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Saturday, May 10, 2003
Milosevic trial breakthrough
Guardian: After 17 months of frustration, prosecutors at the UN genocide trial of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic in The Hague last week unearthed the first direct evidence that he ordered war crimes. The former secretary to Arkan, Serbia's most feared paramilitary commander, has told the trial of phone calls he received from Milosevic's men giving orders for attacks on unarmed Bosnians. Nick @ 10:04 PM | TrackBack (0)
Interview with Assad
There is an interesting interview in tomorrow's Washington Post with Syrian President Bashar Assad. In the interview, Assad talks about Israel, terrorist organizations and accusations regarding the war in Iraq. Nick @ 10:00 PM | TrackBack (0)
British commander goes home
AFP via SpaceWar: Britain's top military commander in the Gulf, Air Marshal Brian Burridge, returned to Britain on Saturday, saying "the best thing" during his three-month tour was witnessing Iraqis' liberation from Saddam Hussein's rule. Nick @ 09:03 PM | TrackBack (0)
Israel deports Americans for terrorism suspicion
Ha'aretz: Israel has deported at least two American Muslims who were staying in the territories within the last week. The Americans are suspected of helping transfer money and orders from terrorist organizations overseas to Palestinian groups. Security sources say a number of other foreign Muslims have recently been arrested and are also likely to be deported. An American ISM member has been detained and will be deported for entering a restricted military zone. The IDF charges that many of the self-proclaimed peace activists of the ISM are "provocateurs" and "riot inciters" who deliberately interfere with the IDF's work, with the goal of blackening Israel's image. Army sources noted that in one case, they discovered a wanted terrorist being hidden by ISM activists in Jenin. Nick @ 08:37 PM | TrackBack (0)
WMD search shift
AP via WTNH New Haven: The commander of the American weapons hunters in Iraq says he's certain the U.S. invasion has ended a program capable of producing Iraqi chemical and biological weapons. But Col. Richard R. McPhee says his teams have found no such weapons thus far. And members of McPhee's team and U.S. defense officials say that banned arms may never be found in Iraq. This marks a shift in expectations to confirming an Iraqi capability to produce weapons of mass destruction, rather than actually finding them. Before the war, U.S. leaders said they knew such weapons existed in Iraq, and war was necessary to root them out. Nick @ 06:27 PM | TrackBack (0)
Iran-US talks
Reuters: U.S. and Iranian officials met face to face in Geneva "very recently" to talk about Iran's neighbors Iraq and Afghanistan, where the United States has a military presence, a U.S. official said on Saturday. The official, who asked not to be named, said the aim of the contacts was to discuss specific issues, not to establish diplomatic relations or initiate the open-agenda dialogue which former U.S. President Bill Clinton sought with Iran. The United States cut diplomatic ties with Iran after radical students seized its embassy in Tehran in 1979 following the Islamic Revolution which toppled the U.S.-backed Shah. ed: as the article sublty suggests, could these talks regard the Mujahideen Khalq? Nick @ 06:24 PM | TrackBack (0)
Plans for new Iraqi military emerge
AP via NY CBS 2: The first step in developing a new, smaller Iraqi military will be the formal dismantlement of the Republican Guard and other special units with close ties to Saddam Hussein's ousted Baath Party, the top American military officer said Saturday. Myers said decisions about what a future Iraqi armed forces will look like are yet to be made, but he said it was likely that some members of the regular Iraqi army who fought against coalition forces will be allowed back into a reorganized military. All Iraqi soldiers will be vetted closely before determining their future role, he said. It is possible, he added, that some sort of Iraqi air force will be reconstituted from what survived the war. Iraq might also have legitimate need for a small coast guard to patrol its waterways, the four-star general said. Nick @ 06:19 PM | TrackBack (0)
Al Jazeera and Iraq
Channel 4 (UK): Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi intelligence agency documents are now in the hands of the CIA and Iraqi opposition groups, who’ve collected them from ministries across Baghdad. The latest, the secret police files on Al Jazeera, the Arab satellite news channel, described by the Iraqis as “a mobilised instrument of our propaganda”. The Files boast of what they call “close cooperation” with Al Jazeera executives. Al Jazeera executives were not available for comment. More information forthcoming in UK's Sunday Times tomorrow. Nick @ 06:07 PM | TrackBack (0)
Mujahedeen Khalq voluntarily disarm
AP: The Mujahedeen Khalq, or People's Warriors, which is the military wing of the Paris-based National Council of Resistance of Iran, an umbrella body said to unite Iran's diverse opposition groups has agreed to "voluntarily hand over all their weapons" including sidearms in Iraq. The Mujahedeen Khalq's weaponry will be consolidated into one area, and its members will be located in another. They will be "protected by American forces," one military official said. A rival armed group backed by the Iranian regime is active in the area, and there have been fears the two would clash. Strangely, the AP has two articles which add together to make one complete article. Here is the second part of the article. Nick @ 05:07 PM | TrackBack (0)
Radio appeal to Iraqis for WMD info
AP: American authorities have promised rewards to Iraqis for information leading to discovery of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons programs, the U.S.-run Information Radio said Saturday. Besides the unspecified reward, potential informants were offered anonymity and guarantees of safety in exchange for useful information "regarding any site that manufactured or held weapons of mass destruction." Nick @ 04:53 PM | TrackBack (0)
Another purported Saddam letter
AP: A London newspaper published a letter Saturday purportedly written by Saddam Hussein, urging Iraqis to wage holy war against American and British troops. The letter's authenticity, however, is in doubt. The newspaper, Al-Quds Al-Arabi, published photographs of the two-page letter, but its handwriting and tone do not match the style of documents known to be written by Saddam. Excerpted text from that letter, from BBC. Nick @ 04:50 PM | TrackBack (0)
SARS Update, May 10
SARS headlines:
Click here to read the entire SARS Update. For details on the headlines, click MORE, below. Singapore: Singapore's statistics, as reported to the World Health Organisation (WHO): MMWR, May 9: In Singapore, five super spreaders played a major role in promoting the epidemic. 81% of the SARS cases did not pass the virus to anyone else. The graphics, at the end of the report, show the influence of the super spreaders. The graphs and the picture of the chain of transmission are highly recommended. Taiwan: NY Times, May 10: Taipei Seals Housing Project as Taiwan Tries to Halt SARS. Two buildings in a public housing project here were quarantined today because of three suspected SARS cases inside, raising the anxiety level of a city trying to clamp a lid on the epidemic's spread. Herbal and gimmick cures for SARS: Rob Dowler, an official with the Ontario consumer protection ministry, said his investigators have been particularly concerned about claims that herbal supplements and homeopathic remedies such as belladonna, oregano oil and colloidal silver are effective against SARS. His province includes Toronto, which has been especially hard-hit by SARS. "The best-known prevention is a good, thorough hand-washing with soap and hot water for at least 20 seconds," Dowler said. "Consumers with SARS symptoms should not try to self-diagnose or opt for questionable home remedies."[Hat-tip to 'DuctapeFatwa'] Meanwhile, the herbs and practices of traditional Chinese herbal medicine are promoted by Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi. [See China news, in May 9 SARS Update.] These Chinese medicines are selling very briskly in Beijing. Tibetan medicines are also selling well. [China's struggle to control SARS is limited by shortcomings in understanding, and Chinese reluctance to apply science to medical care. -- docbear] First SARS book available: Click here to read the entire SARS Update. docbear @ 12:56 PM | TrackBack (0)
Seven nuclear facilities looted
WaPo: Seven nuclear facilities in Iraq have been damaged or effectively destroyed by the looting that began in the first days of April, when U.S. ground forces thrust into Baghdad, according to U.S. investigators and others with detailed knowledge of their work. The Bush administration fears that technical documents, sensitive equipment and possibly radiation sources have been scattered. If so, there are potentially significant consequences for public health and the spread of materials to build a nuclear or radiological bomb. President Bush had said the war was fought to prevent the spread of "the world's most dangerous weapons." ed: Yes, SEVEN Nick @ 12:39 PM | TrackBack (0)
UN: Congo on verge of catastrophe
Reuters: Tribal militias armed with spears and guns fought in the streets of the eastern Congo town of Bunia on Saturday as the United Nations warned that the volatile region was on the verge of a humanitarian catastrophe. Fighting between the rival Hema and Lendu tribes has driven thousands of frightened civilians from their homes, with up to 150,000 pouring across the border into neighbouring Uganda and others taking refuge in Bunia's airport and U.N. compound. Nick @ 12:15 PM | TrackBack (0)
Iraqi Shiite leader returns
The Independent (UK): The leader of the largest Iraqi Shiite Muslim group opposed to Saddam Hussein returned to Iraq on Saturday after two decades in exile. Ayatollah Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim, leader of the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution of Iraq, crossed the Iranian frontier into Iraq at a desert border crossing that has been a no-man's land for years. Nick @ 12:04 PM | TrackBack (0)
The War and The Media
I'm in a unique position (well, kind of) to comment on CNN's coverage of the war as I spent the entire war watching CNN. And I am inclined to agree with Russell Smith that the coverage by CNN was, in its own way, the worst. It really did seem to be the voice of Centcom. I'd suggest giving his essay a read. It is a bit on the strident side but he makes some good points. Sean-Paul @ 10:20 AM | TrackBack (0) Friday, May 9, 2003
Low-yield nuke ban lifted
AP via SFGate: A Senate committee said Friday it had voted to lift a decade-old ban on the research and development of low-yield nuclear weapons, overriding Democratic arguments that repeal would damage U.S. efforts to stop the spread of nuclear arms. Low-yield nuclear weapons have warheads of less than five kilotons, or about a third of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima in World War II. Combined with precision missiles, low-yield weapons could be used to hit a target without causing as much damage to surrounding areas as other nuclear weapons would. ed: hat tip DuctapeFatwa Nick @ 10:32 PM | TrackBack (0)
Australian govt. gag order
News.com.au: Federal government MPs and Senators in Australia have been gagged from publicly discussing the furour over Governor-General Peter Hollingworth. Dr Hollingworth is under pressure to resign over his handling of child sex abuse allegations in the Anglican church and an allegation that he raped a woman during the 1960s. Chief Government Whip Jim Lloyd said today there was nothing unusual about him circulating a memo warning that any additional comment about Dr Hollingworth's situation would only assist the media and not the government. Nick @ 10:00 PM | TrackBack (0)
SARS in China and Taiwan
AP: The spread of SARS appeared to be slowing in Beijing, but the next leader of the World Health Organization said Friday it was too early to say whether the disease had peaked there yet. Meanwhile, new infections appeared to accelerate in Taiwan, with the island reporting 18 new cases, its largest one-day jump since the outbreak began there two months ago. Nick @ 09:59 PM | TrackBack (0)
Bush's ME free trade plan
VOA News: President Bush Friday has proposed creation of a special U.S.-Middle East Free Trade Area to reward nations that renounce terrorism, embrace the rule of law, honest government and open markets. He said creation of the free trade zone would be accomplished through negotiations with individual nations over the next 10 years. Mr. Bush said countries that wish to take advantage of his proposal must replace corruption with good business practices and good government. Nick @ 05:51 PM | TrackBack (0)
Tax Update
Update from Reuters: The House passed that tax cut which the Senate has an altered version of, as reported in the last post. Reconciliation is now needed between the two. Some House Republicans criticized the smaller Senate package which also includes revenue raising provisions to offset the cost of the dividend tax cut to the federal Treasury. Nick @ 05:39 PM | TrackBack (0)
Tax cuts and hikes
WaPo: Under White House pressure to include at least a bare-bones version of Bush's bid to eliminate the tax on corporate dividends, Finance Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley (Iowa) and fellow committee Republicans broke from their no-new-taxes orthodoxy to propose tax increases on Americans living abroad, companies sheltering income overseas and others. All told, committee members approved more than 30 tax increases or other revenue raisers to help fund their tax cuts in other areas, including dividends. Americans working overseas would be hit the hardest: the bill would no longer allow them to exclude $80,000 in income from federal taxes. That provision alone would amount to a $32 billion tax increase. Nick @ 03:22 PM | TrackBack (0)
UNHCR on refugees in Iraq
UNHCR (the UN refugee agency): We are increasingly concerned about a growing number of Palestinian refugees who have been evicted from their homes in Baghdad. Reports from the city suggest that around 1,000 Palestinian refugees have already been forced to leave their homes since the end of the war and are camping in disused buildings and various open areas around the Iraqi capital. UNHCR fears that more of the 60-90,000 Palestinian refugees believed to be living in Iraq may lose their homes, as other landlords reclaim property they were forced to rent out for minuscule sums to the Ba'ath government on behalf of the refugees. Since the fall of the regime, even this money – sometimes as little as US$1 per month – has not been paid to the owners of the property. Nick @ 03:19 PM | TrackBack (0)
Murdoch and governments
Reuters: News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch's attempt to gain control of the nation's largest satellite television company, DirectTV, was warmly received by the GOP-controlled House Judiciary Committee on Thursday as Republican reaction to the $6.6 billion deal fell just short of fawning. Meanwhile, Guardian reports this: The Murdoch-owned Fox News Channel, whose determinedly pro-US stance during the Iraq conflict brought it critical notoriety among some but also commercial success, is being investigated by television regulators in Britain for alleged bias. If the US network is found to have breached the strict "due impartiality" rules which must be followed by all news channels in the UK, it could be forced off broadcast in Britain. Nick @ 03:14 PM | TrackBack (0)
US troops shoot Iraqi
Reuters: A 56-year-old Iraqi man was shot dead on Friday by U.S. troops after a U.S. army patrol shoved his car onto the pavement, Iraqi witnesses said. It was unclear why the soldiers opened fire. A U.S. soldier at the scene declined comment. ed: more news on this forthcoming? Nick @ 02:48 PM | TrackBack (0)
Federal funding for Bible use
Boston Globe: The Bush administration has quietly altered regulations for the nation's leading job training program to allow faith-based organizations to use ''sacred literature,'' such as Bibles, in their federally funded programs. Civil liberties activists say the new rules blur the line between religion and government. Nick @ 01:49 PM | TrackBack (0)
Giving jobs to looters
Christian Science Monitor: US Army officials in the eastern part of the Iraqi capital are taking a novel approach to stop looters - offering some of them a job protecting the property which they formerly looted, something that pays better than stealing government property. In the three days since the experiment began, the number of looters in a massive multiacre warehouse and industrial stockyard run by the Iraqi power company has dropped from several hundred to zero. Nick @ 01:39 PM | TrackBack (0)
Tel Aviv bomber's family in court
CNN: Three family members of an alleged would-be British suicide bomber appeared in a London court Friday, accused of knowing about a deadly Tel Aviv attack before it happened. The bomber's sister was additionally charged with "aiding, abetting, and counseling acts of terrorism overseas" -- according to the police statement -- for allegedly sending an e-mail to her brother encouraging him to carry out the planned attack. Nick @ 12:40 PM | TrackBack (0)
UN Draft Resolution full text
BBC News presents us with the full text of the US draft resolution to the UN on the issue of Iraq's reconstruction. Very briefly, the main points call for for the UN to have a leading humanitarian role in post-war Iraq and the US to run Iraq's oil industry for at least a year with the understanding that all oil export proceeds will go toward reconstruction of Iraq via the Iraqi Assistance Fund. ed: note the language of the resolution calls Coalition forces "occupiers" Nick @ 12:37 PM | TrackBack (0)
Zimbabwe police chief and Interpol
Independent: Augustine Chihuri is on a list of close Mugabe associates subject to sanctions by the European Union and the United States because of the regime's human rights abuses. Yet Zimbabwe's police commissioner, who is accused of being a driving force behind President Robert Mugabe's brutal repression of opponents, has been appointed honorary vice-president of Interpol. ed: I ask why but remain puzzled. Nick @ 12:26 PM | TrackBack (0)
Israeli crackdown on human shields
Reuters: Israeli troops raided a West Bank headquarters used by the International Solidarity Movement on Friday, detaining three women and taking away computers and files, its director said. Two of these women may have been Americans. The ISM is a group which has deployed dozens of volunteers in Palestinian controlled areas as 'human shields' to protect Palestinians and the group which American Rachel Corrie represented as was killed by a bulldozer while trying to block the demolition of a home in Rafah. Israel said it would adopt tougher policies toward foreign activists after a British suicide bomber and his accomplice attacked a Tel Aviv nightclub last week. The two had previously attended an ISM gathering in Gaza. The ISM denies the two had any links to the group. Nick @ 12:13 PM | TrackBack (0)
May 9 SARS Update
SARS headlines:
Click here, for the May 9 SARS Update. To read more about the headlines, select MORE, below. Finland: Helsinkin Sangomat reported on May 7: “The first likely case of SARS in Finland has been identified at the Turku University Central Hospital (TYKS)... The hospital announced on Tuesday that a young man who recently returned home after a visit to Toronto checked in on Wednesday last week complaining of high fever, flu symptoms, cough, and breathing difficulties."
Dr. Edison Liu and others reviewed the genetic sequence of 9 samples of the SARS coronavirus, obtained from seriously ill patients in different countries. The genomes were quite similar, with almost all of the 29,000+ nucleotides being the same, comparing the RNA from the various viruses. The findings were encouraging because if the virus remains stable chances are increased that a vaccine might be developed, the authors and other experts said yesterday. That effort is expected to take years.
If China is the other side of the ‘Looking Glass’, then Vice-Premier Wu Yi may be that dream world's 'Red Queen'. China Daily, May 9, reports that Wu Yi, the Chinese official in charge of SARS prevention and control, favours the use of traditional Chinese medicine against SARS:
In Newsday, May 9, Laurie Garrett wrote:
Times Online, May 9: Chinese hospital authorities in Hebei province are putting on a fraudulent show, for the visiting WHO expert team
docbear @ 11:22 AM | TrackBack (0)
Halliburton and Bribes
via Stratfor: In a May 8 filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Halliburton admitted that it paid a Nigerian tax official $2.4 million in bribes to get favorable tax treatment. The company says the bribes, which occurred between 2001 and 2002, were found in a routine audit, that several employees were fired as a result and that none of the company's senior officers were involved. The company now is trying to determine what it owes Nigeria in back taxes. Sean-Paul @ 11:17 AM | TrackBack (0)
Filibusters
via The Washington Times: Republicans plan to begin the process today of using their so-called "nuclear option" to end the Democratic filibusters of judicial nominees by changing Senate rules governing how many votes are required to break such blockades. ( ed. The Republicans would have screamed bloody-murder had the Democrats attempted something like this. What hypocrisy. ) Sean-Paul @ 10:49 AM | TrackBack (0)
Iran
via IRNA: Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said here Thursday that dialogue between between Tehran and Washington, which have held no diplomatic ties under the Islamic Republic, was out of the question as long as US kept up its pressures on Iran. Sean-Paul @ 10:46 AM | TrackBack (0)
Syria and Lebanon
via Stratfor: U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Vincent Battle said Washington has opted for a diplomatic approach to pressure Syria to stop arms shipments to Hezbollah, according to an interview with Beirut-based French language weekly Magazine. Battle also asked that the Lebanese Army be deployed to the south, taking up positions currently held by Hezbollah militia, which fought against the Israeli occupation of south Lebanon, Beirut-based Daily Star reported May 9. Sean-Paul @ 10:43 AM | TrackBack (0)
Chalabi and intel docs
Guardian (May 7): Ahmad Chalabi claims to have obtained 25 tons (UK) of intelligence documents detailing Saddam Hussein's relationship with foreign governments and Arab leaders. The files, seized by his Iraqi National Congress, may fuel a fresh round of recriminations and score-settling as politicians meeting in Baghdad struggle to agree the terms of an interim administration. In interviews with Abu Dhabi television and Newsweek magazine, Mr Chalabi has already threatened to use the papers to damage the Jordanian royal family and the satellite television service al-Jazeera - organisations with which he has had long-running disputes. Meanwhile, other Iraqi opposition groups have voiced opinion on this matter that all intelligence documents should be handed over to Coalition forces. Nick @ 12:50 AM | TrackBack (0)
Senate says no to Patriot II
NY Times: Senate Republicans backed down today from an effort to make permanent the sweeping antiterrorism powers in a 2001 act, clearing the way for passage of a less divisive measure that would still expand the government's ability to spy on foreign terrorist suspects in the United States. In an agreement finalized over the last week, Senator Orrin G. Hatch, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, dropped his effort to extend provisions of the 2001 legislation, the Patriot Act, whose broad powers to investigate and track terrorist suspects are scheduled to expire in 2005. As a result, the Senate voted 90 to 4 to approve a measure expanding the government's ability to use secret surveillance tools against terrorist suspects who are not thought to be members of known terrorist groups. ed: hat tip Scott-O Nick @ 12:03 AM | TrackBack (0) Thursday, May 8, 2003
Lieberman comments on Cuba
AP: In a live broadcast to Cuba, Democratic candidate for president Joe Lieberman urged the Bush administration Thursday to ratchet up the pressure on Fidel Castro's communist government and help the island nation's dissidents. "And what does that mean? Specific support for the dissidents, the freedom fighters in Cuba and not stepping back at all in our position that we will not rest until this regime falls and the Cuban people rise to enjoy their freedom," Lieberman said in a brief interview on the federally funded, pro-democracy broadcasting station that beams into Cuba. Nick @ 09:07 PM | TrackBack (0)
Surveillance law expanded
AP: The Senate easily passed a measure Thursday expanding a powerful surveillance law, used in spy and terrorism investigations, to allow U.S. agents to wiretap lone foreigners who can't be linked to a terror organization or government. Currently, U.S. law enforcement officers can get warrants authorizing intelligence-gathering wiretaps from a secret court, but only if they can establish a reasonable belief the target is an "agent of a foreign power " or group. Nick @ 09:05 PM | TrackBack (0)
SARS virus seems constant
AP: Singapore's Genomics Institute has evidence the SARS virus is not mutating or changing rapidly. AP reports that the medical journal, Lancet, will publish an article within a week showing a slow rate of mutation for the SARS virus. "If the virus remains stable, any vaccine created is likely to stay useful", according to Earl Brown, professor of virology at the University of Ottawa. The AP article is here -- look at the bottom 1/3, for the section on SARS virus mutations. The cited Singaporean article is not yet available (May 8, 2030h Eastern Daylight Time) on the Lancet Web site.
docbear @ 08:36 PM | TrackBack (0)
Bush may invoke exec. privilege over 9-11
Newsweek: President Bush’s chief lawyer has privately signaled that the White House may seek to invoke executive privilege over key documents relating to the attacks in order to keep them out of the hands of investigators for the National Commission on Terror Attacks Upon the United States—the independent panel created by Congress to probe all aspects of 9-11. Some commission members now fear a showdown over the issue—particularly over extremely sensitive National Security Council minutes and presidential briefing papers—could be coming in the next few weeks. ed: could this possible showdown alter aspects of executive privilege? Nick @ 07:27 PM | TrackBack (0)
200 non-Iraqi POWS held in Iraq
AP: More than 200 non-Iraqis are among the prisoners held by the United States in Iraq, Army officials said Thursday. Most of those foreign fighters are from Jordan, Iran and other countries surrounding Iraq, said Col. John Della Jacono. Nick @ 07:07 PM | TrackBack (0)
No timeline to merge terror watch lists
UPI: Lawmakers reprimanded a senior homeland security official Thursday after learning that there was still no timeline for merging the nation's 12 terrorist watch lists, more than 18 months after gaps between them allowed suicide hijackers to enter the country and kill almost 3,000 people on Sept. 11, 2001. Nick @ 07:03 PM | TrackBack (0)
Sharon praises Abbas as peace partner
Reuters: Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon praised new reformist Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday as a 'partner' for peace and said he was ready to revive negotiations with Syria. The right-wing Sharon presented himself as keen on diplomacy to settle Israeli-Arab conflicts after Palestinians accused him of trying to stymie a new U.S.-backed 'road map' plan envisaging a Palestinian state to defuse an uprising against Israel. Sharon, in an unusual batch of television interviews, also said he was ready to reopen peace talks with Syria without preconditions, three years after they foundered over the future of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Nick @ 06:53 PM | TrackBack (0)
Pvt. Lynch may never remember
AP: Former POW Jessica Lynch, making progress after surgeries for injuries sustained in Iraq, is doing well emotionally but still cannot remember her capture and may never do so, one of her doctors said Thursday. Dr. Greg Argyros, assistant chief of the Department of Medicine at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where Lynch is being treated, said evaluations of Lynch so far suggest there is only a slim chance she may remember her ordeal. ed: P.S. It's not amnesia. Nick @ 06:48 PM | TrackBack (0)
More details of US resolution to UN
AP: The U.S. draft resolution on Iraq would give U.N. approval for the United States and Britain to run the country for at least a year, with the United Nations and other international authorities playing a limited role, council diplomats said Thursday. The resolution, to be introduced at the Security Council on Friday, outlines a U.S. vision for postwar Iraq at odds with that of several Security Council members, particularly Russia. Nick @ 06:33 PM | TrackBack (0)
US comments on Zimbabwe
Independent: The American envoy for Africa called for a "road-map" to achieve "regime legitimacy" in Zimbabwe yesterday, which would inevitably mean the departure of President Robert Mugabe from office. Yesterday, the widely respected national director of the South African Institute of International Affairs, Greg Mills, said there was no hope for Zimbabwe unless President Mugabe goes. He said the departure of Mr Mugabe could perhaps be the real start of the so-called African Renaissance. US Assistant Secretary of State Walter Kansteiner said the US government fully backed African initiative but was not involved in it. "Our role comes in once the people of Zimbabwe and the regional leaders have mapped out a course," he said. Nick @ 06:28 PM | TrackBack (0)
More violence in Israel
VOA News: A suspected Palestinian suicide bomber attacked Israeli soldiers in the Gaza Strip Thursday, in a car laden with explosives. The attack came hours after an Israeli helicopter fired at a car in Gaza, killing a known Palestinian militant. A car bomb exploded late Thursday, close to Israeli soldiers in the Kfar Darom area of the southern Gaza Strip. As the blast went off, killing the driver, other Palestinians lying in ambush opened fire on the soldiers. The Israeli forces returned fire, and began searching the area for the assailants. The incident followed an Israeli military operation earlier in the day, in which an attack helicopter fired missiles at a car in Gaza City. Nick @ 06:23 PM | TrackBack (0)
Misperceptions reign in Iraq
Reuters: In post-war Iraq, false rumors and perceptions worlds apart fill the communications void between Iraqis and Americans -- already divided by cultural, language and religious barriers. The outgoing head of the U.S. civilian administration, Jay Garner, conceded this week that his office had done 'an extremely poor job' communicating with the Iraqi people. Some Americans said mutual misperceptions were inevitable because soldiers had not been trained to get along with Iraqis. 'My problem is that one day I'm ordered to kill them, the next day I have to be their friend,' said Specialist Bryan Spears, manning a checkpoint on Thursday outside one of Saddam's palaces. Nick @ 06:14 PM | TrackBack (0)
Iraqi courts reopen
Reuters: Iraq's court system was reborn on Thursday when a group of suspects was led handcuffed to hearings guarded by American forces for the first criminal law proceedings since the fall of Saddam Hussein. In what could be another development in the post-war Iraqi legal system, a senior U.S. adviser to Iraq's Justice Ministry said a special chamber could be set up in Iraq to try those who have committed crimes against the Iraqi people. Nick @ 06:06 PM | TrackBack (0)
India won't denuclearize
India Tribune: Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee today turned down Pakistan’s suggestion for denuclearisation of South Asia saying that while Pakistan's nuclear program was India-specific, India's program was not focused on Pakistan. India has adopted a nuclear doctrine which states that it will not be the first to use nuclear weapons while Pakistan is yet to adopt this type of doctrine. On Pakistan’s no-war pact offer, Mr Vajpayee said instead of no-war pact, Pakistan should make a declaration against any proxy war. Nick @ 06:04 PM | TrackBack (0)
Release of Guantanamo detainees
Reuters: The United States has released another small group of 'detainees' in the war on terrorism from a U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the Defense Department said on Thursday. The Pentagon declined to provide details. But defense officials, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters 13 prisoners -- among some 660 held without charges at the U.S. naval base in Cuba -- had been flown on Wednesday to Afghanistan, where they were to be turned over to Afghan authorities. Nick @ 06:00 PM | TrackBack (0)
Tour Iraq on pennies a day
As Jim says, "Flak jacket and Kevlar helmet offered at a nominal extra charge". jay @ 04:24 PM | TrackBack (0)
US troop slain in Baghdad
NYT: An American soldier was shot and killed Thursday in a bold daylight attack on a Baghdad bridge, military officers said. The soldier, who wasn't immediately identified, was killed when an unidentified Iraqi walked up to him and opened fire with a pistol, according to senior U.S. Army officers in Baghdad who had heard reports of the shooting. The officers said the slain soldier belonged to the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment from Fort Polk. jay @ 03:04 PM | TrackBack (0)
Iran nukes
NYT: The Bush administration is concerned that Iran has stepped up its covert nuclear program, and the government is now seeking broad international support for an official finding that Tehran has violated its commitment not to produce nuclear weapons, officials said today. The officials said that the United States was pressing nations that sit on the board of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which oversees peaceful nuclear programs, to declare that Iran has violated the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, which it has signed. Such a finding could lead to punitive action by the United Nations, adding pressure on Iran, which is already nervous about American troops in Iraq, the officials said. The atomic energy agency is to meet on the matter next month. jay @ 03:01 PM | TrackBack (0)
Today's Iraqi unrest
CENTCOM: Third Brigade Combat Team soldiers were fired on early May 8 in Baghdad during a regular security patrol. They returned fire and called in psychological operations personnel who used a loudspeaker and gave instructions to surrender. Several individuals walked out and were detained. No U.S. soldiers were injured in the exchange. jay @ 02:55 PM | TrackBack (0)
Iraq's military future
Al Bawaba: Generals from more than a dozen countries met in London Thursday to draw up plans for an international military stabilization force for Iraq, Britain's Defense Ministry said. jay @ 02:53 PM | TrackBack (0)
Sanctions lift proposal Friday
WaPo: The United States will introduce a resolution Friday calling for the United Nations to lift sanctions on Iraq immediately and phase out the oil-for-food aid program over the next four months, diplomats said Thursday. The U.S. resolution also would create an international advisory board - including U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund - to audit the spending of income from Iraq's oil industry and to ensure it is benefiting the Iraqi people, the council diplomats said. jay @ 02:50 PM | TrackBack (0)
NATA expands
NYT: The Senate voted unanimously today to ratify the expansion of NATO, and a leading senator said that the vote to add seven East European countries to the military alliance would underscore its relevance and help end bitter disagreements over the Iraq war. The vote was 96 to 0, with four senators absent, to add Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Romania to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. jay @ 02:48 PM | TrackBack (0)
Iraqi Diplomats
via IRNA: India has turned down a US request for expulsion of three Iraqi diplomats from New Delhi as there was no evidence of their involvement in activities incompatible with their diplomatic status. Sean-Paul @ 11:58 AM | TrackBack (0)
Al Qaeda
via Stratfor: Al Qaeda has created a new operational structure that U.S. intelligence cannot penetrate, and the network is preparing a new strike against the United States on the scale of the Sept. 11 attacks, the Saudi Arabian weekly Al-Majallah reported May 8. An e-mail to the Saudi weekly by an individual identified as al Qaeda's “newly appointed spokesman,” Thabet bin Qais, claims that a “new team” has been created and leadership changes have taken place within the organization. Qais reportedly said that the Sept. 11, 2001, team has been effectively "sidelined." Sean-Paul @ 11:53 AM | TrackBack (0)
Turkey
Stratfor has an interesting essay today about a recent Wolfowitz interview on CNN-Turkey. Here is the sentence that grabbed my attention: "Unless Wolfowitz was speaking off the cuff -- which is unlikely given the importance of Turkey to U.S. foreign policy and the known impact of his comments in the region -- it sounds like Washington just gave tacit approval to the Turkish military's confrontation with the Turkish government." Combine it with this Wolfowitz quote: “I'd like to see a different sort of attitude [on Ankara's part] than I have yet detected. Maybe it's there. I haven't been to Turkey in a while," and you have an interesting situation developing. Sean-Paul @ 11:52 AM | TrackBack (0)
Chinese provinces "not engaged."
Dr. David Heymann, of WHO says the central Chinese government needs to become more engaged in helping the provinces and rural areas deal with SARS. SARS has penetrated very far into China, he said. CBC-TV May 8, interview with Dr David Heymann, the Executive Director for Communicable Diseases, at the World Health Organisation (WHO): Dr. David Heymann, says that WHO is working with the Chinese government, trying to get them to be more engaged. They need to release more funding to the provinces and rural areas, according to Dr. Heymann. SARS has penetrated very far into China, and the disease has become "very important in the provinces". Dr. Heymann said that there was a lack of unified structure in the Chinese government, that WHO had to expend a lot of time and energy trying to encourage coordination, "Going from the central government to the provinces, then back to the central government. " A WHO team has just begun to examine the SARS problems in Hebei province. May 7, the WHO admitted that the SARS death rate is much higher than previously thought. 55% of Hong Kong SARS patients over 60-years-old died. The Hong Kong death rate, in those under 60 was 13%.
Also on May 7, the WHO released travel advisories about Inner Mongolia, and Tianjin provinces of China, as well as the city of Taipei, in Taiwan.
docbear @ 10:20 AM | TrackBack (0)
May 8 SARS Update
SARS headlines:
Click here, for the complete SARS Update. For details on the headlines, click MORE, below. Philippines: The new cases are mostly linked to a Filipino nurse who brought SARS from Toronto. She and her father are the two SARS deaths, noted in the Philippines. The local transmission risk is judged as "medium" by the WHO. W.H.O. doubles its estimate of the SARS death rate: Taiwan: Reuters/SwissInfo, May 8: "The WHO extended its SARS-related travel warning on Thursday to Tianjin and the province of Inner Mongolia as well as Taipei, capital of Taiwan. Taipei officials said SARS had probably spread into the community and the next five days would be crucial." Cambodia: …In Cambodia, a new unidentified type of pneumonia has killed seven people in two impoverished remote villages near the border with Vietnam. Click here, for the complete SARS Update. docbear @ 09:34 AM | TrackBack (0)
Tripling the Iraq search force
AP via Boston Globe: About 2,000 more experts are being sent to Iraq to help look for banned weapons as well as regime leaders, terrorists and more. The team is more than triple the size of the force now searching for weapons and larger than was previously described. It will be headed by a two-star general in defense intelligence, the Pentagon said Wednesday. Nick @ 02:37 AM | TrackBack (0)
USSR ignored Chernobyl warnings
Telegraph (UK): Senior Soviet officials knew that the Chernobyl nuclear plant was a disaster waiting to happen but ignored warnings that could have averted the world's worst civilian nuclear accident. Ukraine has released more than 100 secret files sent by its branch of the KGB to the Soviet intelligence organisation's headquarters in Moscow saying the plant was fatally flawed from the start. Nick @ 02:09 AM | TrackBack (0)
al Qaeda search and plans from Saudia Arabia
Arab News: Saudi Arabia now claims suspected links to al Qaeda for those terrorists being sought in Riyadh. Meanwhile, Al-Majalla, a sister publication of Arab News, reports that Al-Qaeda is preparing a new attack in the United States on the scale of Sept. 11 after adopting a new operational structure which it says is impenetrable to US intelligence. A spokesman for al Qaeda also had this to say: "Of course, the US Consulate in Karachi is a US interest and a staging post for Federal Bureau of Investigation personnel in Pakistan, but it doesn’t necessarily constitute a pressing target. Striking it is not a priority for Al-Qaeda compared with the plans under way preparing a new attack in the United States on the scale of Sept. 11.” Nick @ 02:06 AM | TrackBack (0)
Argentine flood update
Guardian: About 1,800 people are still reported missing after floods from torrential downpours forced thousands to leave their homes in the central Argentinian province of Santa Fe. The official death toll of 24 could rise dramatically, the government warned. "There could be up to 1,000 dead," said Alberto Rotman, health minister of the neighbouring province, Entre Rios. At least 130,000 people have left their homes. Nick @ 01:59 AM | TrackBack (0)
Zimbabwe
Excellent article about the situation in Zimbabwe's capital from The Guardian today. Nick @ 01:52 AM | TrackBack (0)
Bush vs. the NRA
NY Times: President Bush and the National Rifle Association, long regarded as staunch allies, find themselves unlikely adversaries over one of the most significant pieces of gun-control legislation in the last decade, a ban on semiautomatic assault weapons. At issue is a measure to be introduced by Senate Democrats on Thursday to continue the ban. Groundbreaking 1994 legislation outlawing the sale and possession of such firearms will expire next year unless Congress extends it, and many gun-rights groups have made it their top priority to fight it. Even some advocates of gun control say the prohibition has been largely ineffective because of its loopholes. Nick @ 01:49 AM | TrackBack (0)
Twin Towers fire strength never tested
NY Times: Federal investigators studying the collapse of the twin towers on Sept. 11, 2001, say they now believe that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the government agency that built the towers, never performed the fundamental tests needed to determine how their innovative structures would perform in a fire. The preliminary finding, if it holds up, will undermine decades of public assurances by the Port Authority that the twin towers met or exceeded the requirements of New York City's building code, and therefore would be structurally safe in a large fire. The investigators have said that it is unclear whether, even if the tests had been done and the buildings been found to have met standards, the lightweight floor structures, called trusses, and the fluffy fireproofing on them could have been expected to withstand the intense fires of Sept. 11. Nick @ 01:07 AM | TrackBack (0)
Iraq debt issues
The many complications in the forgiveness of Iraqi debt, from Bloomberg. Nick @ 01:02 AM | TrackBack (0)
Autopsy report on UK journalist
Ha'aretz: British journalist James Miller, who was shot dead last week in the Gaza Strip town of Rafah, was hit by IDF fire, not by Palestinian fire, according to an autopsy carried out at by the Forensic Institute, Israel Radio reported Thursday. A pathologist sent from Britain by Miller’s family participated in the autopsy, the radio said. The dissection showed that the cameraman was shot from the front, and not from behind, as the IDF claimed. He was wearing a helmet and a flack jacket, but was hit in the neck. ed: Hat tip Lauruski Nick @ 12:49 AM | TrackBack (0)
9-11 hijacker video
AP: A wedding video shot in a Hamburg mosque has been broadcast for the first time and shows grainy scenes of Sept. 11 al-Qaida suicide pilots celebrating with other alleged plotters, possibly including suspects still not formally identified. Those identified in the video has grown to more than 20, including lead hijacker Mohamed Atta; Mohamed Haydar Zammar, an alleged al-Qaida recruiter now in Syrian custody; and Mamoun Darkazanli, a Syrian-born German import-exporter who the United States believes was involved in the plot but who has not been arrested. jay @ 12:44 AM | TrackBack (0) Wednesday, May 7, 2003
Interim Gov. of Tikrit area appointed
AP via Yahoo! News: Brig. Gen. Hosin Jasem Mohamed al-Jbouri, a native of Tikrit inherits the reins of Salah ad-Din province (around Tikrit) as an interim chief executive. Nick @ 08:49 PM | TrackBack (0)
Kurdish-Arab fighting
Herald Sun (Australia): At least three people have died in gun battles between Kurds and Arabs north of the Iraqi capital over the past three days, according to doctors and local officials. Doctors from the hospital at Khalis, near Baqubah about 40km north of the Iraqi capital, said the fighting erupted after Arabs began shooting Kurds travelling on the road toward Baghdad from Kirkuk. A man identified as the mayor of Khalis, Ghassan Kadaran, said he had told US Army civil affairs officers about the trouble two days earlier but no help had arrived. The situation became so desperate yesterday, when fighting erupted inside the hospital, that Kadaran and several doctors went to a US base at Baqubah to beg for help. Nick @ 08:45 PM | TrackBack (0)
Total Information Awareness
NY Times: A top Pentagon research official told Congress today that a program intended to forestall terrorism by tapping computer databases — but curbed by legislation this winter because of privacy fears — would not look into Americans' financial or health records. Instead, the official said the program, the Total Information Awareness program, would rely mostly on information already held by the government, especially by law enforcement and intelligence agencies. Nick @ 08:42 PM | TrackBack (0)
Arrested militants targeted US ambassador
AFP and AP via VOA News: The Lebanese army says it has arrested a group of militants allegedly plotting to assassinate the U.S. ambassador to Lebanon Ambassador Vincent Battle. The army announced Wednesday that it had arrested several members of the network, and that they planned to kill the ambassador of a "major" power. The assassination was to take place during a visit of the ambassador to the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli. Nick @ 08:26 PM | TrackBack (0)
Powell won't meet Arafat
AFP via SpaceWar: US Secretary of State Colin Powell does not plan to meet with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat during his tour of the Middle East beginning this weekend, the State Department said Wednesday. On his May 9-16 visit to the Middle East and Europe, Powell is to visit Israel and the Palestinian territories to officially launch the "roadmap" for peace outlined by the international quartet (the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States). Nick @ 08:10 PM | TrackBack (0)
What happened to Iraqi RG?
So just what did happen to the Republican Guard? Time Magazine investigates. Nick @ 08:09 PM | TrackBack (0)
Another on the list in custody
AP via Pittsburgh Channel 4: Another former official of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party is in coalition custody, U.S. Central Command announced Wednesday. Ghazi Hammud, regional chairman of the party in the Kut district, was number 32 on the list of the 55 most-wanted members of Saddam's regime and the 2 of hearts on the U.S.-issued deck of cards featuring wanted figures. Nick @ 08:06 PM | TrackBack (0)
UK envoy held at gunpoint
Guardian: (Yesterday) Israeli forces opened fire above a British embassy convoy and held it at gunpoint in Gaza while it was carrying diplomats and the family of an English peace activist left in a coma by an Israeli bullet. The British embassy has laid a formal complaint about the convoy incident. The Foreign Office said it was seeking an explanation from Israel but declined to discuss it further. "I can confirm that a single warning shot was fired as staff from the embassy in Tel Aviv and consulate in Jerusalem crossed the Abu Houli checkpoint in Gaza. No one was hurt," a spokesman said. Nick @ 07:49 PM | TrackBack (0)
China SARS crackdown
Financial Times: Authorities in the Chinese city of Nanjing on Tuesday resorted to extreme measures to protect the city of 6.4m people against Sars pneumonia. Nearly 10,000 people have been quarantined, jail terms have been threatened for those who conceal their symptoms and the city is virtually sealed off to travellers from Sars-infected parts of China. Nick @ 07:45 PM | TrackBack (0)
WTO sanctions against US?
Financial Times: The European Union on Wednesday dramatically raised the stakes in the biggest trade dispute ever to hit the World Trade Organisation, when it issued an ultimatum to the US over a long-running battle over corporate tax breaks. jay @ 06:57 PM | TrackBack (0)
Today's Gaza violence
NYT: A Hamas militant was killed today when a bomb exploded inside his West Bank apartment under disputed circumstances, and an infant Palestinian boy was fatally shot by Israeli army fire in the Gaza Strip, Palestinians said. jay @ 06:40 PM | TrackBack (0)
9/11-Iraq connection... in court
UPI: A federal judge in New York Wednesday awarded damages against the government of Iraq after ruling that the families of two victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, suicide hijackings had shown "albeit barely" that Iraq had provided material support to Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida. Judge Harold Baer ruled that the two families were entitled to $104 million compensation from Iraq, bin Laden, al-Qaida, the Taliban movement and their government of Afghanistan. He had entered a default judgment against these defendants on Dec. 23, 2002, after they failed to show up to contest the case. But he dismissed the families' suit against deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein on the basis that -- as head of state -- he enjoyed absolute immunity. jay @ 06:36 PM | TrackBack (0)
Cheney re 2004
SF Gate: Vice President Dick Cheney has agreed to be President Bush's running mate in 2004, saying past health problems won't prevent him from being on the next presidential ticket. "The president has asked me if I would serve again as his running mate. I've agreed to do that," he said Tuesday in an interview with The Dallas Morning News. Cheney said he did not know when Bush would formally announce his candidacy. jay @ 06:33 PM | TrackBack (0)
Tuscon and Patriot Act
AP via AZ Central: The City Council of Tuscon, AZ narrowly voted to object to the USA Patriot Act, a federal law that gives sweeping powers to law enforcement to track and apprehend terrorists, saying the council remains strongly opposed to terrorism, but efforts to prevent terrorist acts should "not be waged at the expense of the civil rights and liberties of the people." More than 80 other U.S. cities have passed similar resolutions. Nick @ 05:59 PM | TrackBack (0)
Looting continues at nuke site
Sydney Morning Herald Looters rifling through one of Iraq's main nuclear sites at Al-Tuwaitha and carting off whatever they can carry are making local residents terrified of the danger. The complex, believed to have held natural or low-grade uranium, was extensively pillaged several days ago but the looting is still going on. Groups of young boys wandered the site, digging out hoses, iron plates and generators. An ageing shepherd grazed his flock next to a giant freshly dug mound, apparently not knowing what could be buried underneath. Nick @ 05:55 PM | TrackBack (0)
Perle told investors how to make $ in Iraq
LA Times: Last February, the Defense Policy Board, a group of outside advisors to the Pentagon, received a classified presentation from the super-secret Defense Intelligence Agency on the crises in North Korea and Iraq. Three weeks later, the then-chairman of the board, Richard N. Perle, offered a briefing of his own at an investment seminar on ways to profit from possible conflicts with both countries. Nick @ 05:49 PM | TrackBack (0)
US lifts some Iraqi sanctions
BBC News: The United States has announced that it is lifting, some of the economic sanctions that were imposed on Iraq, with immediate effect. Primary among them are rules which will allow the thousands of Iraqis resident in the US to send up to $500 a month to family and friends in Iraq. Other sanctions lifted include allowing humanitarian aid supplies to be sent to Iraq and authorizing any activity paid for by the US government, including reconstruction moves by contractors. Nick @ 05:25 PM | TrackBack (0)
Expanded Halliburton role
Reuters: Halliburton, the oil giant once run by Vice President Dick Cheney, will now be involved in operation and distribution of oil products in Iraq, the U.S. military said on Wednesday, indicating a more direct role in Iraq's energy business than originally believed. New orders given to Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown and Root a few days ago included the operation of oil facilities and the distribution of products, said a spokesman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Scott Saunders. Nick @ 04:56 PM | TrackBack (0)
UN resolution expected soon
Reuters: The United States expects to show the U.N. Security Council within days a resolution lifting sanctions against Iraq and fixing arrangements for oil sales, a senior State Department official said on Wednesday. Diplomats said the resolution had been held up in Washington by infighting between the State Department and the Defense Department over policy for Iraq after the U.S. invasion. The State Department is more favorable to giving a role to the United Nations and other governments. Nick @ 04:52 PM | TrackBack (0)
Yet Another WMD Newsflash
WaPo: American forces in Iraq are doing tests on a trailer that matches the description of a mobile biological weapons lab given by various sources including defectors, the Pentagon said Wednesday. It was the first time the Defense Department has announced it might have evidence of the sort of prohibited unconventional weapons program that justified forcibly disarming Saddam Hussein. Under Secretary of Defense Cambone said more testing will be required, noting that the surface of it had been washed with a caustic material and it likely would have to be dismantled before testing can be done on hard-to-reach surfaces. ed. In the interests of keeping this news feed accurate: to my knowledge, every other Iraq WMD story we have passed along has turned out baseless, even those we didn't directly correct with a follow-up. jay @ 04:34 PM | TrackBack (0)
SARS Update- May 7
SARS headlines:
Click here to read the complete May 7 SARS Update. For details on the headlines, click MORE, below: Colombia and India report first SARS cases to WHO: India-- Many cases have been reported in the Indian press, over the past 2 weeks. India has depended excessively on unreliable lab tests to diagnose SARS. Violations of quarantine and errors of isolation have been frequent.
" The estimated case fatality rate for patients younger than 60 years was 13.2% (9.8-16.8 ) and 43.3% (35.2-52.4) for patients aged 60 years and older assuming a parametric g distribution. A non-parametric method yielded estimates of 6.8% (4.0-9.6) and 55.0% (45.3-64.7), respectively."
SARS has not peaked yet:
Hospital officials in Hong Kong announced Sunday that none of the 12 recovered SARS patients who became ill again had suffered relapses, as had been feared last week. New York Times May 5: Cases Thought to Be Relapses Now Seen as Other Conditions-- "In one case, a woman had developed leg swelling from deep-vein thrombosis apparently caused by her prolonged bed rest during her treatment for SARS, Dr. Liu said...'They are all confirmed as not related to any relapse of SARS conditions,' he said, adding that all but four had already been released again from hospitals."
docbear @ 04:20 PM | TrackBack (0)
Saudis bust terror plot
AP: Saudi authorities have foiled plans by suspected terrorists to carry out attacks in the kingdom and seized a large cache of weapons and explosives, the Interior Ministry said Wednesday. The suspects carjacked a vehicle after their car was damaged in a gunfight with police and then fled into a densely populated area. The weapons and explosives confiscated from the damaged car and an apartment where some of the men were staying included hand grenades, five suitcases of high explosives weighing more than 830 pounds and AK-47 rifles, authorities said. Computers, communications equipment, travel documents, cash in U.S. dollars and Saudi riyals and various items used for disguise also were seized. jay @ 02:57 PM | TrackBack (0)
Violence in Kashmir
Reuters: At least 20 people were reported killed in disputed Kashmir on Wednesday in clashes just before a top U.S. official began a visit to Pakistan and India to encourage signs of a thaw between the nuclear-armed rivals. jay @ 02:54 PM | TrackBack (0)
Salam Pax udate!!!
Where is Raed? is back with us and he's talking all about the war and what came after. "Letter from Gotham" blogger Diana Moon, who Salam sent a Word attachment to in an email, has posted an entire log of posts about 20 printed pages long. Read the whole thing. Nick @ 12:43 PM | TrackBack (0)
Why The Slow Posting
My apologies for the slow posting on my part; however, I'm have lots of confidence in Jay and Nick. They do good work. The reason for my 'slow' posting is two-fold. Mostly it is due to the massive amounts of reading and research I am engaged in right now for the Silk Road trip coming up in just 4 weeks. The trip has taken on a life of its own at this point and I'm feeling a bit, well, overwhelmed. Eight countries in eight weeks over some harsh terrain makes for a lot of planning. The second reason is, to be frank, I am a bit burned out. The war was intense in so many different ways. I'll be returning to blogging as usual when the trip is done. Until that time I leave you all in good hands. Please be sure to check out the Silk Road site. The trip starts June 10th and I will be blogging all the way. Sean-Paul @ 12:40 PM | TrackBack (0)
Iraq In The Time Of Cholera
via AP: Two hospitals in southern Iraq have reported 17 confirmed cases of cholera, and the World Health Organization said Wednesday it fears far more have gone unreported. A WHO team dispatched to the southern city of Basra this week said the number of confirmed cases does not reflect the extent of the disease. Sean-Paul @ 12:24 PM | TrackBack (0)
Post-War Iraq
via Stratfor: Military officials from 15 unnamed countries will meet in London on May 8 for a second round of meetings to discuss a multilateral stabilization force for Iraq, a British Ministry of Defense spokesman said. The countries remain unnamed, but it is expected that members of the "coalition of the willing" will attend. The spokesman said that financing the force will be one of the major topics of discussion. Several reports have indicated that that Iraq will be divided into three or four military/administrative zones -- one controlled by U.S. forces, another by British forces, a third by Polish forces and possibly another by other foreign forces. Sean-Paul @ 12:22 PM | TrackBack (0)
Iraqi Oil
via Stratfor: Iraq's north-central Baiji refinery and a refinery in Basra are operating on a limited basis, producing around 125,000 barrels per day of product, officials with Iraq's Oil Ministry said May 7. Baghdad's Adura began production 10 days ago at around 50,000 bpd. The refineries are being supplied by oil fields around Kirkuk and the Janaquin fields near Baghdad. Even so, the ministry said Iraq plans to import gasoline beginning next week to ease the fuel shortages. Sean-Paul @ 12:21 PM | TrackBack (0)
N. Korea policy adjustments
WaPo: The Bush administration plans to adjust its policy toward North Korea by adopting a two-track approach that would combine new talks with pressure on the communist state by targeting its illegal drug and counterfeiting trade and possibly its missile sales, U.S. and Asian officials said yesterday. Officials are still discussing how forcefully the administration and its allies should begin to pressure North Korea, including whether to threaten actions or to more subtly begin to tighten the noose around North Korean illegal actions, officials said. The administration could also outline a progression of steps, such as targeting illegal activity that finances the government and then threatening to disrupt its legal and lucrative trade in missiles. Nick @ 02:12 AM | TrackBack (0)
On the Iran-Iraq war POWs
WaPo: The last Iraqi POWs returned from Iran Monday. Some told of the horrors of being a POW: Hassan's hands trembled so severely that he could not light a cigarette without help from a comrade. He said he was tortured routinely and that his cellmates were forced by their Iranian guards to beat their fellow Iraqis. Some could not believe that Saddam was gone: Asked to give his name, the rifleman said, "it is not safe," and he looked around the room. "I am a loyal Iraqi." Told that Saddam Hussein was no longer in charge, he whispered, "I cannot believe." But mostly, they just wanted to go home and move on with their lives. Nick @ 02:03 AM | TrackBack (0)
Nuclear material and Iraq
New York Times: What began today as a hunt for an ancient Jewish text at secret police headquarters here wound up unearthing a trove of Iraqi intelligence documents and maps relating to Israel as well as offers of sales of uranium and other nuclear material to Iraq. Per the nuclear offers, written in Arabic and dated May 20, 2001, a memo from the Iraqi intelligence station chief in an African country described an offer by a "holy warrior" to sell uranium and other nuclear material. The bid was rejected, the memo states, because of the United Nations "sanctions situation." But the station chief wrote that the source was eager to provide similar help at a more convenient time. Nick @ 01:57 AM | TrackBack (0)
Bringing back Ba'athists
WaPo: Seeking to resuscitate Iraq's government, U.S. occupation authorities have decided to allow hundreds of Baath Party members to return to high-ranking ministerial and other posts, rankling many Iraqis who contend the new leadership should exclude officials from former president Saddam Hussein's repressive political apparatus because of corruption and blood on the hands of the Ba'athists. Iraqi opposition leaders contend that including Baathists without appropriate checks could invite corruption and rile those who were persecuted by the party. But U.S. officials insist preventing former party members from returning to work until they are screened would delay efforts to restart crucial government services. Under Hussein, almost every government official of high or medium rank had to be a party member, including many technocrats on whom the U.S. administration is depending to get ministries running again. Nick @ 01:52 AM | TrackBack (0) Tuesday, May 6, 2003
Powell to look into French aid allegations
AFP via SpaceWar: US Secretary of State Colin Powell said Tuesday he would look into a report that France secretly supplied passports to Iraqi officials fleeing after the fall of Saddam Hussein, but appeared to downplay the story's credibility. The Washington Times reported earlier that France had given passports to Iraqi officials in Syria, allowing them to escape US forces hunting them down by traveling to Europe. The French embassy in Washington angrily denied the report, calling it "totally false and scandalous." Nick @ 10:58 PM | TrackBack (0)
Bosnia suicide rate
AFP via SpaceDaily: The suicide rate has almost doubled in Bosnia among a population tormented by post-war traumas and economic woes. Experts blame the increase on the ailing economy, the after-effects of war and an enduring refugee problem which combine to cause various neuroses and depressions which often manifest themselves in violent behaviour. Nick @ 10:53 PM | TrackBack (0)
UN Security Council on Afghanistan
UN News: After hearing a briefing by the top United Nations envoy in Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi, the members of the Security Council today expressed serious concern at the deterioration of security in many areas of the country and the recent attacks on UN and other personnel of aid organizations, and called on all concerned to work towards peace. Nick @ 10:48 PM | TrackBack (0)
US to help pay for Poland peacekeeping
WaPo: Poland's defense minister said he received an assurance from Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld yesterday that the United States would help raise tens of millions of dollars from international donors to finance a Polish peacekeeping contingent in Iraq. But Jerzy Szmajdzinski, the Polish defense minister, said his government could not afford to cover its own expenses for the operation given the weak condition of the Polish economy and military commitments elsewhere. Nick @ 10:45 PM | TrackBack (0)
Faces behind faces on Iraq's most wanted deck
So who exactly is behind that Iraq's most wanted deck? US DefenseLink. Nick @ 10:41 PM | TrackBack (0)
Nurses in China quit over SARS
Times (UK): Hundreds of hospital staff in Beijing are quitting their jobs for fear of falling ill while looking after Sars patients. Across China, medical workers have suffered high casualty rates since the start of the epidemic. Medical staff have also been upset by the way in which the deaths of colleagues have been handled. Nick @ 10:17 PM | TrackBack (0)
UK reservists threaten to quit in Iraq
Telegraph (UK): Half of the 500 British members of a Armed Forces reservist field hospital are ready to quit after being told that they will have to stay in Iraq until September while both regular field hospitals come home. The failure to persuade America to agree to United Nations backing for the stabilisation force will leave Britain providing a long-term force of at least 15,000 troops, putting more pressure on regular forces and leading to further call-ups of reservists. Nick @ 10:02 PM | TrackBack (0)
W. Africa and cotton subsidies
BBC News (May 1): Four of the poorest countries in the world have asked the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to tackle the US over cotton subsidies. Samuel Amehou, ambassador for Benin in Geneva, confirmed that the letter had been sent and said that millions of African farmers were suffering because of the subsidies. The four West African countries, led by Benin, want the issue to be addressed at the next round of trade talks in Mexico in September. They are asking for the gradual removal of subsidies, and a clear deadline for their total elimination, together with compensation for their farmers in the interim. Nick @ 09:31 PM | TrackBack (0)
Broward County defeats Patriot Act
March for Justice: The county commissioners of Broward County, Florida (Florida's most populous county) today passed a resolution that effectively defies the US Patriot Act, calling the Patriot Act "an act that most seriously threatens civil rights and liberties of all people in America." The resolution was sponsored by the Broward County Human Rights Board and supported by Broward Bill of Rights Defense Coalition (BBoRDC). Full text of the resolution here. Nick @ 09:02 PM | TrackBack (0)
Sharon and the Road Map
AP: Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon threw a U.S.-backed peace plan into doubt Tuesday, saying the Palestinians must drop their demand for Arab refugees' "right of return" to Israel if negotiations are to proceed. Sharon said that in the coming days, there would be another discussion in Washington over the 15 objections Israel has raised, delaying the start of the process. Nick @ 08:41 PM | TrackBack (0)
MILF rebels in Phillipines
AP: The Philippine government withdrew Tuesday from informal talks with Muslim rebels after a guerrilla attack killed 22 soldiers and civilians. Inquirer News Service (Phillipines): The Phillipines' government, said Secretary Eduardo Ermita, wants the MILF founder and the four other top leaders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front "dead or alive," after the Cabinet offered a 50-million-peso bounty on their heads. Inquirer News Service (Phillipines): US Ambassador Francis Ricciardone told reporters that the United States was considering classifying the MILF as a terrorist group, and said it was time for the Moro secessionist group to finally decide whether it was for peace or not. What MILF wants and is from BBC News. Nick @ 06:41 PM | TrackBack (0)
Military tribunals lined up
CNN: A prosecutor and defense lawyer are lined up for military tribunals that might try some of the accused terrorists who have been captured across the globe. Courtroom rules are set, too. All that's needed now are the defendants. Lawyers familiar with the matter say they believe only a small number of the approximately 660 detainees captured in the war on terrorism and held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, will ever appear before the tribunals. And more on Gitmo. Nick @ 06:24 PM | TrackBack (0)
Iraqi scientists afraid to talk
CNN: Many Iraqi scientists and former officials in the country's weapons program are afraid to come forward and tell U.S. and British military officials what they know, a former weapons inspector said Tuesday. Ex-inspector David Albright said he has been in contact with midlevel Iraqi scientists and officials and they have told him they are worried they will be imprisoned if they turn themselves in and fear that Baath Party members will harm them if they try to talk to coalition officials. "Most would rather just sit tight and wait for the Americans or British to find them," Albright said on CNN's "American Morning." Nick @ 06:21 PM | TrackBack (0)
No contact with Algerian prisoners
CNN: Algeria on Tuesday appeared to backtrack on the fate of 31 European tourists who disappeared in the Saharan desert over the past two months, saying it was not negotiating with a group of kidnappers. "There are no negotiations, there are no contacts with anyone," Interior Minister Noureddine Zerhouni told state radio. "We don't know for sure their situation...We don't exclude any possibility (of what happened to them)." Nick @ 06:18 PM | TrackBack (0)
Iran nuclear questions
Reuters: Iran has done little to cooperate with U.N. inspectors examining its nuclear program, a senior U.S. official said on Tuesday, reinforcing Washington's view that Tehran is violating a key treaty and should face more international pressure. Meanwhile (also Reuters) Iranian atomic energy agency chief Gholamreza Aqazadeh spoke at a closed-door briefing at the headquarters of the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency. "He insisted that their nuclear program was purely peaceful and that it was to make the country self-sufficient," a diplomat at the briefing told Reuters on condition on anonymity. Upon questioning of research and development, "Aqazadeh's said that they haven't tested (the system yet) and the first machine is supposed to be tested in the next few months." Diplomats said that this response was unsatisfactory because it would make no sense to build an expensive uranium-enrichment facility without having tested the system first. Nick @ 06:12 PM | TrackBack (0)
Iraqi POWs freed
Reuters: Fewer than 2,000 Iraqi prisoners of war remain in a camp in southern Iraq where 7,000 were detained during the war to oust Saddam Hussein, and the rest will be freed soon, U.S. officers said on Tuesday. Around 150 prisoners were freed on Tuesday morning and given a packed meal and a few cigarettes before boarding buses to take them home. A further 50 were due to be freed later on Tuesday, and the camp was expected to be virtually empty in a week. Nick @ 06:02 PM | TrackBack (0)
Pakistan opening up to India
Reuters: Pakistan's Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali backed the full restoration of travel links and sporting ties with nuclear rival India on Tuesday as a prelude to talks on long-standing political differences. Jamali said he had ordered the release of detained Indian sailors as a goodwill gesture and proposed bringing respective embassies up to full strength. But speaking at a news conference, Jamali said the divided state of Kashmir remained the core issue to be resolved. India insists Kashmir should be only one subject in any talks. Nick @ 06:00 PM | TrackBack (0)
Child mortality vital metric for Iraq reconstruction
Reuters: Reducing Iraq's chronic child mortality rate to where it was in the 1980s could be a key indicator of the success of U.S.-led reconstruction efforts, experts say. "Child mortality is probably the single best yardstick of the physical well-being of a people," said Steve Orvis, a political scientist who specializes in development issues at Hamilton College in New York. In 2000, the rate in the United States was 8 children per 1,000 births. Iraq's figure was by far the highest in the Middle East and exceeded even some war-torn African nations like Congo, which recorded a rate of 108. Nick @ 05:50 PM | TrackBack (0)
Finding the thieves
Reuters: U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft vowed on Tuesday to hunt down thieves who looted Iraqi museums and Interpol called for the creation of a special police task force to help track down the priceless artifacts. "Regardless of how sophisticated these criminals are, or how hard they work to avoid detection, the U.S. law enforcement and our colleagues at Interpol will not rest until the stolen Iraqi artifacts are returned to their rightful place, the public museums and libraries of Iraq," Ashcroft said. Nick @ 05:45 PM | TrackBack (0)
Saddam might not have that $1B
UPI: A top Iraqi banker Tuesday denied a news report that accused Saddam Hussein's younger son, Qusay, of taking $1 billion in cash from Iraq's Central Bank a day before the United States launched its war against the Arab nation. He said the money was looted by professional thieves. Diyaa Habib al-Khayoun, general manager of al-Rafidain Bank, told United Press International that some $250 million and 18 billion Iraqi dinars were stolen from the bank, but Qusay had nothing to do with it. "No money has been withdrawn from the bank's main headquarters or branches" by any official of the former regime, including Qusay, al-Khayoun said. jay @ 04:24 PM | TrackBack (0)
Midwest counties declared disaster areas
Reuters: President Bush on Tuesday issued federal disaster declarations for seven counties in Kansas and 39 in Missouri, and action that allows federal emergency assistance to flow to the affected areas. Crews labored to restore services and remove heaps of rubble in towns smashed by tornadoes that roared through Kansas, Missouri and Tennessee, while others began mourning the 39 people killed by the violent weather. jay @ 03:42 PM | TrackBack (0)
Common carrier status
Mercury News on a libel suit arising from a "negative feedback" eBay bulletin board post: A Los Angeles judge has dismissed a libel claim against eBay by a shopper who was criticized by a merchant on the auction site -- a key ruling that further limits eBay's responsibility for the actions of its users. The court ruled that eBay is immune to such claims under the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which protects providers of "interactive computer services'' from liability for the online comments posted by their users. jay @ 03:23 PM | TrackBack (0)
Back In Iraq feedback
Christopher of Back In Iraq would like your feedback. Tell him The Agonist sent you. jay @ 01:58 PM | TrackBack (0)
Audio from Saddam?
SMH: An audiotape has been handed to the Herald in Baghdad, with this tantalising claim: it is the voice of Saddam Hussein only two days ago, Ed O'Loughlin reports. A tired-sounding voice calls on Iraq's people to stand together in a new underground war against the occupying forces. "I don't want to talk in details about the occupation and why and how, and I am going to focus instead on how to face these invaders and kick them out from Iraq," it says, pausing to cough. "... It sounds as if we have to go back to the secret style of struggle that we began our life with. Through this secret means, I am talking to you from inside Great Iraq and I say to you, the main task for you, Arab and Kurd, Shia and Sunni, Muslim and Christian and the whole Iraqi people of all religions, your main task is to kick the enemy out from our country." "Certainly it's him," said a judge from a Baghdad criminal court, who asked not to be named. "I am 100 percent certain. I deal with physical evidence all the time." jay @ 01:48 PM | TrackBack (0)
Galloway suspended
Reuters: Britain's ruling Labour Party suspended leading anti-war politician George Galloway on Tuesday over an outspoken attack on Prime Minister Tony Blair and President George W. Bush during the war on Iraq. The left-wing firebrand called the two leaders "wolves" for attacking Iraq, in an appearance on a Gulf television station during the military campaign. "He is suspended from holding office or representing the party pending the outcome of internal party investigations," a Labour Party statement said, adding that party General-Secretary David Triesman had written to inform him. jay @ 01:42 PM | TrackBack (0)
Continued attacks
CENTCOM announces half a dozen small arms and grenade attacks on US soldiers in Iraq; no known fatalities, but one 3ID soldier was injured. jay @ 01:31 PM | TrackBack (0)
Pre-Saddam leader looks forward
WaPo/AP: The Iraqi president overthrown 35 years ago in a coup orchestrated by Saddam Hussein's Baath Party said Tuesday that his people must open a new chapter by letting the past go and working toward a better future. Abdel-Rahman Aref, 86, followed his own advice, refusing to speak in a rare interview about the rule of the Baath Party since he was overthrown in 1968, how the coup took place, or the recently ousted Saddam Hussein. Instead, he focused on tomorrow. "I hope there will be stability and security in all parts of Iraq and neighboring Arab countries. I hope they will flourish," said Aref, wearing a dark gray suit and thick brown glasses. "I hope there will be national unity in Iraq by forgetting the past and looking for the future." jay @ 01:20 PM | TrackBack (0)
Al Qaeda crippled?
WaPo: The failure of al Qaeda to launch terrorist attacks against the United States or its allies during the war in Iraq has bolstered a growing belief among U.S. intelligence agencies that 19 months of worldwide counterterrorism operations and arrests have nearly crippled the organization. jay @ 01:15 PM | TrackBack (0)
WMD not top priority
Al Bawaba: "The NBC (nuclear, biological, chemical) operations are being looked at as more important than but they're not the main priority, which is establishing security," said Captain Bobbie Jackson, chemicals officer for the division's 2nd Brigade, according to AFP. "Once all the pockets of resistance are cleared up I think the search will intensify." Meanwhile, three US soldiers were injured when a suspected US cluster bomb exploded inside a major US base in northern Iraq. The soldiers from the 3-16 artillery battalion of the 4th Infantry Division were walking across a dirt field inside the base when the device exploded around noon (0800 GMT), witnesses said Tuesday. jay @ 01:02 PM | TrackBack (0)
Anti-American protests in Afgh
NYT: About 300 Afghans chanted anti-American and anti-British slogans in Kabul on Tuesday in the first such protest since U.S.-led forces toppled the fundamentalist Taliban in late 2001. The protesters, who included government employees and university students complained of growing insecurity, slow post-war reconstruction and delay in payment of state salaries by Hamid Karzai's U.S.-backed government. Some even called for the withdrawal of U.S.-led coalition forces from Afghanistan and said the time had come for Afghans to fight the "American invasion,'' just as they had resisted the British and the Soviets in the 20th Century. jay @ 01:00 PM | TrackBack (0)
China says SARS situation "grave"
CNN: China's Premier Wen Jiabao has said the battle against the deadly SARS virus remains "grave" and called for intensified efforts to contain it. Wen was speaking during a visit to a hastily built hospital for SARS patients on the outskirts of Beijing where he warned "arduous work" lay ahead if China was to beat the disease. Around 25,000 people have been ordered into quarantine as part of China's effort to fight SARS. Nick @ 09:59 AM | TrackBack (0)
Fake terror attacks test Homeland Security
NY Times: The cities of Chicago and Seattle will be the focus of a $16 million exercise next week to test how well the federal government would deal with simultaneous attacks by terrorists using biological and radiological weapons. The exercise, said to be the largest domestic security drill ever carried out by the federal government, will be played out over five days starting on Monday and involve dozens of federal, state and local emergency-response agencies. USA Today: Although participants have been told when and where the simulated attacks will occur, and that they involve a radiological device and biological agent, the details remain secret to allow for some elements of surprise. Nick @ 12:40 AM | TrackBack (0)
Photographer charged with murder
AP via news.com.au: A Japanese photographer has been charged with murder after an explosive which he picked up on an Iraqi battlefield exploded in the hands of a security guard, killing him and injuring three others at a Jordanian airport on May 1. The photographer had kept two explosive devices for 20 days, unaware that they could still be live. Nick @ 12:23 AM | TrackBack (0)
Al Qaeda relocation
The Independent: The al-Qa'ida terrorist network is believed to have moved its operational base to central Asia, home affairs ministers from the G8 industrial nations said Monday. After a meeting in Paris, Nicolas Sarkozy, the French Interior Minister, said the organisation, headed by Osama bin Laden, still posed a real threat. He said al-Qa'ida, formerly based in Afganistan, had apparently set up new bases in the former Soviet republics of Chechnya and Georgia. Nick @ 12:09 AM | TrackBack (0)
Secret Iraq-UK communication
Telegraph (UK): Britain tried to defuse the Iraq crisis by communicating through secret channels with Saddam Hussein's regime for at least two years, according to documents found by The Daily Telegraph in Baghdad. Using many intermediaries, including Arab governments, Britain sought to assure Saddam that it was serious about effecting a deal being offered through the United Nations. The offer was that if Iraq readmitted weapons inspectors in line with UN resolution 1284, sanctions would be lifted within six months. Nick @ 12:05 AM | TrackBack (0) Monday, May 5, 2003
Qusay Hussein took $1 billion
NY Times: In the hours before American bombs began falling on the Iraqi capital, one of President Saddam Hussein's sons and a close adviser carried off nearly $1 billion in cash from the country's Central Bank, according to American and Iraqi officials here. The removal of the money, which would amount to one of the largest bank robberies in history, was performed under the direct orders of Mr. Hussein, according to an Iraqi official with knowledge of the incident. The official, who asked not to be identified, said that no financial rationale had been offered for removing the money from the bank's vaults, and that no one had been told where the money would be taken. Nick @ 11:58 PM | TrackBack (0)
Patenting SARS
AP: Scientists have yet to find a treatment for the SARS virus, but already a race is on to patent it. Several biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, the federal government and researchers in Canada and Hong Kong have filed SARS-related patent applications in recent weeks, claiming ownership of everything from bits of genetic material to the virus itself. Nick @ 10:39 PM | TrackBack (0)
UC Berkeley, summer school, and SARS
AP: The University of California at Berkeley will turn away new students from SARS-infected China, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong this summer in what is believed to be the first such move by a major U.S. university to prevent the spread of the virus. The decision, announced on the campus Web site Friday, affects several hundred students who were planning to attend Berkeley for the summer term that begins May 27. Instead, those students will get their money back. Students who go home to China, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong for the summer and those who arrive from those places this fall will be required to fill out detailed questionnaires and will be monitored by university health officials. The policy will end if the CDC lifts travel advisories to the affected areas. Nick @ 10:35 PM | TrackBack (0)
Iraq oil barge fire
Pravda (Russia) 5/3: 13 bodies have been recovered for now. The rest are missing. Two petrol tanker barges blasted near Al Madain, yesterday afternoon, while on anchor at the Tigris bank, 30 kilometres south of Baghdad. Rescue works are going on, our staff writer reports from the site. The number of victims certainly exceeds 180. The Qatar-based Al Jazeera television specified the number as 280, with reference to eyewitness accounts. 25 injured survivors were taken to hospital. Eight of them died on the way, reports the TV company. ed. This has not been covered in other media. Treat as suspect. Nick @ 09:45 PM | TrackBack (0)
Failed Columbian hostage rescue
Reuters: A Colombian provincial governor, a former defense minister and eight military personnel held hostage by Marxist rebels were killed in a failed rescue attempt on Monday, officials said. The dead were among a group of about 80 prisoners, including soldiers, congressmen, a former presidential candidate and three U.S. civilian Defense Department contractors, whom the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia wanted to exchange for jailed guerrillas. jay @ 09:08 PM | TrackBack (0)
Betchel/bin Laden connection?
Viewers have pointed out articles in The New Yorker and CNN/Money that suggest a $10 million connection between bin Laden family members and Betchel, the company recently awarded the ~$600 million Iraqi reconstruction contract. jay @ 08:55 PM | TrackBack (0)
"The Gloomy Cowboy Of Christ"
via Stratfor: Unknown assailants attacked a critic of U.S. President George W. Bush on the night of May 5 in Paris, Russia's ITAR-TASS reports. Attilio Majuilli, director of the famous Parisian Theater of Italian Comedy, is known for his criticism of the Bush administration. The attackers reportedly jumped Majuilli at the doors to the theater, knocked him down and cut his face with a knife, at the same time pouring red paint on the theater wall. The assailants reportedly screamed threats aimed at French President Jaques Chirac during the attack. The attack came after a show called "George Bush, or Gloomy Cowboy of Christ." Majuilli is in a Paris hospital. Editor @ 07:42 PM | TrackBack (0)
Global war on drugs?
AP: Secretary of State Colin Powell added illicit narcotics Monday to nuclear weapons and missiles as programs North Korea must end to avoid being shunned by much of the world. jay @ 06:36 PM | TrackBack (0)
Iraqi unemploymen
NYT: By some estimates, as much as 75 percent of the Iraqi work force made a living from either the government or the military — both of which have now collapsed. Some jobs are expected to come from American companies, like Bechtel, that have won reconstruction contracts from the United States government. Bechtel and other contractors have said they plan to hire many Iraqi companies as subcontractors. But Bush administration officials are already worrying about how to handle the thousands of Iraqi government workers who will no longer be needed. The bankrupt Iraqi government has almost no cash to keep paying salaries, and the United States has not specifically budgeted money to make up the difference. jay @ 05:56 PM | TrackBack (0)
Inquiry: 14 yr old killed in Basra
BBC News: British military authorities have begun an investigation into an incident in which a 14-year-old boy was shot dead by a British soldier. A friend of the 14-year-old, who said he had seen the shooting, has alleged the boy was joking and talking with a soldier guarding the barracks when the soldier opened fire without provocation. However, some eyewitnesses said the boy made a grab for the soldier's rifle and the weapon was discharged, probably accidentally. Nick @ 03:53 PM | TrackBack (0)
Ukraine and Iraq
AP via Helena (MT) Independent Record: Ukraine's Defense Ministry said Monday that it had received no request to contribute troops to a U.S.-led stabilization force in Iraq and knew of no commitment to do so. Last week, the Bush administration named Ukraine among 10 European countries that had agreed to provide troops for a special military force to handle peacekeeping and humanitarian efforts in three regions of Iraq to stabilize the country. Nick @ 03:48 PM | TrackBack (0)
The stigma of relating China to SARS
LA Times: (Yesterday) Misconceptions about SARS are taking a toll in Chinatowns across the country. Tourists are staying away from Chinatowns. Parents are warning their children to avoid teenage hangouts popular with Chinese kids. Chinese Americans are cringing at the bad jokes and suspicious questions. And more. Nick @ 03:45 PM | TrackBack (0)
Saddam killed military commander?
Middle East Newswire: Iraqi President Saddam Hussein killed his leading military commander on charges of treason as U.S. forces captured Baghdad. The London-based A-Sharq Al Awsat daily said Saddam and his younger son, Qusay, executed Gen. Seif Eddin Al Rawi on April 8. The newspaper said Al Rawi, commander of the elite Republican Guards, was accused of treason and shot in the head and back. ed. Treat as suspect. Nick @ 03:36 PM | TrackBack (0)
Pakistan on denuclearization
BBC News: Pakistan would be "happy" to denuclearize provided India does the same, foreign ministry spokesman Aziz Ahmed Khan told journalists in Islamabad. ...and more on the renewal of Pakistan-India formal relations. Nick @ 03:20 PM | TrackBack (0)
Guantanamo releases
AP: The U.S. government is preparing to free some two dozen terrorist suspects from its high-security prison in Cuba, defense officials said Monday. The release is expected in the next several days, two senior Defense Department officials said on condition of anonymity. They denied that the release is the result of a complaint by Secretary of State Colin Powell, who has pressed the Pentagon to move faster in determining the fate of the prisoners at Guantanamo. The officials gave no information on the identities of those to be released. Nick @ 02:23 PM | TrackBack (0)
Iraq reconstruction may need 50% of UK army
Telegraph (UK): British defence chiefs are concerned that plans for Britain and America to set up a stabilisation force for Iraq without United Nations support will put impossible financial and manpower strains on the Army. Nick @ 02:11 PM | TrackBack (0)
Claim: 50 in UK training for suicide missions
BBC: (Yesterday) A British Islamic radical, Hassan Butt, tells the Sunday Times he believes there are up to 50 Britons who may be prepared to kill themselves in such an attack - of whom about 20 are "absolutely serious". Under the headline, "the enemy within", the Independent on Sunday quotes a former intelligence officer who says senior MI5 chiefs are deeply worried about the possibility of a spate of terrorist attacks by individual fanatics. Nick @ 02:06 PM | TrackBack (0)
How Vietnam has contained SARS
WaPo talks about how Vietnam has been successful in quelling the spread of SARS. Nick @ 01:41 PM | TrackBack (0)
Gas prices fall drastically in US
CNN: The average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline has plummeted for the sixth week in a row in the US, falling during that time more than 18 cents, according to a nationwide survey released Sunday. These drops are attributed to reduced fears on the Iraq crisis' impact on oil supply as well as stabilization of Venezuelan oil production. Nick @ 01:34 PM | TrackBack (0)
Update on McCarthy hearings release
CNN: Pushing an anti-communist crusade that riveted America a half century ago, Joseph McCarthy manipulated his Senate hearings by calling witnesses he could intimidate and ignoring those likely to oppose him, newly released transcripts show. "Anybody who stood up to McCarthy in closed session, and did so articulately, tended not to get called up into the public session," the historian who assembled the documents said. "McCarthy was only interested in the people he could browbeat publicly." If you really have the itch to read the 4,000+ pages or just look through them, they can be found here. Nick @ 01:29 PM | TrackBack (0)
Another secret grave, HRW knows of many more
WaPo: Iraqis began breaking years of frightened silence over the location of mass graves today, directing U.S. troops and neighbors with relatives who vanished during the rule of Saddam Hussein to two dusty pits holding scores of human remains. This is one of several the Iraqis have recently found. A spokesman for Human Rights Watch said that he knew of many far larger mass graves "all over Iraq," but that announcing them publicly at this time would lead to amateur excavations which might damage forensic evidence so that identification of remains would be impossible. Nick @ 01:21 PM | TrackBack (0)
Iraqi interim government by June
NY Times: US administrator of Iraq Jay Garner said today that by the middle of May, the faces of the new Iraqi interim government will begin to emerge and by June this group will begin to take power. He mentioned several names, and said that a Christian and perhaps Sunni leader will be added to this list. The names mentioned include: Massoud Barzani; leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party; Ahmad Chalabi of the Iraqi National Congress; Jalal Talabani of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan; Iyad Allawi of the Iraqi National Accord; and Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, whose elder brother heads the Shiite group Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq. Garner also mentioned that he expects newly appointed political administrator Paul Bremer to be in Iraq by next week, mentioned that humanitarian aid in the form of drugs/supplies for hospitals and not just water is needed in Basra, and made a few comments on the progress of the oil fields in Iraq. Nick @ 01:04 PM | TrackBack (0)
Employee lawsuit rights
NY Times: Can employers force workers to waive their right to bring employment-related civil rights suits and to accept arbitration instead? After being offered a job at a law firm, Donald Lagatree refused to waive this right, and as a result, was not hired by the firm. Now he is taking the issue to court. Nick @ 12:49 PM | TrackBack (0)
SARS riots and other SARS updates
Reuters: About 1,000 villagers in the town of Xiandie in coastal Zhejiang province of China smashed and overturned police and government cars, and demanded that SARS patients, quarantined in a poorly equipped office building, be moved away. In other SARS news, the situation in Taiwan seems to be worsening, and several more quick hits at the bottom of the article. Nick @ 12:41 PM | TrackBack (0)
The Five of Hearts
AP: Coalition forces have captured Huda Salih Mahdi Ammash, one of Iraq's top bioscientists. No further details were immediately forthcoming on the capture or detention. U.S. intelligence officials said that Ammash, 49, is believed to have played a key role in rebuilding Baghdad's biological weapons capability since the first Persian Gulf War in 1991. In 2001, she became the first and only woman elected to the highest policymaking body in the Baath Party. Nick @ 12:36 PM | TrackBack (0)
Iran-Iraq War POWs returned
AP: Fifty-nine Iraqis held prisoner in Iran since the end of the Iran-Iraq war in 1988 were returned to their homeland Monday, the Red Cross said. The ICRC also mentioned that these releases were brought about by talks between the Red Cross and Iranian government officials. Nick @ 12:32 PM | TrackBack (0)
US to restore Iraqi marshes
Reuters: The United States is studying ways to restore perhaps a quarter of the marshes of southern Iraq, drained by Saddam Hussein to crush the local Shi'ite population, according to a senior official. A report released by the United Nations Environment Program in 2001 found only 7 percent of the once-extensive marshlands remained. UNEP described the deliberate destruction as one of the worst environmental disasters in history, ranking it with the desiccation of the Aral Sea and the deforestation of the Amazon rain forests. Nick @ 12:28 PM | TrackBack (0)
Chaos in West Africa
Liberian mercenaries fight alongside Ivory Coast government forces. Guinean soldiers open their barracks for Liberian rebel gun-runners. Veterans of Sierra Leone's insurrection show up to assist rebels in Ivory Coast. Weapons are ferried from Burkina Faso to the Liberian capital, in brazen violation of a United Nations embargo. This, according to recent reports by United Nations investigators and international advocacy groups, is what the chaotic conflicts of West Africa look like today. jay @ 02:19 AM | TrackBack (0) Sunday, May 4, 2003
Democratic candidates debate
UPI: The nine candidates seeking the Democratic presidential nomination met in South Carolina Saturday night to square off on healthcare, taxes, civil liberties and the economy in the first national debate as the country's attention turns from the war in Iraq to the political stage. No clear leader emerged by the end of the 90-minute exchange. An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll conducted last month showed Lieberman leading the group of candidates as the choice for 19 percent of voters surveyed. Gephardt had 14 percent and Kerry had 13 percent. Dean and Sharpton trailed with 3 percent and 2 percent, respectively. jay @ 10:17 PM | TrackBack (0)
Comical Ali's last moments
The last moments before Iraq's propaganda chief "Comical Ali" succumbed to reality, courtesy 'court'. jay @ 09:08 PM | TrackBack (0)
Russia & EU
WaPo: Russian President Vladimir Putin said Sunday he will promote the formation of a common market spanning the European Union and former Soviet republics at summits later this month. "Along with harmonizing our legislation with Europe's, we intend to work with our colleagues toward creating a common economic space together with Greater Europe," Putin said in televised comments. jay @ 08:56 PM | TrackBack (0)
Mosul to hold first post-war vote
Reuters: In the first vote in Iraq since Saddam Hussein was ousted last month, rival ethnic groups in Mosul elect an interim council on Monday in a step towards rebuilding the country's local administration. jay @ 08:54 PM | TrackBack (0)
Baghdad police force returns
WaPo: Police in Iraq's capital returned to work in force Sunday, but there were few patrols on Baghdad's lawless streets as officers struggled to navigate a chaotic new order that had yet to determine salaries, responsibilities or even chain of command. The verdict: In Baghdad, even some of the police don't feel safe yet. jay @ 08:52 PM | TrackBack (0)
Israeli Labor head resigns
NYT: Lashing out at rivals within his own faction, Amram Mitzna quit today as the leader of Israel's left-of-center Labor Party — a sign of the disarray hobbling Israel's left as the Bush administration presses a new Middle East peace plan. jay @ 08:50 PM | TrackBack (0)
Iraqi oil minister chosen
WaPo: The U.S.-led body charged with Iraq's reconstruction has appointed Iraqi oil technocrat Thamir Ghadhban to run the oil ministry, U.S. officials said on Sunday. John Kincannon, a spokesman for the American civilian administration, also said Phillip Carroll, former head of Royal Dutch/Shell in the United States, was heading an advisory board to the ministry. "They were earmarked for the posts and now it has been made official," Kincannon said of the appointments. jay @ 08:46 PM | TrackBack (0)
WMD info from grunts?
AP: Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Sunday the United States will have to rely on low-ranking Iraqi officials from Saddam Hussein's government to disclose the existence of banned weapons. He said there is little chance that the weapons - whose alleged existence provided the main basis for war - will be found independently, or that top officials will provide useful information. jay @ 08:40 PM | TrackBack (0)
Followup: Palestinian state is Jordan?
Arutz Sheva: Israeli PM Ariel Sharon today verbally attacked actions taken by Tourism Minister Benny Elon who has proposed a Jordan-as-Palestine plan as posted here yesterday, stating that that Elon's action to contact US Congressmen and all actions of unilateral action of this nature (by one ministry) could cause "heavy damage to Israel" and are "unacceptable" as they are out of line with current methods of communications and concerns over relations with the US. Nick @ 06:50 PM | TrackBack (0)
Cuba dissident crackdown
Sunday Herald (UK): Good overview of the recent dissident crackdown and recent US stimulus of dissident activities in Cuba along with exploration of why the crackdown happened now. Nick @ 03:56 PM | TrackBack (0)
UK journalist may have been shot from behind
Ananova: Israeli Army officials say that the UK journalist killed in Gaza the other day was shot from behind. If true, this opens up questions as to whether the journalist was indeed shot by Israeli fire as believed or possibly by Palestinian fire. The journalist's body is en route to have a forensic autopsy done in Jerusalem. Nick @ 02:25 PM | TrackBack (0)
New era of infections
KRT Wire via Mercury News: Highly respected medical research groups and health experts say we are living in a new era of infections, with the onslaught of new diseases since the 1970s unprecedented in the history of medicine. They attribute this rise in new diseases to 13 factors in the human sphere. Article includes links to a few related studies. Nick @ 02:13 PM | TrackBack (0)
Updates from Mosul
LA Times: Updates on the political situation in Mosul including the thrust toward elections and an overview of US interim administrator Maj. Gen. David Petraeus. Nick @ 01:48 PM | TrackBack (0)
UK expects to oversee SE Iraq
AFP via The Age (Australia): A UK ministry of defense spokesman says that since British troops are already stationed in southeast Iraq, they expect to administer this region of Iraq in the upcoming stabilization process where there will be three different regions of military reconstruction overseen by Poland, Britain, and the US. Nick @ 01:40 PM | TrackBack (0)
Rescue efforts abandoned in Turkey
CNN.com: Rescue efforts for victims in a large school dormitory which collapsed during the Turkish earthquake have been called off after no new signs of life were seen. Some bodies, however, continue to be found. Nick @ 01:22 PM | TrackBack (0)
Developments on Lynch
Toronto Star: Interviews with hospital staff in Nasiriyah coalesce old and bring about new elements of Private Jessica Lynch's injuries ("There was blunt trauma, resulting in compound fractures of the left femur (upper leg) and the right humerus (upper arm). And also a deep laceration on her head"), hospital treatment (regarding abuse: "This is a lie. But why ask me? Why don't you ask Jessica what kind of treatment she received?") and rescue (hospital staff says they were shot at when trying to return Lynch a night before her rescue). Many more details as well. Nick @ 01:16 PM | TrackBack (0)
100-300 nukes in N. Korea?
The Australian: Kim Myong Chol, a military expert who is close to the regime in Pyongyang, is executive director of the Tokyo-based Center for Korean-American Peace, and has been deemed unofficial spokesman for N. Korean government by western press since being endorsed by N. Korean leader Kim Jong-Il but serves in no official representative capacity, announced in an interview with an Australian network television station that N. Korea has between 100 and 300 nuclear warheads, all of which were produced before 1994. He claimed that Pakistan had been responsible for the testing of these warheads, a charge which Pakistani government officials vehemently deny. In the interview, Chol also stated that the North Korean government was not involved in drug trafficking, as Australia has claimed, and that no hard evidence has been produced that indeed the North Korean ship laden with heroin had ties with the DPRK. Note the Australia's office of the foreign minister declined to comment on this story due to the unofficial nature of Chol's connections to the DPRK. This story is also covered by other arms of Australian press and Sky News UK, but obviously treat as suspect. Nick @ 12:58 PM | TrackBack (0)
Appointments for Iraqi oil
AP: The American administrators in Iraq appointed two Iraqis and an American to head up Iraq's Ministry of Oil today. The appointees include new chief executive officer Thamer Abbas al-Ghadban who was formerly the general director of the ministry, deputy Fadhil Othman, an Iraqi exile formerly involved in the oil business, and American Philip J. Carroll, retired CEO of Shell. Nick @ 11:56 AM | TrackBack (0)
Algeria in contact with kidnappers
Reuters: Algeria announced today that they indded the 31 tourists who have disappeared in the last two months are being held captive, and that "contacts" have been made to secure their "liberation". Nick @ 11:50 AM | TrackBack (0) |