's southern borders.
He told The Associated Press his men assumed responsibility
from a U.S.-based private security firm that had employed
Iraqi, British and American guards to protect southern oil
installations since the end of U.S.-led military operations in
Iraq last year. "The American firm has failed to provide
adequate protection to oil installations and pipelines,
especially in southern Iraq," al-Moussawi said. "Therefore, we
took over responsibility today as assigned by the Ministry of
Oil. He said 26 patrols will monitor the area and nine
police stations have been established and provided with light
weapons, night-vision goggles and vehicles. Al-Moussawi
said the U.S. firm had been paid $1 million a day to protect
the southern installations, which he said have been the target
of more than 200 sabotage attempts by insurgents and smugglers
since Saddam Hussein was ousted last year.
more
Day
529:
Sunday, October
10, 2004
Two car bombs kill 10 Iraqis in Baghdad
Associated
Press
 |
|
Soldiers from the
Iraqi National Guard prepare to patrol the streets of the Sadr
City neighborhood of Baghdad, Iraq Saturday |
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Two car bombs shook the capital in quick
succession Sunday, killing at least 10 Iraqis and wounding 16,
police and hospital officials said. One American soldier was
hurt. A suicide attacker detonated a minibus packed with
explosives near an eastern Baghdad police academy, police Cap.
Ali Ayez said at the scene. At least four mangled bodies
lay in the street amid scattered shoes, papers and a handbag.
Police collected body parts on stretchers. The dead
included three police academy students and a female officer,
Ayez said. U.S. forces helped the wounded, including a
police recruit who received stitches in his abdomen. The
nearby Kindi Hospital received 10 bodies and treated five
wounded from the blast, said Dr. Ali Ghazi. Police said 15
people were wounded in all. At least eight cars were
damaged and shards of glass covered the street. Another
car bomb exploded near a small market in the area of the
Culture Ministry, police Lt. Ahmed Hussain said at the scene.
The blast wounded at least one bystander and left a gaping
crater in the road.
more
Tape of Bigley beheading posted
on Web
Associated
Press
 |
|
A man believed to
be British hostage Kenneth Bigley is seen in this image made
from an Islamist Web site, Sunday |
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A videotape of the beheading of British
hostage Kenneth Bigley appeared Sunday on an Islamist Web
site, showing the civil engineer pleading that he wanted "to
live a simple life" moments before he was decapitated.
The nearly five-minute tape appeared two days after Bigley's
family said it had proof that the 62-year-old civil engineer
from Liverpool was dead. The body has not been found.
The tape showed Bigley, dressed in an orange prison-style jump
suit and seated in front of seven armed, hooded men. Behind
them was a banner of the Tawhid and Jihad group, the extremist
organization that has claimed responsibility for numerous
suicide attacks and beheadings of Westerners. Bigley
made a brief statement, saying "I am not a difficult person. I
am a simple man who wants to live a simple life." Addressing
British Prime Minister Tony Blair, he then said: "More than
ever I need your help."
more
Day
528:
Saturday, October
9, 2004
More archives are coming....
Day
527:
Friday, October
8, 2004
Day
526:
Thursday, October
7, 2004
Day
525:
Wednesday, October 6, 2004
Rumsfeld, Bremer and WMD inspectors cast
shadow on war
The Independent, Rupert Cornwell
 |
|
Rumsfeld and
Bremmer: no link and not enough troops |
President George Bush's rationale for the Iraq war, and his
subsequent handling of the conflict, have been separately undermined
by two of his own top officials handing precious new ammunition to
the Democrats as the election campaign enters a crucial phase. The
first blow came when Donald Rumsfeld, the Defence Secretary and a
prime architect of the war, told foreign policy experts that he had
never seen "strong, hard evidence" linking Saddam Hussein with al-Qa'ida.
His words, answering questions at a Council of Foreign Relations
meeting in New York, implicitly take issue with one of Mr Bush's
long-standing arguments to justify the March 2003 invasion. They
were also likely to be seized upon by John Edwards in his debate
last night with Vice-President Dick Cheney, who has laid special
stress on the Saddam-al-Qa'ida connection.
read
more
Iraqi
Weapons Hunt Team to Reveal Findings
Scotsman.com, Jamie
Lyons
The group searching for Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction
will today release its findings. It is believed the Iraq Survey
Group (ISG) will report that it has found no evidence of chemical,
biological or nuclear weapons. The head of the American-led team,
Charles Duelfer, will set out his findings in his final report to
the US Senate. But much of the content was revealed in a leaked
draft of the report last month. However the report is understood to
say the former Iraqi dictator planned to start producing weapons in
defiance of UN sanctions. The failure to find stockpiles of WMD had
been anticipated since the former head of the ISG, David Kay, quit
in January. But the report will be a further blow to Tony Blair who
just last week urged the Labour Party to put aside its differences
over Iraq and focus on winning a third term in power. It will be
particularly damaging to the Prime Minister because of his reliance
on WMD as the justification for going to war. He has already
accepted intelligence suggesting Saddam had WMD was wrong. And he
has taken full responsibility for any mistakes in British
intelligence.
read more
Day
524:
Tuesday, October 5, 2004
U.S.-Iraqi forces launch major offensive
Scotsman.com,
Alexandra Zavis
 |
|
A lone fire truck tries to fight a massive fire on a pipeline
west of Baghdad |
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- More than 3,000 U.S. and Iraqi forces launched a
major operation Tuesday against insurgent strongholds just south of
Baghdad, their second mission in five days to wrest control from
militants whose attacks threaten national elections seen as crucial
to stabilizing this turbulent country. The operation in Babil
province - an area notorious for kidnappings and ambushes and home
to the fabled, ancient city of Babylon - follows last week's
U.S.-Iraqi drive to oust insurgent forces from Samarra, about 60
miles north of Baghdad. The 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit and
Iraqi forces went into action after a string of bombings set off
clashes Tuesday between U.S. troops and gunmen west of Baghdad and
in the northern city of Mosul, and as the discovery of five beheaded
bodies over two days indicated the pace of such grisly killings was
also surging.
read more
Poll reveals US Islamophobia
Al Jazeera, Roshan Muhammed Salih
 |
|
There are around seven million Muslims in the US |
One in four Americans believes that
Muslims value human life less than others and teach their children
to hate, according to a new poll. Released by the Council on
American Islamic Relations (CAIR) on Tuesday, the survey found that
half of all Americans believe Islam encourages the oppression of
women. It also found around one in three Americans thinks of
negative words such as "war", "hatred" and "terrorists" when they
hear the word "Muslim". CAIR said the poll canvassed 1000
Americans nationwide and was conducted by an independent research
company. The research was designed to understand what
Americans think about Muslims and seek ways to combat Islamophobia.
CAIR spokeswoman Rabia Ahmad told Aljazeera.net that America's seven
million Muslims have suffered a "backlash" since the September 11
attacks, which were blamed on Usama bin Ladin's al-Qaida. "I
think the media has heavily influenced their views," she said.
"If all you are seeing is beheadings and suicide bombings and none
of the positive things that Muslims are doing in the world, then you
are likely to have a negative image of Muslims."
read more
Day
523:
Monday, October 4, 2004
Libya
Pledges Help to Iraq Hostage Family
Scotsman.com
 |
|
Libyan Leader
Gadaffi pledged to try and help Bigley |
The
brother of British hostage Ken Bigley was today praying that
pressure from Colonel Gaddafi could end his sibling’s Iraq hell.
The reformed Libyan leader has pledged to do all he can to help
secure the release of the 62-year-old engineer, who has entered his
19th day in captivity, Paul Bigley said. Members of the
Gaddafi family have promised to talk to their Middle East contacts
after Paul Bigley pleaded with the Libyan leader’s London-based son
Saif for assistance. He said he contacted Saif Gadaffi after a
number was passed on from an English journalist. He told PA
News: “Saif said he had heard about the situation and asked what he
could do. “I said ‘Why don’t you give your dad a call?’ and he
promised he would. “Not long afterwards I had a call from the
Gaddafi Foundation in Libya, who have pledged to do all they can to
help us. They said they would do their very, very best.”
Yesterday, Ireland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern vowed
to step up diplomatic contacts with Jordan and Iran. And the
captive’s family gave a message of thanks to all those trying to
secure his release.
read more
Day
522:
Sunday, October 3, 2004
Samarra Victory Encourages Iraqi Forces
Associated
Press, Zidan Khalaf
 |
|
Iraqis walk with a
white flag while leaving the restive northern city of Samarra
(Reuters) |
SAMARRA,
Iraq - Bloodied by weeks of suicide bombings and assassinations,
Iraqi security forces emerged Sunday to patrol Samarra after a
morale-boosting victory in this Sunni Triangle city, and U.S.
commanders praised their performance. American and Iraqi commanders
have declared the operation in Samarra, 60 miles northwest of
Baghdad, a successful first step in a major push to wrest key areas
of Iraq (news - web sites) from insurgents before January elections.
But locals were angered by the civilian death toll. Of
the 70 dead brought to Samarra General Hospital since fighting
erupted, 23 were children and 18 were women, hospital official
Abdul-Nasser Hamed Yassin said. Another 160 wounded people also were
treated. "The people who were hurt most are normal
people who have nothing to do with anything," said Abdel Latif Hadi,
45. Twelve miles south of Baghdad, two bodies — those of a
woman and a man whose head was severed — were found, with police
saying the corpses looked like those of Westerners. Police Lt.
Hussein Rizouqi said no identification was found on the corpses. The
woman, who was shot in the head, had blond hair, he said.
read
more
Day
521:
Saturday, October 2, 2004
Arlington West Shows Tragedy of Iraq War
Madison Capital Times, Judy Ettenhofer
 |
|
Arlington West at
a Santa Monica beach is a project of Veterans for Peace. |
SANTA MONICA, Calif. -- Every
Sunday morning at 8, a squad of volunteers fans out across a
section of beach next to the famous Santa Monica Pier. In the
shadow of the Ferris wheel and the trinket stands, they
carefully push more than 1,000 white crosses into the sand,
methodically placing them in straight rows, using a string
grid system as their guide. Arlington West at a Santa
Monica beach is a project of Veterans for Peace. After the
crosses are planted, they set out a flag-draped coffin with an
empty pair of combat boots in front and a helmet atop. The
numbers on a sign are updated: As I write this, the death toll
is 1,054, the number of wounded up to 7,384. Other big signs
are put up, with photos and descriptions of young people who
have made the ultimate sacrifice. As the Pacific Ocean's
waves roll ashore in the background and the sun rises higher
in the morning sky, tourists begin to wander onto the scene.
Puzzled at first, they read the signs, then realize the
meaning of "Arlington West": Here, quietly spread before them,
is a memorial to the American soldiers who have died in the
Iraq war. A hush surrounds the site as the tourists look
over the photos or stare out at the crosses. A few tears flow.
Some visitors place flowers by a cross and attach a note,
designating that wooden stake to a particular soldier for the
day. read
more
US Offensive Kills Over 100 Iraqis
Arab News .com
 |
|
Loay Mahdi, 12, is
comforted by his mother at the Yarmouk Hospital in Baghdad on
Friday. (Reuters) |
BAGHDAD, 2 October 2004 — US forces launched a major offensive into
the heart of one of Iraq’s key insurgency strongholds yesterday to
regain control of areas lost to the rebels. More than 100 Iraqis
were killed and 37 captured in the attack on Samarra, an Iraqi
minister said. Backed by warplanes and tanks, some 5,000
troops swept in to seize the city hall, the main mosque and other
key sites, leaving only pockets of rebel resistance after more than
12 hours of combat, according to the US military and Iraqi
authorities. The attack against Samarra, 95 kilometers north
of Baghdad, appeared to trumpet the launch of major military
operations to wrest other areas of the country from insurgents ahead
of general elections in January. It is feared that inability to
stage balloting in cities such as Samarra would severely mar, or
even invalidate, election results. Also yesterday, US
warplanes and tanks attacked the vast Baghdad slum of Sadr City,
killing 12 Iraqis and wounding 11 others, a hospital director said.
The military said only one armed rebel was killed.
read more
114 Iraqis die in US assault on Samarra
Jang.com
BAGHDAD: US and Iraqi forces killed 114 insurgents and captured 37
when they stormed Samarra early on Friday, Iraqi National Security
Adviser Kassem Daoud said, vowing to retake full control of the city
which had been in militants hands since June. The US military said
troops had killed 114 insurgents in the fighting. US commanders said
they lost just one soldier in the dawn incursion into Samarra and
retook all government and police buildings. "We have arrested 37
terrorists, former regime loyalists and criminals so far," Daoud
told a news conference. "And the number of those killed exceeded
100," he added. He vowed that the operation would continue until
Samarra was "cleansed of these elements". "This operation will be a
prelude to bringing security and stability to the city and starting
reconstruction, as happened in Najaf," he said, referring to a
central Iraqi city controlled by Shia militiamen until August. The
military said the offensive was in response to what it called
"repeated and unprovoked attacks by anti-Iraqi forces" (US military
terminology for insurgents) in the city, where US troops have been
largely absent since June.
read more
Many killed in US air strike on Falluja
Al Jazeera
 |
|
Women and children
are victims of the attack |
A US warplane has attacked the Iraqi
city of Falluja, killing up to seven people and wounding at least 13
others. Loud blasts were heard throughout the city as
residents said a neighbourhood on the northern side of the city came
under attack late on Friday. Two houses were reported to have been
flattened in the al-Shurta district. Doctor Ahmad Tahir at
Falluja's general hospital said seven dead, including children
and women, and 13 wounded were received at the hospital.
Another doctor, Muhammad al-Dulaimi, at the same hospital earlier
said the dead were civilians. An AP photographer saw the bodies of
women and children being removed from the rubble of the homes.
read more
Day
520:
Friday, October 1, 2004
Debate viewed warily in Middle East
Associated
Press,
Sarah El Deeb
 |
|
Bush-Kerry
2004 Debate #1 (Cnn.com photo) |
CAIRO, Egypt --
Arab viewers, many suspicious of U.S. intentions in their
region, watched the U.S. presidential debate with wariness -
some dismissing it as a trivial "American show" and others
expressing dismay that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict was
nearly ignored. While some viewers said Democrat John Kerry
appeared to best President Bush in the debate itself, analysts
suggested Friday that Bush still appeals to many in the Middle
East - to governments looking for continuity, to reformers
looking for pressure on their countries, and to militants who
see Bush's policies spreading support for their anti-American
rage. Salama Ahmed Salama, an Egyptian newspaper
columnist, said that in the end, the debate - and the election
itself - would mean little to the Middle East. "Neither this
or that (candidate) will be in the benefit of the Arab world,"
he said. "Everyone has been tossing us around." American
presidential races were closely watched overseas with viewers
from Asia to the Middle East and Europe listening closely to
the issues that matter most to them. In Asia, viewers were
concerned with U.S. policy toward North Korea and its possible
nuclear arsenal.
read more
Laughing children queue for sweets, then bombs kill 35
Scotsman.com,
Gethin Chamberlain and Borzou Daragahi
• Suicide bomb kills 35 children during
official opening of sewage system
• Three bombs in total kill nearly 50 in co-ordinated attack across
Baghdad
• Zarqawi terrorist network claims responsibility as bombs timed to
kill helpers
 |
|
Iraqis flee from
the devastation left by the suicide bombers.
Picture: Wathiq Khuzaie/ Getty Images |
Dozens
of children were blown apart by a series of blasts in Baghdad
yesterday as they ran to take sweets from United States soldiers at
the official opening of a sewerage system. At least 35
children died in one of the bloodiest days of violence since the end
of the war, with bomb attacks across the country claiming the lives
of nearly 50 people. It was the largest death toll of children
in any terrorist attack since the start of the conflict 17 months
ago. The killers detonated three bombs, at least two of them suicide
attacks, in Baghdad’s al-Amel district. The bombs were
staggered to ensure those helping the wounded were caught up in the
later blasts. Doctors at Yarmouk hospital struggled to treat
more than 141 people wounded in the attacks as pools of blood formed
on the floor. Seventy-two of the injured were children under the age
of 14. An interior ministry spokesman, Colonel Adnan Abdul-Rahman,
said two car bombs and a roadside bomb exploded in swift succession
as a US convoy was passing through the al-Amel neighbourhood in
western Baghdad. But a military statement said all the blasts were
caused by car bombs. Major Phil Smith, a spokesman for the US
1st Cavalry Division, said the first two explosions targeted the
ceremony, while the third was aimed at a nearby Iraqi National Guard
checkpoint.
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'Bush team helped write Allawi speech'
Al Jazeera
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Allawi
painted a rosy picture on the situation in Iraq |
Allawi
painted a rosy picture on the situation in IraqA leading US
democratic senator has expressed profound dismay at the White House
for allegedly writing interim Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's
speech to the US congress last week. In a letter to President
George Bush on Thursday, California Senator Dianne Feinstein said:
"I want to express my profound dismay about reports that officials
from your administration and your re-election campaign were 'heavily
involved' in writing parts of Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's speech.
"You may be surprised by this, Mr President, but I viewed Prime
Minister Allawi's speech as an independent view on conditions in
Iraq," she wrote. "His speech gave me hope that reconstruction
efforts were proceeding in most of the country and that elections
could be held on schedule. "To learn that this was not an
independent view, but one that was massaged by your campaign
operatives, jaundices the speech and reduces the credibility of his
remarks," Feinstein wrote.
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