From the World-Wide Resourses of the Western Australia
Reserch Senter(*)
		OIL THE NEWS THAT FITS MY VIEWS   #28
                ===============================
In the Run-Up to World War III, Reliably Reporting the News Relevant
to Extreme Right-Wing Democratic Socialists Everywhere
(validated for RiteThink(tm) by the Office of Our Man in Can-berra).

Visit Our Home Page At:
http://www.chickenhead.com/loserscopes/

See the Undeniable Evidence At:
http://www.evil-doers.org/evidence

Kindly Archived At:
http://www.kymhorsell.com/BOZO/archives/

Iraqi Body Count:
http://www.iraqbodycount.net/

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Selecting latest news stories and other data for you...
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The first war plan has failed because of Iraqi resistance.
    -- Peter Arnett, NBC reporter speaking to Iraqi TV, 29 Mar 2003.
       He was sacked later by NBC, but hired by The Daily Mirror.

They have taken risks before...
when it was not safe for them to do so.
    -- Gen Vince Brooks, briefing 31 Mar 2003.
       Inventing a new way to describe "betrayal" of the Shi'ites
       in S Iraq, when the US left them to be crushed by Saddam in
       1991 after encouraging an uprising.

We will remove Iraq's weapons of mass destruction that would threaten
Israel and the Middle East and the rest of the civilised world.
    -- Sec of State Colin Powell, press conf 31 Mar 2003.
       Outlining the US goals haven't changed even though WMD have
       been so far lacking among the discoveries t'out Iraq.
       Oh yes. The prioritisation is also interesting.

It's a bit too early for history to be written... one would think.
    -- Def Sec Don Rumsfeld, 31 Mar 2003.
       Rejecting the notion the war is not going according to plan.

The townspeople are helping us.
    -- Brig Gen Vince Brooks, Centcom briefing 31 Mar 2003.
       We don't need re-enforcement!

I think winning the peace might, in the long run, turn out to be the
harder challenge.
    -- AUS Def Min Robert Hill, press briefing, 1 Apr 2003.

If this is to be an American... dominated country...
then we are headed into troubled, dangerous waters.
    -- Dr Harlan Ullman, (AUS) ABC Lateline, 1 Apr 2003.

I have no doubts it will be seen by history as the right thing to have done.
    -- AUS PM John Winston Howard, 2 Apr 2003.
       Hoping history puts him up there with another Winston for
       involving AUS in the US war on Iraq.  Well... maybe not.

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Mon, 31 Mar 2003.

Suicide bomber alert
Navy on look-out for suicide boats
It's ugly now and it promises to get uglier
US targets potential terrorist base
Bodies found near the Kuwait-Iraq border
Brit troops hit out at American "cowboys"
Al-Jazeera refuses to censor horrors of war
Journalist found dead in Iraq
EU peacekeepers
Global markets sobered by fears of long Iraq war
Syria, you're next
Powell warns Syria, Iran to drop terror support
AUS prepared for biological, chemical threats
Flu toll
Block quarantined as 92 more SARS cases reported
Dengue fever cases on the increase in nth Qld
Egypt finds oldest evidence of mummification
White powder scare freezes roll-your-own sales
Militants arrested
Taliban Min arrested
Insurance hike
Markets
Continuous war news

Kifl. SUICIDE BOMBER ALERT! US forces have clamped down on civilian
traffic across C and S Iraq following several attempted suicide
attacks.  Military officials say soldiers fired on a taxicab when it
failed to stop about 100 m from a US army checkpoint nr Karbala, and
killed all 3 men inside.  In a separate incident nr Najaf (pop
300,000), artillery fire destroyed a vehicle that officials later said
was carrying a bomb.  Coal'n cmdrs suspect Iraqi irregular forces of
commandeering cabs and using them to storm checkpoints.

Navy on look-out for suicide boats
HMAS Kanimbla.  The Iraqi Vice Pres's threat to use suicide bombing as
a military tactic has AUS warships in the Persian Gulf on the watch
for "suicide speedboats".  The Navy has already captured several Iraqi
tugs and ships laying mines in the Gulf, along with their Republican
Guard crews.
The cmdrs of AUS warships fear Saddam Hussein's loyalists could
use the same tactic as the attackers who rammed an explosives-laden
speedboat into the USS Cole in Yemen 3 y ago.  David McCourt, the
Captain of HMAS Kanimbla, the cmd ship of AUS's naval force here
in the Gulf, says suicide bombings are a real threat.
Commander McCourt says "any craft that's approaching the ship on what
we would consider to be an attack profile would elicit some sort of
response from us".  He says the weaponry used in response to such a
threat would range from a small machine gun to an RBS-70 missile.
Commander McCourt says AUS divers have found about 100 Iraqi mines,
some on board tugs, the rest already in the water.

It's ugly now and it promises to get uglier
Baghdad.  The Iraqi resort to suicide bombing is hardly surprising. But
the shocked response from US cmdrs is another sign of their lack
of preparedness for war in this region.  The swagger is gone from the
"shock and awe" campaign. Instead of being welcomed by flag-waving,
cheering Iraqis, the allies are confronted by the lethal hazards of
asymmetrical war -- brazen Iraqi units and individuals who can nip
through gaps in the most technologically superior force sent into battle.
It does not mean that the US-led forces will lose the war. But it does
mean that the ground rules have changed dramatically, handicapping
Washington and, to use Saddam's words, increasing the blood-price that
the US will pay for victory.  The Iraqi resistance is as much a
measure of Saddam's fear-driven control of his military and civilian
populations as it is of the doubt that many ordinary Iraqis harbour
about American intentions.
It's ugly now and it promises to get uglier. The media here in Baghdad
and elsewhere are filled with images of civilian grief and damage now
spreading beyond what were described as "regime targets".  The Iraqis
tried to head off this war with a pitch for world moral support
against Washington, declaring that it was not a rogue state and did
not have weapons of mass destruction.
Time will tell. But this is the regime that eulogises the suicide
bombers of the West Bank and Gaza, paying $US25,000 to the families of
Palestinian suicide bombers.  And there were echoes of all the
Palestinian justification for their methods of war against the
Israelis when Mr Ramadan said: "Any method that stops or kills the
enemy will be used."
Observers have been watching and waiting, confused by an apparent lack
of war planning across Iraq. But with the war now in its 2nd wk the
explanation is clear -- this is shaping as a guerilla war, like we saw
in Vietnam, N Ireland, Somalia.  Already most US casualties have been
in guerilla strikes in and around Nasiriya.
At Najaf, Captain Andrew Valles, the US First Brigade's civil and
military affairs officer, said: "I don't know what motivated this guy
to kill himself. To me, this is not an act of war, it is terrorism."
But in Baghdad it was just war.

US targets potential terrorist base
N Iraq.  The US says coalition forces have destroyed "a massive
terrorist facility" in N Iraq which could have been used by Al Qaeda
to make chemical weapons.  Washington accuses the Ansar al-Islam
group, which has several hundred mainly Kurdish fighters in N Iraq, of
working to make chemical weapons with help from Osama bin Laden's Al
Qaeda network.
The head of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Richard Myers, told
CNN the site in NEern Iraq could have been a training ground, and may
have produced the lethal poison, ricin, which was found in a London
flat in Jan.  "We attacked and now have gone in on the ground into a
site in NE Iraq, where Ansar al-Islam and Al Qaeda had been working on
poisons," Gen Myers said.
Gen Myers says the targeted site was a "large complex with lots of
underground pieces, tunnels and so forth" and could take up to a wk to
investigate properly.  "It's an area that was struck from the air. We
had AC-130 gunships up there trying to take care of the target before
the folks on the ground went in," he said.
"Some of the bodies that have been recovered, enemy bodies that have
been recovered up there, are not Iraqis, they're not Iranians. We
don't know for sure, but they're most likely Al Qaeda."

Bodies found near the Kuwait-Iraq border
N Kuwait (NY Times).  Marines have found the bodies of 4 US servicemen
in a shallow grave near the town of Nasiriyah.  US military officials
said they believed Iraqi paramilitary forces executed the 4 after they
were seized in an ambush last Sun.  The military officials declined to
speculate on whether the bodies were those of captured US soldiers
shown alive by al-Jazeera television last weekend. The military had
heard reports that the soldiers were executed after appearing on the
Qatar-based network, but there had been no confirmation.  On Fri,
marines found the 4 bodies in a freshly dug grave nr a house in the NE
corner of Nasiriyah. An army official said the bodies were wearing US
uniforms but confusion remained about which branch of the military
they belonged to.  On Sat a US forensic team and military
investigators were flown to the site. Officers said the deaths were
tentatively being treated as a war crime. The soldiers were among 10
Americans listed as missing in action since fighting began.

Brit troops hit out at American "cowboys"
Doha (PA).  Brit soldiers injured when an American "tankbuster"
aircraft attacked their convoy, killing one of their comrades, hit out
angrily at the "cowboy" pilot today.  Troops wounded in Fri's attack
accused the A-10 Thunderbolt pilot of "incompetence and negligence"
while others privately called for a manslaughter prosecution.
The comments came as America's most senior military official vowed to
make it his quest to stop future "friendly fire" tragedies.  General
Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, apologised for
the deadly error by the A-10 in S Iraq.  He told BBC1's Breakfast With
Frost: "It's the absolute saddest tragedy that any of us can
experience.
But the crews of the 2 Brit forward reconnaissance Scimitars attacked
by the A-10 could not contain their anger.  Lance Corporal of Horse
Steven Gerrard, speaking from his bed on the RFA Argus in the Gulf,
said: "I can cmd my vehicle. I can keep it from being
attacked. What I have not been trained to do is look over my shoulder
to see whether an American is shooting at me."
LCoH Gerrard, the cmdr of the leading vehicle, described to
Patrick Barkham of The Times how the deadly A-10 attack began. The
pilot made 2 swoops.  There was a Union Jack on the back of one of the
engineers' vehicles.
Packed with 100s of rounds of ammunition, as well as grenades, rifle
rounds and flammable diesel fuel tanks, the front 2 Scimitars exploded
into flames.  One of their comrades, Lance Corporal of Horse, Matty
Hull, 25, was killed.
LCoH Gerrard also criticised the A-10 for shooting when there were
civilians close by.
The Guardian reporter said some soldiers were also calling for the
pilot to be prosecuted for manslaughter.
So far 5 Brit servicemen have been killed by friendly fire and 4 in
combat with Iraqi forces.  On March 23 a Tornado aircraft was shot
down by a US Patriot missile battery nr the Kuwaiti border.  Another 2
Brit soldiers were killed when their Challenger 2 Main Battle tank was
engaged by another Brit tank west of Basra.

Al-Jazeera refuses to censor horrors of war
Qatar (Reuters).  Blasted by Washington and London for beaming
distressing pictures from Iraq, al-Jazeera television said today it
would not censor the horrors of war.  "I think the audience has the
right to see all aspects of the battle," said Jihad Ballout, rep for
the Qatar-based Jazeera, seen by many as being a major influence in
shaping Arab opinion over the US-led war.
The 24-hour, Arabic-language, broadcaster deliberated carefully before
beaming pictures that could be especially troublesome to viewers, he
said, and denied any political bias.
Images of bombed Baghdad buildings, bloodied and screaming Iraqi
children and slain or captured US and Brit troops seen by millions of
viewers anger Washington and London which seek to portray the war as
one to liberate Iraqis.  He said if the Americans and Brit gave the
station more access to their troops, who invaded Iraq 11 days ago "you
would certainly find as much coverage on the ground from there as you
would find from the Iraqi side".
The station says it has at least 35 mn viewers in the Arab world. In
Europe, Ballout said, its subscriber figures doubled to 8 mn homes in
the 1st wk of the war. These came mainly in countries with large
Muslim populations such as Brit and France.
The Pentagon initially offered Jazeera several opportunities to travel
with US combat units but only one of these "embed" offers worked out,
he said.  The others fell through because of visa headaches from
Bahrain, a base for allied warships, and Kuwait, launchpad for many
journalists covering US and Brit ground forces.
With many ordinary Arabs protesting angrily against the US-led war to
oust Iraqi Pres Saddam Hussein, authorities in some Arab states also
object to Jazeera's conflict coverage.
The same day he complained about POW pictures, Powell appeared on
Jazeera, as have other Bush administration officials to get their
messages to Arab viewers.
Brit's military cmdr in the Gulf, Air Marshal Brian Burridge even
suggested the station might have become a tool of Iraqi propaganda and
violated the Geneva Conventions. The 1949 protocols bind states, not
media organisations.
Burridge slammed Jazeera for showing "shocking, close-up" pictures of
2 Brit troops later said by PM Tony Blair to have been executed by
Iraqis.  But Ballout, a 45-yo former London-based journalist of
Lebanese descent, dismisses such criticism as hypocritical and
self-serving. He said other 24-hour news channels like the BBC and CNN
had also used footage of Iraqi POWs, hands bound and heads bowed, that
could have upset viewers.
"We have covered similar incidents, similar conflicts, in Serbia, in
Bosnia, in the (Israeli-) occupied territories and in Afghanistan, and
nobody said a thing," he said.  "It just strikes me a little bit funny
that all the outcrying is taking place now."

Journalist found dead in Iraq
N Iraq (The Guardian).  Gaby Rado, an award-winning foreign affairs
correspondent with Channel 4 News, has been found dead outside a hotel
in N Iraq.  His body was discovered in the car park of the Abu Sanaa
hotel in Sulaimaniya, in Kurdish-controlled N Iraq, by another
journalist yesterday. It is thought he fell from the roof.
Unlike fellow ITN journalist Terry Lloyd, who was killed last wk
apparently by coalition gunfire, it is not thought that Rado's death
was the result of military action.
His death comes a wk after his ITN colleague Terry Lloyd was killed in
what is thought to have been a "friendly fire" attack in Iraq. Rado
leaves a wife, Desa, whom he met on assignment in Serbia, and 2
children by his first wife, Carol.

Skopje. EU PEACEKEEPERS! For the 1st time in its history, the EU is
sending in peacekeeping troops. The 350-member strong European Force
will be deployed in Macedonia and will become a key test for future
missions in the Balkans and beyond.  It will take over from NATO
peacekeepers.  The NATO force was deployed in the Balkan country in
2001 after a peace deal ended fighting between govt forces and ethnic
Albanian rebels that had raged for 7 m.

Global markets sobered by fears of long Iraq war
NY.  Global financial markets are expected to open this wk without a
clear direction after fears of a long war in Iraq and its potential
economic harm sent stocks lower and bonds and gold higher last week.
Facing heavy air strikes, Iraqi troops have offered stiff resistance
against US-led forces, dimming the markets' earlier optimism for a
swift military campaign to oust Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein.
Threats of more tactics like a weekend suicide bombing by an Iraqi army
officer that killed 4 US soldiers will raise more doubts in the markets
that the clash will be over soon, analysts said.
Markets are still confident that US-led forces will prevail, but the
length of the war and its growing human and financial toll will continue
to weigh on market players.
Wall Street slumped last wk after 2 straight weeks of dramatic gains
that had pushed US stocks to the break-even mark for the year.  At
Fri's close, the Dow Jones industrial average lost 4.4% for the wk to
end at 8,145.77 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite and the broad
Standard & Poor's 500 index both fell 3.6% to 1,369.60 and 863.50
respectively.
In Europe, the FTSE Eurotop 300 index of Pan-European blue chips ended
at 813.61, down 5% last week. In Tokyo, the benchmark Nikkei ended
last wk up 1% at 8,280.16 despite a 1% fall on Fri.  In the currency
market, the euro hit a two-week high of $US1.0801 against the US
dollar before slipping a bit, but still gained about 2.5% last wk to
end at $US1.778.
The dollar lost nearly 1.5% against the yen to end at 119.78 yen.
Fears over a long war in Iraq, which hurt stocks and the dollar, will
support oil prices and buying interest in safe-haven gold and bonds,
analysts said.  But they cautioned that optimistic news on the
progress of US-led forces could easily wipe out any gains.
NYMEX crude for May delivery settled at $US30.16 a barrel last week,
piercing the $US30 a barrel mark on worries over tight supply due to
output declines in Iraq and Nigeria.  In London, May Brent crude ended
the wk at $US26.35.  COMEX Apr gold futures closed on Fri at $US331.5
an ounce, up $US5.40, or 1.6% for the week.

Washington. SYRIA, YOU'RE NEXT!  Following a very public warning from
Sec of Def Donald Rumsfeld, Sec of State Colin Powell has now publicly
warned Syria to stop providing military aid to Iraq.  Mr Rumsfeld said
earlier this wk that there was "very credible evidence" that military
equipment, incl night-vision goggles, were being smuggled into Iraq
against UN resolutions. He said several terrorist-linked groups were
permitted by Damascus to cross the border freely.  Some of these
fighters today arrived in Mosul.  Powell has warned Syria that their
actions are interpreted as promoting terrorism, and said actions have
consequences.  He also called on Iran to end its drive to develop
WMD. Elsewhere, a snr Syrian officials has escalated the war of words
by loudly wishing he hoped that the Coal'n fails to oust Saddam Hussein.

Powell warns Syria, Iran to drop terror support
Washington.  US Secretary of State Colin Powell has urged Syria to
abandon its support for "terrorist groups" and the regime of Iraqi
Pres Saddam Hussein.  "Syria ... now faces a critical choice," Mr
Powell said in a speech to a powerful US Jewish lobby in Washington.
"Syria can continue direct support for terrorist groups and the dying
regime of Saddam Hussein, or it can embark on a different and more
hopeful course," he said.  "Either way, Syria has the responsibility
for its choices and for the consequences."
A former Army general who chaired the US Joint Chiefs of Staff during
the 1991 Gulf War, Mr Powell also reiterated Washington's tough line
on Iran, saying it was time for "the entire international community to
insist that Iran end its support for terrorism.
Last week, US Def Sec Donald Rumsfeld said the US would hold the
Syrian govt accountable for reported shipments of material supplies
from Syria to Iraq.  He also claimed that armed Iraqi Shiite Muslim
forces supported by Iran were inside Iraq and warned that they would
be considered combatants if they interfered with US or Brit forces in
the country.

AUS prepared for biological, chemical threats
Canberra.  AUS's Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Richard Smallwood says
AUS is well prepared for potential biological and chemical threats.
At a communicable diseases conference in CBR today, Professor
Smallwood said govt health authorities are coordinating with national
security and emergency response agencies to deal with any potential
threats.  He says we now face the possibility of the smallpox virus
being released back into the world to confront a virtually non-immune
population.  Professor Smallwood says AUS has 50,000 vaccinations,
which will be substantially increased in the next 2 or 3 months.  "We
do have smallpox vaccine here, again... there are response plans,
national and those in various states and territories, so I think we're
again well prepared should something like that occur," he said.  "The
risk as we understand it is very small."

HK. FLU TOLL! HK has taken drastic new steps to combat SARS, as nearly
100 new cases were reported in the territory in the past 24 hrs.
Health authorities have locked people into their appts in a block
that's seen about 1/2 of the cases. It was an "emergency measure" said
the Health Chief.  [Later reports said the quarantine was compromised
by 100s of people leaving their homes before the building was locked up].
Meanwhile, US authorities have warned the disease could be more
contagious than they previously announced, and have advised Americans
against travelling to some parts of Asia.  The mysterious illness has
now infected more than 1,600 people in 15 countries and has killed at
least 59.  In apparently began in S China, spread to HK, and has been
taken worldwide by airline passengers.

Block quarantined as 92 more SARS cases reported
HK (Reuters).  A HK apartment block has been quarantined after the
govt reported today 92 new cases of a deadly pneumonia virus there,
bringing the total number of infections in the territory to more than
620.  The disease has killed at least 59 people worldwide and infected
more than 1,600 others.  The number of cases from Amoy Gardens housing
estate in Kowloon has risen to 213, HK Health Secretary Yeoh Eng-kiong
told a news briefing.  Yesterday there were 121 cases at the housing
project.  A sharp jump in the number of cases at the estate has raised
fears that the virus could be airborne rather than spread by droplets
from sneezing or coughing as previously thought.  The govt has ordered
residents of one apartment block in Amoy Gardens to be quarantined for
10 days.

Dengue fever cases on the increase in nth Qld
Brisbane.  There has been a large increase in the number of confirmed
dengue fever cases in far N Qld.  Another 20 Cairns residents are
confirmed with the potentially fatal mosquito-borne disease, bringing
the count to 200.  It has been just over a m since the 1st reported
cases of dengue fever were detected in suburban Cairns and while Qld
health authorities had hoped for a quick containment of the outbreak,
numbers continue to rise.  The Tropical Public Health Unit's Dr Ross
Sparkes says the outbreak has largely been contained in several
inner-city suburbs.  "We've got about 200... by the end of today, 31st
March about 200 cases of confirmed dengue fever," he said.  Dr Sparkes
says it is likely more residents will become infected until the
breeding sites are successfully eradicated.

Egypt finds oldest evidence of mummification
Cairo.  Egyptian archaeologists have opened a 5,000-yo wooden coffin
in the desert nr Cairo to find a pile of bones which they said showed
the oldest evidence yet found of human mummification in Egypt.  The
bones were covered with a resin used in the mummification process and
remnants of skin.
The coffin was found in one of more than 20 mud-brick tombs, which
Hawass said belonged to officials who had lived between 3100-2890 BC
under Egypt's 1st Dynasty.
Egyptian mummification techniques developed over the centuries.
Ancient Egyptians are known to have embalmed bodies by between 2,613
and 2,494 BC.  Methods used between 1,567-1,200 BC were the most
effective at preserving dead and the remains of King Ramses II, who
ruled during that period, have been displayed at the Egyptian Museum.
Techniques used between 1,085-945 BC were the most elaborate, when the
dried, washed and wrapped body was strapped with cloth for protection
and covered with jewellery to ward off evil.

White powder scare freezes roll-your-own sales
NZ (Reuters).  NZ's 2 main tobacco companies halted sales of loose
tobacco today after suspicious white powder was found in one
packet. The incident follows a series of letters, some containing
traces of cyanide, which threaten to poison food and drink in New
Zealand and target the interests of Brit, AUS and the US.  One letter,
sent before the war broke out, threatened action if events escalated
in Iraq.
A white substance was found in a tobacco pouch bought at a supermarket
in the North Island city of Tauranga yesterday, prompting fresh calls
from police for the public to report any broken seals on food and
drink.  The 2 Brit rivals, which between them control most of the New
Zealand tobacco market, said the freeze would apply until the results
were known of police analysis of the powder, probably tomorrow.
A hoax call on Fri prompted the evacuation of a cinema complex in
Wellington, but no cyanide was found.
Cyanide is widely used by New Zealand farmers and local govt agencies
to kill animal pests such as possums.
Threatening letters are rare in the South Pacific nation.

Jerusalem. MILITANTS ARRESTED! Israeli troops have arrested 20 wanted
men, incl 2 militants from the radical Islamic Jihad movement, during
operations in the W Bank.  An Israeli rep says 1 of the IJ activists
was arrested in Ramallah and a 2nd was picked up about 10 km NE of
Nablus.  IJ has claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing in the
Israeli coastal resort of Netanya yesterday which injured 26 people, 6
of them seriously.  Only the bomber was killed.

Spin Boldak. TALIBAN MIN ARRESTED! Afghan authorities say they have
arrested a former Taliban minister in a US-led operation against
Islamic hard-liners in the S of the country.  Khalid Pashtun, a rep
for the govt of S Kandahar prov, says former Taliban trade minister
Mullah Abdul Razzaq has been arrested.  Pashtun says the arrest took
place in a US-led operation against the Taliban and al-Qaeda suspects
in the mtns 80 km N of Kandahar.  He did not say when it happened.

Canberra. INSURANCE HIKE! Families with private health insurance will
be paying around $150 pa more from tomorrow, after a rise averaging 7%
were OK-ed by the fed govt.  In a double whammy for some, taxpayers
will be forking out an extra $170 mn pa through the 30% tax rebate,
which currently added $2.3 bn to the govt's bottom line each year.
The latest 7.4% rise across 44 health funds comes on top of an avg
6.9% last y.

Sydney. MARKETS!  The ASX ended lower today as media heavyweight News
Corp fell in the wake of weaker markets in the US and UK.  The All
Ords fell 13 pts (0.44%) to close at 2,849.  The Nikkei plunged 3.7%
today on war fears.  In trade so far this session, the FTSE has also
dived 80 pts.  In the US, Wal-Mart has topped the Fortune 500 list for
the 2nd y running. I'm betting on a 3rd. Fortune says it could be permanent.
Ted Kaldis' pal, Enron Corp, has fallen from number 5 into a bucket after
filing Chapter 11.  The AUD is trading around 60.55 US cents.

+++ CONTINUOUS WAR NEWS +++

10 pm
Polling in the US shows that support for the war among black voters
remains at 37%. This compares with a jump from 57% to 72% for the
overall population. Blacks make up about 20% of military forces, far
out of proportion with respect to their representation in the overall
population.  Or most other jobs.

Briefing in Qatar, Brig Gen Brooks. Usual guff.  (US) ABC has sent its
reporters home, believing all relevant inflation was already given out
at the Pentagon and the $mn set in Doha was redundant.  Reporters have
queried Brooks about the value of the briefings.  There was applause
from other reporters when the point was made.
Brooks showed film of Iraqi aircraft being destroyed on runways in W Iraq.
Analysts say some seemed very old, Hawker Hunters from the time Iraq
had a King. Others seem to be Suks, but probably are decoys.  The
Iraqis would not normally be leaving their aircraft in the middle of
runways, waiting to be destroyed. Iraq is believed to have about 90
functional, but aging, jets.

There is speculation that the 5 US POW's controversially seen on Arab
TV are among human remains found in a shallow grace in Iraq.

Qantas has announced a 40% reduction in domestic air fares, in an
effort to boost sales. It had previously announced a 20% reduction in
internat'l flights.

Pictures have shown carpet bombing has moved from the hills in the N
of Iraq down to the S, outside Baghdad.  B-52's were hitting Rep
Guards in defensive positions in the SE and SW of the capital.  US
officials say the Coal'n is getting ready for a final showdown with
the main part of Iraq's formal military.

Iraqi TV is still on the air, despite continual attempts to stop the
propaganda from the "dying regime".  It was off for several hrs
overnight, after it took at least one hit from a missile, but it was
later showing US equipment it says was abandoned by retreating forces,
S of the capital.

22.37
Peter Lloyd, ABC reporter, Qatar.  Americans are getting to a point
where they will take strategically important towns and cities like
An Nasiriyah and An Najaf.  The idea is to capture the towns and cut off
command and control. The Coal'n is also targeting Baath party
officers, incl Saddam's cousin "Chemical Ali".  He's cmdr of the
S battlefront.  There are reports that 400 of the 4,000 POW's will be
treated as "unlawful combatants" and will be headed for Cuba.
Military lawyers are looking into the idea, the reporter says.  Gen
Brooks has not denied the report.  Not only will the denial of Geneva
Convention or Bill of Rights protections be controversial to other
members of the "Coalition", but will put the US in a poor light. They
are still insisting on Geneva Conventions applying to their own
troops. Perhaps more importantly, the move might further harden the
attitudes of the population the Coal'n is trying to win over.

11 pm
2 missiles have been fired from a low-flying plane into Saddam's Republican
palace in C Baghdad. It's the first daylight attack on the complex.

11.15
The reporting of Colin Powell is getting noticeably more favourable.
In contrast to Don Rumsfeld.  Commentators say we're now heading back
to the "Powell Doctrine", used during Gulf War I. Back then, Gen
Powell recommended "overwhelming force" against Baghdad, incl massive
aerial bombing. Jim Baker has also been on TV, saying the Bush Admin
needs to "re-engage with the world" -- also part of Powell's current
responsibilities. Is Regime Change in the air? Maybe not.  Powell, a
Rumsfeld opponent, is now defending the war plan.

The WashPost has an interesting story.  The Pentagon is now seeing the
concept of embedded reporters -- also known as "in-bed-ed" in some
circles -- as a mixed blessing.  While Centcom, Qatar, makes its daily
presentations, they are sometimes found to contradict what embeds are
saying. Centcom says things are going fine, but the embeds find there
are setbacks, pauses, and troops have only 1 meal a day. Gen Brooks
and other snr officials have tried to tell reporters that individual
embeds don't have all of the picture, and you shouldn't generalise
from 1 or 2 examples.  More famously, embeds talked to Gen Wallace,
who said he had never war-gamed for the tactics seen in Iraq. These
kinds of comments got Don Rumsfeld so upset he'd criticised officials,
including the military, for "second guessing" the war plan, adding
that "some people" didn't have the "big picture" of the war and should
shut up. Excuse me?  The Generals don't have the "big picture"?

23.30
Nasiriyah. Fighting has been going on at the city of 1/4 mn for 9 days
now.  The US is now getting serious, drafting in 1,000s of marines to
capture the city.  There'll soon be a total of 12,000 US troops
ringing the city.
Already the Americans have made trips into the city.
At one compound they found chem warfare protection equipment and 100s
of conventional shells.  They found dust-covered vials of diluted
poisons, incl sarin, used to train troops.  There were old posters on
the war, showing what to do during a nuclear attack on the
battlefield.  The chem gear was "proof", the Marines said, that Saddam
had WMD and was prepared to use them.

Basra.  Brit forces have mounted their biggest offensive into the city
so far.  Last night they took the village of Abu al-Khasib, where
Iraqi fighters had been entrenched.  1,000 Royal Marines used tanks
and artillery to move into the town.  30 Iraqi fighters were taken
prisoner, incl some snr officers.  The Brits say 1 Marine was killed.
But Arab TV says 4 Coal'n soldiers were killed there.

The Iraqi For Min has given his first news conf in the country since
the war started.  He was asked whether a political settlement could end
the war.  The political settlement he had in mind, he said, was for
Iraqi fighters to repel the "aggressors".  The enemy would end in
graves in the desert, he added.

23.40
Geoff Hoon has told Parliament the Coal'n now holds 8,000 POW's, many
of whom had surrendered. Recent US estimates had been 4,000.

As Kurdish fighters move closer to Kirkuk, PUK officials visiting the
front lines say they will fight all the way to Baghdad.  No-one knows
whether they were speaking figuratively.

----------------------------------------
Tue, 01 Apr 2003.

Continuous war news
Markets
AUS opinion moves behind war
Students to launch illegal protest
Human shield flees Baghdad
Landslide buries 100s
Toughest days ahead
Ten civilians killed
4 killed in train crash
Aussies attack
Aussie company linked with WMD
Still no WMD
Marines capture old Iraqi weapons
Arab league says something
Reporters sacked for saying something
5 homes demolished
Bomb blast
Car smashes into Brit embassy
US warns China its next
North Korea fires missile
EU challenges AUS
WTO deadline passes
First cases of SARS in Aus
Dengue spreads in FNQ
Another record trade deficit
Markets
Continuous war news

+++ CONTINUOUS WAR NEWS +++

Midnight.
IT'S DAY TWELVE.
The Min of Info was hit last night for the 2nd time, only hrs after
journalists evacuated the building. Day by day the buildings are being
picked apart.  But for ordinary Iraqis, the longer the war goes on,
the less of the infrastructure they rely on is still working.

Reporters say they've seen Egyptians and Syrians staying in Baghdad
hotels. They're not sure if they are then men mentioned by the Foreign
Min today. He said 5,000 volunteers from many Arab countries had just
arrived in the capital, and were preparing to join the suicide
squads. There's a school for martyrs the recruits will attend before
going out into the countryside to carry bombs to Coal'n troops.

Analysts are still predicting American Airlines -- the world's biggest
carrier -- will file for bankruptcy sometime this wk, possibly
tomorrow. The company was badly hit by the world down-turn in air
travel in 2000, but was hit again by 9/11.  At present, the war in
Iraq is further cutting down internat'l air travel.
AA needs another $4 bn pa in sales just to break even in the current climate.
Meanwhile, the Senate Rep's are reported ready to attach a $2.8 bn aid
package for the nation's airlines to the Iraqi war bill sent to the
Hill by Pres Bush.  The Pres had previously warned Congress to "spend
each dollar wisely" -- on the war effort.
The aid will be conditional on salary caps on top execs.  It's been
recently announced that other airlines, also beset with difficulties,
have paid their execs generous bonuses and golden handshakes.
Critics say the bail-outs have been going on since the 1940s -- the
sector as a whole has never made any money.

BBC has shown pix of a Coal'n air traffic control centre "somewhere in
the Gulf". The dozens of screens are used to co-ordinate part of the
air operation over Iraq.

Amid reports of US weapons going astray, Brit is trying to stress it
takes especial care that doesn't happen.  At a Brit press briefing in
Qatar, an official described a Brit attack in which a Harrier pilot
dropped an LGB but then noticed a building in the target area he could
not identify. He dragged the laser off into the desert, where the bomb
"exploded harmlessly".

1 am
In Zimbabwe, the Opp'n has managed to retain 2 seats in key
by-elections. The elections had been surrounded by allegations of
widespread intimidation and vote-rigging. Embarrassing for the Mugabe
govt, it doesn't have a seat in the capital, Harare.

US Marines and units of the Rep Guards are battling nr Hindiyah (pop
80,000), 80 km S of Baghdad.

Iraq's Info Min is giving a press briefing.  The enemy's supply lines
are over-extended.  We have pushed them back.  They are in the desert
sand.  They are swerving around certain towns, like Nasiriyah.  Our
small units are fighting the lackies day and night.  We will not let
them sleep or stay in one place.  They are being chased by the people
in all areas for the past day and a half.
We destroyed 13 tanks, 8 APC's, 6 armoured vehicles, and a command
vehicle.  We also shot down 4 Apache helicopters and 2 Predator unmanned
planes.  We killed a total of 43 US and Brit soldiers and captured
significant qty of military equipment belonging to these mercenaries.
Fighters from the Iraqi people led by the Fedayeen managed to uncover
a tactic used by the mercenaries.
On the road to Nasiriyah you reporters should reach there with no
problem. Yet the mercenaries could not get into the city.  But on your
return you'd find a new checkpoint manned by these lackies.  How come
this is happening?
These lackies set up checkpoints away from the main rd in a small
position where they put tanks, APC's and cars, and they guard
them. And they move about to give an impression they are in control of
the road and the area.
We are discovering these hide-outs.  3 or 4 of these are being
surrounded now.  Part of this snake is being chopped off.  1 shelter
was destroyed in the past day.  We found inside 4 APC's, 3 tanks and
various weapons and bombs.  Those inside we killed and burned.  We
will carry on uprooting these hideouts.
The Brit PM is hysterical. The fall of Tony Blair is near.
[Someone translated this as Pres Bush].
We are encouraging martyrs.
The Brit and US troops are shooting civilians because they fear they
are suicide bombers.
They are doing this because they are racists and invaders and colonisers.
If they don't leave, we will carry on our attacks.
These racists are snatching people in the night, then come back in the
morning to offer services of protection, in return for a sum of money.
They hit the water supply in Basra, and they bring mineral water from
Brit. At the same time they destroyed water plants that would supply
water for 1.8 mn people in Basra.
They have destroyed 80,000 tonnes of food supplies.
We have sent a letter to the UN Sec-Gen detailing these crimes.
The British say they will provide 200 tonnes of supplies.
1 day after these attacks, Brit and US planes are dropping fibreglass onto
electricity plants, which causes complete shutdown. This causes disruption
that takes a long time to repair. This has happened in 4 districts.
They are perpetrators of the first order. They deserve death.
	
1.30 am
Prominent Jordanians have written what they say is a "moderate letter"
[a petition signed by 99 officials, incl former PM's] to King Abdullah
to make renewed efforts in Washington to stop the war in Iraq. Jordan
has allowed the US to position troops on its border.  There are some
reports that its support may go much further.  Jordan is one of only
2 Arab countries with a treaty with Israel. It's also completely
dependent on the US for economic support. The letter is viewed by
analysts as a way of "letting off steam".

The Syrian For Media Dir, Dr Bouthaina Shaaban, says Syria rejects US
accusations it was a sponsor of terrorism. But Syria was supporting
Iraq in its rejection of the invaders. She said she had a report from
a US General in Iraq who she said had denied Iraq had night-vision
goggles or had imported them from a foreign country.  She called on
the US to stop the war and go back to the UN.

The US says it's made "first contact" with the elite Rep Guards, nr
the old city of Babylon. The front is 160 km long.  The US had set up
kill boxes.  About 1,600 bombs have been dropped on the enemy in more
than 600 missions over the past 24 hrs. For the first time, B-1, B-2
and B-52's were simultaneously pounding enemy positions S of Baghdad.

The 82nd airborne are going house-to-house in Nasiriyah. More troops
have been called in. They say they can no longer bypass the towns.

(US) ABC pointed out a man at a press conf. It was Saddam's personal
body guard, they said. The un-named man had never before been seen
apart from the President. To see him standing behind the stage at a press
conf could be significant, indicating no-one is in charge, they said.

Brit officials say they have not captured an Iraqi general nr Basra,
as previously reported. Brit troops captured several people overnight,
but one of them had been mis-identified. Previously it was reported a
key General had been discovered in civilian clothes, attempting to
blend into the population. They now say the man is a "much lower rank".

2 am
A day after a suicide bombing that wounded dozens of Israelis, Islamic
Jihad said it will step up attacks in support of Iraq.

A funeral has been held for the massacre of Srebrenica in 1995.  The remains
of around 600 people have been laid to rest in a grave outside of the town.

Pres Saddam Hussein has been shown on Iraqi TV, along with his 2 sons.
The commentator said the film was shot in the past 24 hrs, but there
is no indep confirmation. The film was aired 3 hrs after the Coal'n
fired 2 missiles into Pres Saddam's main palace. Coal'n attacks have
also hit his son Qusay's palace.

In Basra, Brit troops have just finished their most significant period
of fighting.  In 15 hrs of almost continual fire, they entered a key
suburb in the outskirts of Basra.  They were fired on by snipers and
soldiers in bunkers.  They say 30 enemy were killed and 100s more
captured.  The Brits say 14 of their own solders were injured.
Several Iraqi tanks were also destroyed.

Embedded reporters with the US forces have been banned from using
certain types of cell phones.  The devices could give away the
position of US forces to enemy troops, they've discovered.

2 oil wells are still burning in S Iraq.

A water pipeline built by Brits engineers from Kuwait to Umm Qasr is
expected to be pumping within 24 hrs.

2.20 am
3 US troops have been injured, 1 seriously, in the S of Iraq.  It's
reported Iraqi soldiers used a Red Crescent ambulance to stage attack.

Brit cmdrs say 2 Brit soldiers were killed nr Basra in the past 24
hrs.  They say their forces wiped out a significant amount of Iraq
armour and infantry in their attacks.

Latest casualty numbers. Brits list 23 KIA. US list 49 KIA, 17 MIA, 7 POW's.

A demo in Pakistan Sun drew a crowd of 1/4 mn. Some chanted "Death to America".

The Red Cross is to visit Iraqi POW's today. They are still awaiting
permission to visit Coal'n POW's held by Iraq.

Two Kenyan aid workers captured by Iraqis, the drivers previously
shown on Iraqi TV, have been rescued by British forces.

2.45 am
Amid fresh US attacks on Taliban and al-Qaeda elements in Afghanistan,
Mullah Omar has issued a fresh call for a holy war against US troops
and Afghans that work with them.

BBC has been showing images of "vast numbers of artillery shells" and
other equipment captured nr Basra. The shells appear to be 10-20 y
old. Some boxes are marked with serial numbers and "Jordan".

3.15 am
BBC World News has shown footage of Iraqi positions being bombed in N
Iraq. What are described as raw recruits are seen running along a ridge
line. Moments later, their cmd post is blasted by 2 bombs. The
Iraqis have a choice, says the voice-over, they can stay and be
bombed, or run and be shot. There are Iraqi execution squads in the
area, ready to kill deserters en masse.
But Iraqis are increasingly deserting to the Kurdish lines.  2 were
shown arriving at a Kurdish checkpoint.  The Kurds say a total of 40
came across today.  They showed a group getting into a minibus.  Their
faces were obscured by locals because the Iraqis have families back home.
The Iraqis say they've heard nothing from Baghdad in some time, and
indicate they're fearful of both Saddam and the Coal'n.  The Iraqis
expect brutality.  As they were leaving on the minibus, one asked the
a reporter if they would be executed at the POW camp.

3.30
Centcom in Qatar still has not commented on 2 marketplace attacks in
Baghdad that killed dozens of civilians. It could be own goals, or it
might have been Coal'n missiles or bombs. But there is no final
word. The Coal'n has made a cryptic remark that may indicate the
final word from the Coal'n POV will be forthcoming shortly.

Kabul. The war in Afghanistan is old, but not cold enough for US or
Afghan officials.  Attacks in the country from rebel groups are
becoming more frequent, but usually they are ineffective.  Today, 2
rockets landed nr a compound that houses 5,000 foreign troops from 28
nations.  The attack was also 100 m from the US embassy.  There is
talk of the Taliban and Al Qaeda re-grouping.  US troops chasing rebel
elements in the S of the country in the past wk came under continuing
fire.  2 soldiers were killed.  And a Swiss Red Cross worker was shot
dead last Thu, apparently singled out for being a foreigner.

4 am
The Dow is down 143 (1.8%) to 8,002. The Nasdaq is also down sharply.
Oil prices have risen 77 c as a quick end to the war in Iraq receded.

Internat'l aid agencies have handed over $5 mn to 15 hospitals in
Baghdad, to pay for much-needed supplies and basic equipment.

4 am
Baghdad says 6 civilians have been killed in bombing in the past 24
hrs, and dozens wounded. TV cameras showed children arriving at a
hospital in the capital. Bodies were also reportedly brought to the
morgue.  Bombing from low-flying Coal'n jets has hit targets in the N
and S of the city.  Other missiles have hit the city C.

7 am
The latest Aussie opinion poll show support for opp'n leader Simon
Crean has slumped.  Only 17% of Aussies want Mr Crean as PM.  Of those
surveyed, 60% are not satisfied with the job the opp'n leader is
doing, making him one of the most unpopular leaders in y.  But 62%
want Mr Howard for the top job.  Support for the war is at 51%, those
against are 48%.  Support for the govt is running at 54%, indicating
the ALP would lose up to 18 seats if an election was held now.  The
Newspoll was published in today's The Australian.

The Nikkei ended the J FY down 28%, losing more than 2% on the last
day's trade. In EU, the markets were down around 4% on average.  The
US markets lost 2% as well.  Oil and gold were up.  But analysts are
rubbing their hands, calculating that once the S Iraq oilfields open
in a "free" Iraq, the price of oil will drop to around $US20/bbl --
pumping $80 bn pa into the US economy.

US forces have captured a key bridge over the Euphrates, at Hindiyah,
after their first major engagement with Rep Guard, S of Baghdad.  They
say they killed, wounded or captured 200 Iraqis.

Aussie Human Shields have driven out of Baghdad today.  They say they
encountered Aussie troops about 200 km W of the capital.  They claim
they left for 14 different reasons. The one mentioned on Ch 9 was they
feared their status was difficult to predict if US troops entered the city.

In an address to the US Coast Guard, US Pres George Bush Jr says US
troops had secured the Iraqi oilfields.  He told a cheering crowd that
day by day American forces were getting closer to Baghdad.

A car has crashed into the gates of the Brit embassy in Iran.  There
are presently no reports of injuries.

Reporters are still critics of the "spin control" of the US briefings
at Centcom. Both US and Arab reporters say their publics are not a
stupid as the doctors seem to assume.  Today all military briefings
from Washington and Doha were on message, mainly that everything was
"on plan".  But clearly that's not the case, say some US reporters.
Almost everything seems to be going wrong, and the situation will get
worse. They predict the US public won't stand for it for much longer.

7.30 am
There's been another "accident" with civilians.  Blaming new tactics
adopted because of fears of suicide bombing, American troops nr Najaf
have opened fire on a minibus.  It turned out to contain 14 woman and
children trying to flee the fighting.  7 of them were killed, and 2
are seriously wounded.

A mini-tornado has hit the Qld town of Bundaberg. But it is Apr 1.
Not to be left out, Omeo in Vic was hit by flash-flooding o'night.

The Coal'n says no senior Iraqi political or military leaders have
defected in the past 12 days.

+++ END CONTINUOUS WAR NEWS +++

NY. MARKETS!  The Dow closed down 157 pts (2%) to 7,989.  The Nasdaq
is down 28 pts (2%) to 1,340. Gold has risen almost $US5 to $US336/oz.
The USD was down against the euro.

Canberra. AUS OPINION MOVES BEHIND WAR!  2 new opinion polls show
Aussies are moving to support the war in Iraq.  An AC-Neilsen poll in
The Age and SMH shows 44% of Aussies now support the war -- even
though it isn't backed by the UN.  That's up from just 6% in Jan.  A
Newspoll published in The Australian says 51% of respondents are in
favour of the war on Iraq -- up 6 pts since the war began.  Those
against are 38%, with 11% still undecided.

Sydney. STUDENTS TO LAUNCH ILLEGAL PROTEST!  Anti-war student
protesters say they'll take to SYD streets tomorrow in an illegal
rally.  The organisers of last wk's protest, during which 14 people
were arrested after an outbreak of violence, say they are committed to
holding a peaceful anti-war rally.  Books Not Bombs rep Kylie Moon
says the group won't accept a police refusal to grant a march permit.
Prem Bob Carr has urged parents to take charge of their own children
and stop them attending the rally. Experts will be flown in from China
to suggest appropriate protest suppression measures.

Sydney. HUMAN SHIELD FLEES BAGHDAD!  Aussie human shield Donna
Mulhearn is expected back in AUS within 2 wks after fleeing Baghdad
yesterday.  Ms Mulhearn's brother Paul says the family is very happy
to hears that 34 yo Donna is now safe in Jordan.  Ms Mulhearn says she
and 5 other Shields fled Baghdad to avoid chaos and possible civil
strife when US-led troops arrive.  She says a small number of Human
Shields are remaining in the Iraqi capital.
Another Shield -- Adelaide mum Ruth Russell -- hasn't been heard from
in 5 days.  She was guarding a food silo about 20 km out of Baghdad.
There was a report a food silo was hit by bombing. Her family fears
the worst.

La Paz. LANDSLIDE BURIES 100S!  A major landslide has burned about 400
homes in the remote N Bolivian mining town of China, leaving 700
people missing.  Local sources say many injured people are being taken
to a hosp in the nearby town of Tipuani.  However a local mining
company head says an initial estimate of the number of victims is
impossible because of the sheer devastation of the area.  He says the
affected homes have been completely submerged.

Canberra. TOUGHEST DAYS AHEAD!  PM John Howard, riding high on the
latest opinion polls, has warned Australians the toughest days in the
campaign to find all the Iraqi gas masks lay ahead.  Backing away from
comments the war would be short, the PM's core promise today was the
days and weeks ahead would prove the most difficult for the US and
Brit forces.  He told ABC TV the coalition's resolve to win to war and
secure the Iraqi oil is unshaken.

Al Saliyah. TEN CIVILIANS KILLED!  US troops have opened fire on a van
at a military checkpoint in S Iraq, killing 10 women and children
[initial reports said 7].  US Navy Lt Cmdr Charles Owens says the
shooting occurred at a checkpoint manned by soldiers from the US
Army's 3rd Inf at Najaf, 150 km S of Baghdad.  Owens says the victims
were in a vehicle that failed to stop despite repeated warning shots.

Ahmedabad.  4 KILLED IN TRAIN CRASH! Police say 4 people were killed
and 15 injured toady when an oil tanker collided with a passenger
train causing an explosion and fire in 3 coaches in the W Indian state
of Gujarat.  Supt of police V M Pargi of Rajkot says the incident
occurred at Vakaner in Rajkot district, 200 km from Ahmedabad, when
the tanker crashed into the Saurashtra Mail at an unmanned railroad
crossing.  Pargi says the driver and cleaner of the tanker are among
the dead and 2 of the 15 injured are in a serious condition.

Canberra. AUSSIES ATTACK!  Def Min Robert Hill says Aussie F/A-18
Hornets attacked artillery positions outside of Baghdad last night.
Sen Hill says Aussie aircraft are supporting Coal'n ground troops by
degrading the capability of Iraq's armoured divisions. He says Aussie
C-130 transport aircraft have also taken refuelling and other support
equipment into Iraq for the 1st time, indicating more airfields are
becoming safe to deliver supplies.

Melbourne. AUSSIE COMPANY LINKED WITH WMD! A medium-sized company in
MEL's SE says it's about to lose $1/2 bn in trade because it's been
blocked by the Fed Govt on concerns an instrument it makes could be
used to make WMD.  The company makes a mass spectrometer that can
produce the list of elements in most samples within seconds.  It
operates about 10 times faster than similar instruments.  The company,
that employs about 120 people, has an order from Iran for the
instrument. But Robert Hill has written a letter to the company,
denying it an export license. Sen Hill told reporters the device could
be used to produced WMD.  Other commentators say the govt move is
similar to banning the export of wheat because it might be used to
manufacture beer.  The device can't be used directly to make WMD, but
can only be used to analyse samples of material that might be part of
a nuclear weapons program.

Canberra. STILL NO WMD! ADF Chief Gen Peter Cosgrove says he's
"disappointed" WMD have not been found so far in Iraq. He told
reporters at a daily def briefing it would have been "nice" to have
found chem or bio weapons as soon as troops crossed the Kuwait/Iraq
border, but that was always unlikely.  The Gen said there was a "lot
more work to be done" to find the WMD.  There were 100s of sensitive
sites that were not yet available to Coal'n forces, that needed to be
searched.  Analysts now think chem weapons, if they exist, are likely
to be stored nr or in Baghdad, and are Iraq's weapon of last resort.
However, with modern chem and bio defences, such weapons are not very
ineffective on the battlefield.  They pose more a threat to Iraqi
civilians than to the Coal'n troops.

Camp As Saliyah. MARINES CAPTURE OLD IRAQI WEAPONS! The US military
says it's captured a huge ammo depot in SC Iraq that includes 40
warehouses.  US Centcom in Qatar says Marines also found scores of
rifles, RPG's, mortars and various other small arms in Sun's
operation.  It made no mention of chemical weapons, which US military
leaders say they have yet to find in Iraq.

Athens. ARAB LEAGUE SAYS SOMETHING! The Sec-Gen of the Arab League
says a spill-over of war from Iraq into its neighbours could cause
havoc across a region already engulfed in "extreme anger".  Amr Moussa
says the region is already "agitated" because of what's going on in
Iraq and the former Palestine.  His remarks follow a stern warning by
the US that Syria is helping Iraq militarily and is supporting
terrorism.  Analysts say Syria was an original member of the Axis of
Evil, but was substituted by North Korea at the last minute so the
list didn't look like it was all Arab.

NY. REPORTERS SACKED FOR SAYING SOMETHING!  Peter Arnett has been
sacked by NBC.  Mr Arnett had told Iraqi TV the Coal'n war plan had
failed, and had not taken into account the resistance of Iraqi fighters.
Critics interpreted his comments as anything from anti-war to treason.
The Pulitzer winner told a US TV interview he was not anti-war, and
apologised for any offence he might have caused.
Initially NBC had stood by their veteran reporter, but now they say he
was wrong to air his personal views, especially in a time of war.
Nat'l Geographic has also cancelled its contract with Arnett.
The Daily Mirror -- an anti-war newspaper -- has capitalised on the
controversy by immediately hiring Arnett.  AUS radio stations that use
his commentary say they will not take any action. One criticised
Arnett for the location of his interview, not its content.
Media analysts say Arnett was hardly a "Lord Haw Haw" for saying the
war wasn't going according to plan.  It showed the craven attitudes of
the US TV media, they say.
Elsewhere, Fox News' Geraldo Riviera has also been expelled from Iraq
for commenting on Coal'n troop movements.

Jerusalem. 5 HOMES DEMOLISHED!  Israeli troops have demolished the
homes of 5 militants, incl the home of a suicide bomber that blew
himself up in Netanya this wk.  The army says its forces destroyed
the home of 20 yo Rami Ghanen in the W Bank village of Dir Rasoun nr
Tulkarem.  Ghanen, who was a member of the militant organisation
Islamic Jihad, blew himself up on Sun at a cafe and wounded 49
Israelis. IJ says the bombing was a gift to the people of Iraq.

Jakarta. BOMB BLAST!  A bomb has exploded in the Indon city of Medan
-- the 2nd blast in the city in less than 24 hrs -- but police say
there have been no casualties or damage.  A 2nd bomb, which failed to
go off, was found nr the site of today's blast.  N Sumatra police say
the blast nr the Deli R left a 1/2 m crater.  Yesterday afternoon a
strong blast rocked the parking lot of the Medan city administrator's
offices, shattering windows and damaging 2 cars, but not injuring any people.

Tehran. CAR SMASHES INTO BRIT EMBASSY!  A ute has smashed into a wall
surrounding the Brit embassy in Tehran, killing the driver.  No-one
else was hurt in the incident.  An Iranian security official says it
doesn't appear to have been a suicide attack.  The official says there
were no explosives in the truck, but he says it caught fire about 20
m from the main embassy entrance before crashing into the compound wall.

Washington. US WARNS CHINA ITS NEXT!  The US has accused China's
rulers of grievously suppressing basic freedoms.  The US State Dept
annual survey of global human rights says China's record is still poor
but repression has eased slightly in several areas.  The report also
notes problems with Israel's treatment of Israeli Arabs, and accuses
the Palestinian Authority of continuing to commit numerous, serious
abuses.  Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan are also accused of
sharpening state control over dissent.
Human rights groups have launched a blistering attack on the report,
saying the US is being "inconsistent".  Amnesty Int'l says the US is
the "Jekyll and Hyde of human rights", and the distance between its
words and actions is greater than it's been for decades.
Other human rights groups have criticised the US for its detention of
"unlawful combatants" in Cuba without charge or access to legal counsel.
They say the US has always turned a blind eye to its own failings.
The US was also criticised for its alliance with groups its own State
Dept criticised for human rights abuses.  Sec of State Powell said it
wasn't inconsistent to work with countries that themselves had "some
problems" with human rights. Previously he'd said the regime of Saddam
Hussein characterised regimes that had a bad record on human rights,
and threatened world peace as a result.

Tokyo. NORTH KOREA FIRES MISSILE!  NK has test-fired a ground-to-ship
missiles within days of Japan launching spy satellites.  Japanese def
officials say the short-range missile was fired from the NW coast of
the Korean Peninsula.  Japan says the range of the missile is about 60
km.  The test came just days after Japan launched 2 spy satellites
into orbit to help keep watch over the North Korean missile and
suspected nuclear programs.  The Japanese launch angered Pyongyang,
and it threatened to launch missiles.

Brussels. EU CHALLENGES AUS!  The EU says it will challenge
Australia's quarantine system for farm imports at the WTO, saying it
gives AUS producers an unfair advantage.  The EU accuses AUS of double
standards in pushing for freer world ag trade -- notably by
criticising EU farm subsidies -- while protecting its own markets
through over-stringent health regulations.  AUS says restrictions on
imported animal and plant products are needed to protect the island
nation from diseases prevalent elsewhere.

Geneva. WTO DEADLINE PASSES!  WTO countries have failed to meet a key
deadline in talks aimed at freeing up world ag trade.  However the
talks' chair, Stuart Harbinson, says it's by no means the end of the
story.  He was speaking after the 145 members of the organisation
missed their deadline yesterday for establishing the parameters for
talks on further liberalisation of farm trade.  The failure to meet
the deadline has come as little surprise because the negotiations have
deadlocked for months.

Canberra. FIRST CASES OF SARS IN AUS!  The first cases of SARS have
been confirmed in AUS.  One Brit tourist that had visited Singapore
for 2 days was the first confirmed case. He recovered after 2 wks in a
SYD hosp in Feb.  A woman is the 2nd case. She's still recovering.
There are also at least 3 other suspected cases in NSW and the ACT.
AUS's chief medical officer says people should not be unduly alarmed
by the fact the disease has arrived in AUS.  Prof Richard Smallwood
says the cases have been reported to WHO.

Brisbane. DENGUE SPREADS IN FNQ!  Health authorities have extended the
watch of dengue fever after the first positive case was registered in
Townsville in FNQ.  This is the 1st case to be confirmed outside of
Cairns, where more than 200 people have come down with the mosquito-borne
disease.  The new case involves a Townsville resident who visited
Cairns for 10 days and spent some time in the N Cairns area where
dengue is prevalent.  Env Health Dor at Townsville's Tropical Pub
Health Unit, John Piispanen, says the case isn't unexpected.

Canberra. ANOTHER RECORD TRADE DEFICIT!  Australia's trade deficit has
soared to new heights this m, reaching $1.87 bn in Feb.  That's $567
mn up on Jan, and came in bigger than market expectations, raising
concerns of another blowout in the current account.  The ABS says
exports and imports both retreated in Feb, but the fall in exports
outstripped imports 6% to 2%, allowing for seasonal factors.  Rural
exports edged down by $1 bn but to biggest drop was in non-farm
exports, down 10% of $819 mn.

Sydney. MARKETS!  The ASX closed marginally lower today. The All Ords
was down 4 pts to 2,844.  Aussies are still borrowing like there's no
tomorrow.  New data shows home loans for Feb were up 1.7%.  The Aussie
annual credit growth is running around 12.2%.  In the US and Japan new
data shows contracting manufacturing.  The EU picture is also not
pretty.  With some analysts looking forward to the end of the Iraqi
war, they're looking at the underlying fundamentals.  And they're
mostly not good.  With the end of the Q, it's time to look at share
market performance.  Gold star performer is China, up 12%.  Brazil was
up 8%.  The worst performers have come from EU.  Holland was the
wooden-spoon holder, with its markets down 23% for the Q.  Korean was
also down 15%.  AUS fell almost 5% for the Q.  The AUD was trading
almost unchanged at 60.35 US cents. Oil was down 74 c to $US30.30/bbl.

+++ RESUME CONTINUOUS WAR NEWS +++

4 pm
Hindiyah has seen the heaviest fighting of the war to date.  The town
is just 80 km S of Baghdad.  Marines say they've killed 35 enemy in
the engagement.  Several US soldiers were wounded.  US troops used
tanks and heavy machine guns to make a "probing attack" into Rep Guard
positions.  The enemy fired back with RPG's and small arms.
Some enemy were dressed in civilian clothing.  One Marine told the
camera he'd seen someone looking out of a window.  He couldn't tell
whether it was a civilian. So he put a shot into the window.
This was the first major street to street fighting.  It was also the
first significant contacts with the Rep Guard.  The Marines took a key
200 m long bridge across the Euphrates.  The enemy have been driven
back to the town's E edge. The battle isn't over yet.  The Pentagon
says dozens of prisoners were taken.  They were from a Rep Guard
thought to be guarding towns further N.

An indep report [WashPost reporter] now says 10 women and children may
be dead after their bus came under fire at a US checkpoint.  The
tragedy happened nr the place where a suicide bomber killed several US
troops at a checkpoint earlier this wk.  Soldiers say the bus refused
to stop even after they fired warning shots into the air. But there's
some confusion about when the warning shots were fired.  [The WashPost
reporter says no warning shots were fired].

There's another report of a civilian driver being shot and killed by
US troops.  The death occurred at a checkpoint when the driver of a
car reportedly refused to stop.  Both incidents follow a "shoot to
kill" policy, intro'd after US soldiers were killed by a suicide
bombing.  An investigation is underway into a previous shooting
incident that saw up to 10 women and children killed when their bus
refused to stop at a Marine checkpoint nr Najaf.

There's another report of civilian deaths.  (AUS) ABC says a dozen
women and children trying to flee over a bridge nr Nasiriyah have been
killed by jumpy US troops.

4.30 pm
A US jet has rolled off the deck of the USS Constellation.  The 2
crewmen were rescued from the sea by a pickup chopper after they ejected.

Ross Appleyard at Nasiriyah.  All wk he's seen bombardment of the
city. It's been a major stumbling block in the securing of 2 key
bridges on the MSR -- main supply route.  Over the last 2 days things
have quietened down.  Local people have started to come out and
cautiously meet US Marines.  Children are coming out, too.  Local
people are seeing doctors in a medical tent that's been set up in a US
camp.  The people have been given some water and food.  The Marines
say they're ready to push further N.  The area is not 100% secure.  US
armour went through the area 1 wk ago on their way to the capital.

Centcom says 8,700 bombs have been dropped on Baghdad in the past 12
days.  2 large blasts were seen on the S outskirts of the capital just
as dawn was breaking today. They are believed to be bunker-busters
dropped on defensive positions of the Rep Guards.

In the Gulf, hospital ships are treating scores of wounded, incl enemy
POWs.  The Brits say they have more than 4,500 POWs at present.  The
ICRC has been visiting them.

AUS has announced it will scale back its navy operations in the Gulf.
HMAS Darwin and HMAS Anzac are to return to AUS, but only 1 of them
will be replaced by the HMAS Sydney.  The 2 ships have been doing UN
blockade duty for 5 m.  They have 600 personnel between them. The
Sydney is expected to leave for the Gulf within 2 wks.

A new report has found that Victorians spend more than $800 mn pa on
fighting illegal drugs.  The report says $300 mn is spent on
drug-related crime, mostly petty thefts to feed drug habits, while
$500 mn is spent on welfare for drug addicts and their families.  Only
$8 mn is spent on drug prevention programs.

The battle for Basra.  Brit forces have captured 2 towns nr Basra.  In
Az Zubayr they found what could be a torture chamber at a training
camp for militias.  The Brits were tipped off about the camp by
locals.  2 Kenyan drivers were also rescued from the town.  They say
the enemy took their money and everything they had.  They were held
for 10 days altogether, and were shown on Al Jazeera TV. They were
un-harmed, apart from rope burns on the wrist.  In Abu al-Khasib the
Brits found an ammo storage. A Challenger II tank blew it up on the
spot.  Analysts say the fight for Basra -- a mix of air support and
artillery fire with careful avoidance of civilian areas -- may be the
blueprint for Baghdad.  But TV footage has shown injured women and
children in a Basra hosp.

In bombing in Baghdad overnight, 4 civilians were reportedly killed in
one suburb. One man says he's now lost 3 relatives in the air attacks.
But the bombardment is continuing, with some targets hit repeatedly.
Despite several direct hits, the Info Ministry and Baghdad TV are
still working.

Analysts say the Rep Guard outside Baghdad appear to have lost about
1/2 their armour and about 1/2 their fighting strength. This is
equivalent to about 150,000 men.

In the US, Republicans are increasingly divided over the advice
leading up to the war. Officials said to be close to Colin Powell, who
has been until now been faithfully toeing the Whitehouse line, have
zero-ed in on Wolfowitz, Cheney, Rumsfeld and other key "neocons".
One snr Rep has loudly asked whether Pres Bush has learned anything
from the "bum advice" he's been getting from his war advisors.

The Pentagon says it's "seen reports recently" that some top Iraqi
officials, incl relatives of Saddam Hussein, are trying to leave the country.

Egypt's Hosni Mubarak has warned the Iraqi war will create 100 Osama
bin Ladens. He also said terrorist groups would link up to increase
the threat of global terrorism.  Egypt is one of the US's key allies
in the region.

AUS For Min Alex Downer is in Washington.  He says his talks with
Colin Powell so far have been well received.  Mr Downer told reporters
he has argued the UN should be involved in a post war Iraq ASAP.
Mr Downer is also asking the US for contracts in rebuilding post-war
Iraq. He says the US has indicated that favourable bids from Aussie
companies will be considered.  Mr Downer is also putting the case for
continued Aussie wheat contracts to Iraq.

W of Mosul. Iraqi TV has shown Iraqi troops and tribal fighters
celebrating victory.  They say they've prevented Brit troops from
deploying in the area.  The footage showed weapons and other captured
equipment.

10 pm
A report tonight says 2 mn L of water per day has begun pumping
through a Brit-built pipeline from Kuwait to S Iraq.

Iraqi officials say Coal'n warplanes have bombed 2 Iraqi buses
carrying civilians. Among the passengers were several Human Shields.

10.30 pm
Basra seems quiet now. In the background a huge column of black smoke
is coming up. Like Baghdad, local military are burning oil to confuse
the targeting of bombs and war planes. Trucks are driving in and out,
but at least some are stopped and searched, with the drivers patted
down by Brit troopers. The cars & trucks are allowed to go on their way.
Earlier, CNN showed reporters coming under mortar fire nr the bridge
checkpoint. The fire was apparently coming from the refinery where the
black column of oil smoke was rising.  CNN says Apache choppers had
been attacking the "factory" with Hellfire missiles.  The reporter
said the Brits are willing to let people drive through if they don't
want to stop at the checkpoint.  He said there appears to be a tactic
by the Iraqis of firing mortars at checkpoints when they have cars
they want to get through waiting in the lines.

Donna Mulhearn, now in Amman, says she left Baghdad because
communication with the outside world had been cut. She said it was
decided that some Shields should leave to get "important information"
out to the world, to put pressure on their respective govts. She said
she visited an ordinary suburb in Baghdad about 2 days ago, where she
found a huge crater in the back yard of 6 homes. The houses were now
deserted, but she found school books, tiny rubber boots, and an old
rag doll left in a puddle of mud.

Baghdad. Iraqi officials say 19 civilians have died in bombing of the
city since Mon night, and more than 100 have been injured.

10.45 pm
More details are coming out about the latest "accidental bombing"
incident. An unconfirmed report says among other damage 2 busses carrying
"international volunteers" -- Iraq's term for Human Shields -- incl
Americans.

An Aussie journalist has been kicked out of Baghdad because he made an
"unauthorised journey" in the city.

Doha. The daily briefing is happening now. But there's no live feed.
Reporters have tackled the military reps about the latest checkpoint
shootings.  The rep said the Coal'n deeply regrets the loss of human
life.  But the military has the right of self-defence.  This incident
falls into the category of justifiable self defence, the rep said.

In a shock decision, some Aussie swimmers say they will not go to the
US for a swimming comp. They are said to be "war wary".

----------------------------------------
Wed, 02 Apr 2003.

+++ CONTINUOUS WAR NEWS +++
Midnight.
IT'S DAY THIRTEEN.

1 am
Baghdad. The Iraqi vice-pres is holding a press conf.
The talk of gas masks has no relation to WMD.  We keep hearing from a
small number of countries.  They keep telling us if you have WMD
please do not use them, because it will not help you.
I would like to tell these people, you know very well we have no
WMD. You should be ashamed of yourselves. And especially the
aggressors. You should be ashamed of yourselves.  These claims are just a
justification for your aggression.  The aggressors will themselves use
WMD during the war, to plant them here.  We warn against this action.
And we warn other states to help appease this situation.  This action
is not alien to the morality of the aggressors.  They bomb civilian
locations.  They claim these districts are used by military units.
But when journalists don't find such a thing, they say it is the
Iraqis firing against their own people.
When they are cornered, they lie. People with such behaviour, we would
not be surprised if they use WMD.  There are no WMD here. I am saying
this in front of the whole world.  I am calling on all non-belligerent
countries to free the world of WMD.
Resolution 687 calls for the Middle E to be freed of WMD.
Those countries that complain about other countries supplying us.
They are allowed to use cluster bombs, from 100s of miles away they
come.  The source for this arrogance is the source of some Arab states
who open their territories for the enemy.
The position of these Arab states is encouraging the US Admin to carry
out this crime against us.
2 days ago an American general said no night vision goggles have been
found.  If they find such goggles will they consider they have been
brought over from a certain country?  Do these goggles, like gas masks
make up part of WMD?
The fighters you haven't been engaged against yet do possess
sophisticated equipment, and they are within required regulations.
Their narrow path is leading them to justify their own problems and
for their disappointment. After 13 days of fighting they can't even
announce the occupation of one village.  They are using this pretext
and blaming other countries.  And they blame bad planning from
Pentagon officials.
They haven't consider our people want freedom, and will defend their
land and their honour, and believe in their great leader.  Our people
are able to confront the US and the whole world because God is on our side.
I would like to address Arab countries.  We keep hearing that some
parties intend to raise funds and send medical supplies to Iraq.  I
would tell my brothers and friends in these organisations your
brothers in Iraq do not need food and medicine.  We hope you won't be
turned into charities by your govts.  What is required, is to fight
and mobilise against the regimes that are plotting and co-operating
with the aggressors.
Where is the leadership of these Arab lands?  They should send
volunteers to the land of 2 rivers so that they will have the honour of
taking part in the ultimate, decisive battle and that the aggressors
forever.  The number of volunteers is up to 6,000. More than 1/2 of
these are time-bombs you will hear about in the next few days.
Everything has been revealed and is now in the open in front of the world.
Next. And I'm not saying this out of fear.  Iraq is committed to the
Geneva Convention on POW's.  The days will be witness to who is
committed.  This present aggression is not based on international law.
What does Geneva say? The killing of women, children and old people.
We haven't heard a single position in parallel with their claims on
the Geneva Convention. Who takes this position is not fair, and is
taking part in a crime.
I heard the Saudi Minister offering advice, as usual.  Asking The
Leader to leave his post.  I would like to tell this small lackey agent
and stooge I know who he works for. Shame on you! We would hope you
were not an Arab. You give them oil to make up for our oil.  Now you
want our leader to give up and leave.  You, failure, you stooge, your
level is smaller than anybody that can say anything to The Leader.
Thank you very much.

1.20 am
Bombing continues in Baghdad. Smoke is presently rising 100s of m into
air in areas S of the city, where Rep Guard units are preparing to
face advancing Coal'n forces.  It's the 3rd wave of bombing since dawn.

Mosul.  Al Jazeera has shown smoke rising into the sky.  In one
suburb, streets have been closed after an un-exploded missile landed
in the courtyard of one house.  TV also showed injured civilians.

The US says it will take action to avoid another road block incident.
The US military has complained the accident was the result of the
tactics of the enemy.  The blood of this incident is on the regime of
Saddam Hussein, said a rep.  US cmdrs say they will force trucks to
stop well before checkpoints. They will put wire across the road, and
put up "STOP" signs in Arabic.

1.30 am
BBC News has described the last checkpoint tragedy. Apparently a
minibus approached the US roadblock at speed.  A witness says the cmdr
has called on his men to fire a warning shot. But that wasn't
done. The vehicle continued to approach, at speed.  The cmdr then
called on the radio for "Red 1" to "stop" the vehicle. Short bursts of
fire broke out and the vehicle was stopped. A radio message then said
"you've killed a family". The cmdr later blamed the failure of the
warning shot for the tragedy.

The Iraqi Info Min says an incident on the border involved the
targeting of 2 buses by Coal'n aircraft.  The US says it is "unaware"
of the event.

A press conf has been given in N Iraq, where a suspected WMD factory
was captured yesterday.  The factory was controlled by Ansar al-Islam,
linked by Washington to al-Qaeda.  Soldiers found material at the
compound, said a rep.  Documents and equipment that indicate the
presence of WMD has been found, he said.  Samples are being flown to
the US for testing.
[Later reports showed the documents detailed how to make sarin, ricin
and cyanide! There were instructions on how to blow up bridges!  Later
reports indicated tests came up empty. Investigators on the scene are
now reportedly looking at animal bones found in the camp, hoping to
find evidence of testing chem agents].

1.35 am
The 17th Iraqi missile aimed at Kuwait has been intercepted by a
Patriot missile.

There are reports that 100s of Iraqi soldiers have taken up positions
in abandoned homes on the S edge of Baghdad.

Safwan.  The Brits have been handing out more food and water.  But
today's effort hasn't been as orderly as some.  Brit troops were
forced to fire shots into the air to restore some order.  Locals say
the hand-outs haven't been effective.  While they welcome the aid,
especially the water, the people getting it have been the strong.  The
weak have got nothing.

Amman.  4 Iraqi agents have been arrested they attempted to blow up a
luxury hotel in the Jordanian capital.  The bomb "partially went off",
said the report.  The men are now being questioned.

Amman. In the Arab-language papers, another plot has been
uncovered. This one aimed at contaminating the water supply of a US
air-base nr the Iraq/Jordan border. Few details are available.

Jack Straw says the 1st marketplace bombing is shaping up to be an
"own goal". He warned against making snap judgements.  He also
predicted that Iraqis would put up fierce resistance as the regime
entered its dying phases.

Gen Jay Garner has been visiting S Iraq. He is slated to be the future
US governor of Iraq. (US) ABC says he'll probably never use the title,
as it was politically offensive to the locals.  "We will make this a
better place for everyone", Gen Garner told reporters.

2 am
Temps in Baghdad are on the rise. They're predicting 35+ for the next
few days.

The US has confirmed it accidentally shot dead an un-armed driver nr
the town of Shatra. The killing came just hrs after another incident
nr Nasiriyah where at least 7 women and children were accidentally
shot by Marines.
At today's Centcom briefing, Gen Brooks says that local cmdrs have the
discretion to offer monetary compensation to the families of people
accidentally shot.  He said it was US policy world-wide.

Analysts say there appears to be a significant move on Bagdad by Coal'n
forces. The opening phases of the battle for the Iraqi capital are underway.

Fighting is continuing along the Euphrates at Nasiriyah, Samawah and Najaf.

Electricity has been restored to 75% of the residents of Umm Qasr.

The US has warned it will shoot back if Iraqi forces hide in religious
or historical monuments or buildings.

Pres Bush has warned Americans the dying Iraqi regime may try to bring
the war to the mainland US with "terrorist attacks".
[A "terrorist attack" is where a person of Middle E appearance targets a
"dual use" facility, especially when outside the preferred theatre of war].

The Pentagon says 44 Americans have been KIA, 17 are MIA, and about
100 have been wounded in Iraq.

The Pentagon says 7 Iraqi Generals are in custody and "giving up
information".  It says about 8,000 Iraqis have been taken POW.

The US says it will keep stealth fighters in S Korea as a deterrent to
the North.

NATO officials say the organisation is preparing to transform itself
into an organisation that can tackle global terrorism and instability.

Saddam Hussein is to give a national address at 3 am.

Sec-Gen Kofi Annan says that the work of UN weapons inspectors have
merely been suspended. After the war they should go back to the
country. If anything is found they should test it.  Mr Annan was asked
whether the failure to find WMD had affected the legitimacy of the
Iraqi war.  The Sec Council had not endorsed the war, and its reasons
have been given, he said.

Basra. The children welcome the British. But in the same breath they
praise Saddam. When an adult tells the soldiers to "go home" the
children applaud loudly.

HK authorities are moving 240 people that had been sealed up in the
appt building to rural "quarantine camps".

2.55 am
Dave is back!

Abu al-Khasib. A huge cache of weapons has been found, incl heavy
machine guns and rocket launchers.  It was found in a "port area", nr
the river.  While the find is a blow to paramilitaries, Clive Myrie,
for BBC World News, says intel suggests weapons are flooding into the
region.  Baghdad has previously claimed to have inflicted "heavy
casualties" on Brit forces in the area.  The Brits have again claimed
they will not try to control the city of Basra, which has a population
of almost 2 mn.

Iraqi officials say 48 civilians have been killed in Hillah, about 100
km S of Baghdad.  Reporters say they've seen the bodies of woman and
children in the town.  A family of 15 was reportedly killed when their
vehicle was hit by a US missile.  A hospital rep in the town says
about 300 civilians were wounded in a series of Coal'n attacks.

3 am
The Iraqi Info Min is introducing a message from Saddam Hussein.  He
says God is guarding the Iraqi people.  The invaders and aggressors
are subject to Fatwah.  God requests you to commit to Jihad.  God will
give us victory and the aggressors will run away.  Take your chance for
immortality, hit them, fight them, they are evil. Fight them
everywhere.  Long live our nation. Long live Palestine. Long live
Palestine.  Let us do Jihad.  Apr 1, 2003.
[The picture then switched to patriotic themes. But there was no live Saddam].

3.10 am
The skies are illuminated over Basra by a dozen flares. There is some
artillery fire. It may presage an aerial attack.

Italian police say they have arrested 2 Kurds, an Egyptian and a
Somali linked with Ansar al-Islam in NE Iraq.

Italy says its coast guard has rescued about 200 illegal immigrants
after their wooden boat got into difficulty S of Sicily. The
immigrants incl about 24 Iraqi refugees.

2 Iraqi missiles were fired at Brit forces on Mon. There were no casualties.

3.15 am
The Nikkei closed up 0.18%. Oil is trading around $US30.90/bbl.

US VP Dick Cheney has cancelled a trip to China, S Korea and Japan
because of the Iraqi war.

An Iraqi POW has been shot and killed in a struggle for a gun.

The US is talking to Ukraine, after it reportedly sold Russian-made
anti-tank weapons to Iraq.

The For Mins of Brazil, Costa Rica, Peru and Russia, meeting in
Moscow, have called on the US to end the war with Iraq.

2 F-15 fighters have escorted a hijacked aircraft from Cuba into Key
West, Florida. The aircraft had about 16 people on board.

3.30 am
The Whitehouse says Gen Tommy Franks has been given the authority to
order the move on Baghdad at the time of his choosing.  Analysts say
the Rep Guard outside the S edge of the city has been reduced by up to
about 1/2 strength in days of bombing.

Pakistan says economic sanctions imposed by the US on a local firm
will not affect it's nuclear program. The sanctions were imposed after
a Pakistan company was involved in transferring North Korean missile
technology to Pakistan.

Kuwait says a Kuwaiti soldier was shot and wounded when he drove too
close to a checkpoint nr a US base in S Iraq.

The US and UK have announced they will jointly develop techniques to
fight terrorism on their territories. The Home Sec's of the 2
countries met in Washington to discuss the idea. The US has asked
whether Brit's expertise in N Ireland might be applicable against
al-Qaeda. A new bi-literal extradition treaty has been signed between
the 2 countries. The deal also involves Brit stripping citizenship
from people that have abused the privilege.

4 am
The FTSE has closed 2% higher.

The Dutch govt has announced a delay of $850 mn in upgrades to Schipol
Internat'l airport because of the down-turn in internat'l air travel.

An Iraqi missile today left a huge crater in a Kurdish town in N
Iraq. Local officials say the Iraqi forces have made a "huge mistake"
in launching the missile.

Defence analysts have revealed the US's "rolling start" was a
compromise decided by Pres Bush. Def Sec Rumsfeld had called for a
small force that would roll up and plant a flag outside Saddam's
palace.  Gen Tommy Franks had called for a larger force.  Pres Bush
decided that a small force should go in and, if that failed, a reserve
already in the pipeline would come in to produce the final victory.
Analysts say we're now in this 2nd phase, meaning Rumsfeld was
wrong. Statements out of the Def Sec are pretty defensive these days.

2 News Ltd reporters that went MIA nr Basra have been found safe and
well in Baghdad.

A US POW has been rescued by Coal'n forces. Reports are mixed as to
his condition. Some say he's well. Other reports say there are no
details.

An F-14 has crashed into the desert of S Iraq. 2 crewmen ejected at
Angles 20. They are presently MIA.

Donald Rumsfeld has contradicted himself. In a Pentagon briefing he
says there are no negotiations with top Iraqi military or govt
officials. Previously he'd mentioned that there were on-going
negotiations with top Iraqi officials.

10 am
The rescued US POW has been revealed 19 yo Jessica Lynch.  Previously
the US had suspected she'd been amount several POW's executed by Iraq.

Air Canada may file for bankruptcy, with debts of $US7 bn.

Midday
A 2-pronged attack is underway on Baghdad.  One pincer is coming
through nr Karbala.  2 Rep Guard divs guarding the approaches to the
capital are being heavily bombarded.  Apache choppers are attacking
the Medina Div.

Iraq says more than 600 civilians have been killed so far in the war.

Amid increasing criticism of the Pentagon war plan, Gen Richard Myers
says the complaints are baseless and are damaging to troops on the
ground.  Apparently bad planning and under-manning is relatively
harmless to troops on the ground.  Gen Myers' counter offensive seems
to be working.  On TV reports tonight, US time, the division of
retired Generals have been backing off on their criticisms.

+++ END CONTINUOUS WAR NEWS +++

Continuous war news
Rains kill 14
Saddam calls jihad
Daily briefing
Tinpot imitation
US reacts to flu
NSW calls for immigration cuts
UN and AUS to work in Iraq
Aussie reporters found
4 reporters found
Hijacked plane lands safely
Air fee to stay
Dr Death detained

La Paz. RAINS KILL 14!  Officials say heavy rains triggered a massive
landslide in a remote gold-prospecting town in N Bolivia, killing at
least 14 people and leaving 200 missing.  A mountainside washed into
the town of Chima, 190 km from the capital of La Paz, yesterday,
burying more than 100 homes in mud.  Govt health official Beatriz
Peinado says 14 bodies have been found so far.

Baghdad. SADDAM CALLS JIHAD!  Iraqi Pres Saddam Hussein has called for
a Jihad against invading Coal'n forces. The Iraqi leader promised
victory for Iraq and rewards in heaven for anyone that gave their life
for the country. The speech was read out by the Iraqi Info Min.  In
the US, Def Sec Rumsfeld took it as a sign that Saddam is dead or
injured. But it may be more "bum advice".  Reporters say key
announcements from Saddam have been given by his Info Min in the past.
In GWI he also sometimes announced he would personally give a speech,
and then it would be read by another official.  They also speculate
that Saddam couldn't give the Jihad speech himself, because he's
always presented himself as a secular dictator.  The speech contained
many religious elements.

Camp As Sayliya. DAILY BRIEFING! The US military says heavy fighting
is taking place nr Karbala, the last big city before Baghdad for
troops advancing from the S.  The official at Centcom forward HQ says
troops are involved in a big battle with Iraq's Rep Guard.  He says
the fighting could represent a much-anticipated new push towards the
Iraqi capital.  Karbala is 110 km SW of Baghdad and lies to the W of
the Euphrates R.

Canberra. TINPOT IMITATION!  After complaints by Aussie reporters that
the daily military briefing in CBR gave away few details, it's become
a tinpot imitation of the guff given out by Centcom in Doha. Today's
briefing concerned slide shows of Iraqi forces deployed nr mosques and
culturally sensitive sites, with commentary to the effect of how bad
those enemy are.  Questions from reporters about changes to rules of
engagement were sidestepped. "We're not going to spell those out in
public", said Brig Mike Hannan.  But the Brig did say Aus didn't use
cluster bombs, and would not be involved in operations that used them,
incl escorting jets that had them on board.

LA. US REACTS TO FLU!  American authorities are taking no chances,
saying there are now 72 cases of SARS in the US.  The latest suspected
cases of the mystery disease arrived on a flight from Tokyo.  The
pilots radioed ahead there were passengers with breathing difficulties
and the plane was stopped short of the gate when it couched down in
San Jose.  All 125 passengers were ordered to stay on board while they
were examined.  After several hrs the unaffected patients were allowed
off, but 2 passengers and 2 crew were taken to hosp, and now being treated.
In HK, panic is starting to set in, with some health officials sending
their families out of the country. Some health authorities say a
broken sewer pipe is being examined, to determine whether the disease
can spread by means other than through the air.  Reports SARS can
spread through contact with infected surfaces, coughing, and personal
contact are all mixed. US health officials had said the disease was
not as contagious as Asian health officials had said.

Sydney. NSW CALLS FOR IMMIGRATION CUTS!  NSW Prem Bob Carr says Aus's
immigration quota should be slashed to ease the current pressure on
SYD.  Imm Min Philip Ruddock has said AUS's non-humanitarian intake
will continue at 110,000 in 2003/4. He says about 1,500 unused places
will be rolled over from this y to next.  However Mr Carr says the
immigration intake should be slashed by 30,000 because the current
level is putting too much pressure on SYD.

Canberra. UN AND AUS TO WORK IN IRAQ!  For Min Alex Downer says
officials supporting a role for the UN in a post-war Iraq have won the
argument in the Bush Admin.  [I'd never suspected the UN would be kept
out -- the US had always indicated the UN would be the one to clean up
the mess].  Mr Downer's in the US to receive our orders from snr
members of the Bush Whitehouse.  He told ABC radio the US is
comfortable with the UN taking some role in post-war Iraq.  A
breathless Mr Downer said his meeting was in progress with The Leader
and Ms Rice entered and said some words to Our Boy.  It's understood
Mr Miracle indicated there was a place for AUS in cleaning up post-war
Iraq.  Lucky us!

Canberra. AUSSIE REPORTERS FOUND!  AUS journalists Peter Wilson and
photographer John Feder are reportedly being held by Iraqi authorities
in Baghdad.  The pair, working for The Australian newspaper, were
reportedly missing for 30 hrs before turning up in Baghdad at the
Meridian Palestine hotel.  The men are believed to be under guard at
the hotel.  It is the same hotel where the Daily Telegraph journalist
Ian McPhedran stayed until he was expelled from Iraq this wk.

NY. 4 REPORTERS FOUND!  4 journalists MIA in Baghdad for a wk have
reportedly turned up safe in Jordan.  NY publisher Newsday says
reporter Matthew McAllester, and photographer Moises Saman have
crossed the border into Jordan and are in good health.  McAllester
telephoned Newsday foreign editor Dele Olojede to say the pair had
been released by Iraqi authorities.

Key West. HIJACKED PLANE LANDS SAFELY!  US authorities say a Cuban
passenger plane hijacked by a man who threatened to explode a hand
grenade landed safely in Fla and the suspected hijacker has been taken
into custody.  FAA rep Christopher White says the twin-prop aircraft,
with 31 people aboard, landed shortly after 2 am AEST at Key West
Int'l.  The suspected hijacker carried a small boy who appeared to be
a relative off the plane, put him down and was taken into custody.

Canberra. AIR FEE TO STAY!  Airlines have lashed out at the Fed Govt
for keeping the $10 "Ansett Levy", saying travellers shouldn't be
slugged for the company collapse.  The Fed Govt imposed the levy after
Ansett collapsed in Sep 2001 and was unable to pay its workers'
entitlements.  So far the levy has collected about $200 mn, costing
airline passengers a collective $11 mn per m.  Cabinet yesterday
decided to keep the levy indefinitely while a court case to determine
the future payout of former Ansett entitlements is still pending.

Melbourne. DR DEATH DETAINED!  Voluntary euthanasia campaigner Dr
Philip Nitschke says he's been detained by customs officers at MEL
airport this morning.  He told ABC Radio he hasn't been told why he
was stopped.

========================================

(*) Who is responcible for W.A.R.S?  A small group of dedicated
sandgrubbers, bannana-lickers and 5th columnists on the run from
support payments and sundry legalese in their home countries. Mention
us at any Uncle Harry's Suburban Bunker and get a 10% discount on cop-killers!

All speling macroizated for correctitood by Mcrosotf Speelchek.

*** Please stand by for further orders from The Leader ***