From the World-Wide Resourses of the Western Australia Reserch Senter(*) OIL THE NEWS THAT FITS MY VIEWS #32 =============================== 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/OIL/ Iraqi Body Count: http://www.iraqbodycount.net/ ------------------------------------------------------------ Selecting latest news stories and other data for you... ------------------------------------------------------------ To initiate a war of aggression is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole. -- Numermberg Tribunal, 1946. Rejecting German argument for the "necessity" of pre-empting attacks on other countries. Whoever it is, has that proper authority. -- Tony Blair, Parliament, 8 Apr 2003. How do we know when Iraq has surrendered? I'm sorry but the chick got in the way. -- Un-named US Marine, 8 Apr 2003. Apologising after he killed a woman that was standing next to someone in an Iraqi uniform. It depends on people's behaviour... certainly I have nothing to announce... we're still dealing with Iraq. -- Don Rumsfeld, Pentagon briefing, 9 Apr 2003. Explaining Syria has NOthing to worry about. The war is not over. -- Ari Fleischer, Whitehouse mouth, 9 Apr 2003. The message the Whitehouse wants the American public to believe today. We can not and must not become over-confident. -- Gen Dick Myers, Pentagon briefing, 9 Apr 2003. Too late! I don't know, Paul, I don't known. -- PM John Howard, 10 Apr 2003. Asked whether Iraqi WMD had already fallen into the hands of terrorists. ---------------------------------------- Wed, 09 Apr 2003. Markets 40 mn starve while world watches Iraq Bad milk kills 3, affects 3,000 Timor files 16 indictments Hidden dangers may remain for a decade Footage shows tank deliberately hit hotel Tanks, marines take strategic sites Baghdad divided as battles rage Brits attempt to police looting in Basra Iraqi capital surrounded Saddam may have survived bombing: reports "We shoot them down like the morons they are": US general Arab world riven by fury and despair Iraq's children will pay ultimate price of war Iraq war burdens black Americans in many ways One US marine killed, 6 wounded in Baghdad suburbs Rocket kills one in Iran: report US may "seek justice" from POWs UN must play central role in Iraq: Chirac ADF may be involved in distributing Iraqi aid Aid agencies alarmed at medical shortages in Iraq Aussie wheat finally unloaded in Kuwait Bush to focus on Palestinians after Iraq Chile forum highlights war divisions Congressman calls for creation of US 'peace dept' Iraq opposition leader greeted in S town US plans big opposition meeting Iraqi opp'n to meet this weekend in Iraq Jets scramble to intercept UFO US base to move from Seoul: officials War will limit spending: Minchin Aust oil experts eye Iraq openings Fraud: Aust's most costly crime Desert communities go solar Double jeopardy in jeopardy Bad design caused chair-lift disaster NSW drought situation improves Aussie wheat arrives in Kuwait Malaysia stops Chinese visas Think of Qantas GM survey Fire may burn for days Continuous war news Sydney. MARKETS! The markets closed down almost 1%, as speculation mounts that Saddam survived the latest US assassination attempt. The All Ords finished 25 pts lower to 2,916. The Nikkei closed down 1.5%. A short time ago the FTSE was down about 1%. Gold was trading around $US322.00/oz. The Little Aussie Battler is higher at 60.25 US c. 40 mn starve while world watches Iraq Kanywambizi (The Guardian). 40 mn Africans are at risk of starving but are not getting enough aid because the world is distracted by Iraq, the World Food Programme has warned. In an impassioned appeal to the UN security council, James Morris, the UN agency's executive director, accused the W of double standards. The agency was $1bn short of the $1.8bn it needed for emergency food, he said. Africa's need for humanitarian aid was greater than Iraq's, yet it was receiving less attention and less money. Mr Morris contrasted the Brit and US govts' pledges to feed Iraqis with what he considered fading concern for Africa. According to the agency, food shortages threaten 14 mn in Ethiopia, 7 mn in Zimbabwe, 3.2 mn in Malawi, 2.9 mn in Sudan, 2.7 mn in Zambia, 1.9 mn in Angola, 1 mn in Eritrea, as well as mn more in Swaziland, Lesotho, Mozambique, Uganda, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, and the W Sahel -- those countries in the dry belt S of the Sahara. Causes ranged from bad weather to warfare, but hunger had been compounded by the HIV/Aids pandemic. By weakening the immune system, the disease could turn malnutrition into a killer, one that targeted breadwinners, leaving fields fallow and families impoverished. In fewer than 20 y, the disease is estimated to have killed more than 8 mn farmworkers and orphaned 4.2 mn children in Africa. The WFP's decision to step up its appeal is partly a political calculation: Africa's food shortage will last for y. Because aid has so far averted horrific scenes of hunger, there is a risk donors will consider the crisis resolved, especially with the distraction of Iraq. Since Sep 11 and Washington's war on terror, the agency has learned to shout louder in order to gain attention and funds. Beijing. BAD MILK KILLS 3, AFFECTS 3,000! A milk poisoning that has killed 3, left others blind, and affected 3,000 others may have been a deliberate act. Local media in NE Liaoning prov report that 1000s of children fell ill after drinking the locally-made soya milk on Mar 19. A doctor quoted by the China Daily from the Beijing Childrens' Hosp says someone intentionally put poison into the milk. The Haicheng City Education Comm'n says the incident is still under investigation. Jakarta. TIMOR FILES 16 INDICTMENTS! E Timor prosecutors have filed indictments charging 16 former Indon military personnel and officials with crimes against humanity. A statement issued by the serious crimes unit in Dili says among indictments involved in the Sep 1999 massacre at Saui church, were 100s of civilians who sought refuge. Those indicted include 8 district or sub-district cmdrs in E Timor when it was under Jakarta's control. E Timorese voted overwhelmingly to break from Indon's rule on Aug 30, 1999. Hidden dangers may remain for a decade Rome. Iraq, devastated by 3 wars in 20 years, will remain littered with landmines that could slow the rebuilding of the country for a decade, a landmine expert said. "There are mn of mines in Iraq. Whether it is 2 mn or 5 mn or 8 mn is impossible to say because of the lack of transparency," said Stephen Goose, director of the armaments section of Human Rights Watch. Iraq is layered with mines from the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, the 1991 Gulf War and the current conflict. "It will take 5 to 10 y to clear the high-priority areas in Iraq... for people to be able to move about freely and to engage in the main economic activities," he said. Iraqi soldiers had mined villages and water supplies as they retreated from the N, Human Rights Watch said. And US-led forces had shipped 90,000 mines to the Gulf, but there was no evidence so far that they had been planted. Unexploded ordnance such as cluster bombs would also leave dangers for civilians. Footage shows tank deliberately hit hotel Baghdad (AFP). Footage filmed by France 3 television of a strike on a hotel which killed two journalists in Baghdad today shows a US tank targeting the journalists' hotel and waiting at least 2 mins before firing. Herve de Ploeg, the journalist and film editor who filmed the attack, said he didn't hear any shots in the direction of the tank, which was stationed at the W entrance of the Al-Jumhuriya (Republic) bridge, 600 metres NW of the hotel. The tank's turret is seen moving toward the Palestine Hotel, where foreign reporters have set up shop, and the gun carriage lifting and waiting at least 2 mins before opening up. The French TV channel had positioned 2 cameras in 2 rooms facing the bridge as of 6.30 am. The firing took place at 11.59 am, said France 3 reporter Caroline Sinz. The incident killed a cameraman for the Telecinco Spanish television station and another for the Brit news agency Reuters. Three Reuters staffers were also wounded. The Spanish cameraman was named as Jose Couso, 37. The Reuters cameraman was named as Ukrainian Taras Protsyuk, 35. A US cmdr said the tank fired a single round at the hotel. "The tank was receiving fire from the hotel, RPG and small-arms fire, and engaged with one tank round. The firing stopped," said General Buford Blount, cmdr of the 3rd ID, speaking at Baghdad's internat'l airport. A reporter for the Arab satellite television Al-Jazeera died earlier today and a cameraman was injured after the station's offices in Baghdad were hit in a separate attack that the Qatar-based channel charged was a deliberate US strike. Tanks, marines take strategic sites Baghdad. US forces yesterday mounted 2 new thrusts into the heart of Baghdad, trying to capture one of 10 bridges that span the Tigris River as the troops closed in on a huge Iraqi military complex in the SE. 3 US tanks nosed out of the US-controlled Pres'l Compound early yesterday, taking up strike positions at the W end of the Jumhuriya Bridge. A spectacular battle unfolded as the Americans struck at the Iraqi-held W end of the 10-span bridge. They attacked from the air and the ground, engulfing buildings and troop positions in fireballs and the deathly spray of rapid-fire munitions as huge explosions reverberated across the city. The battle on the bridge became a portent of the damage that might be inflicted on the fabric of Baghdad as shell-fire from tanks raked a 12-story govt office tower from which the Iraqi resistance had been firing. At dawn, missile, tank and small-arms exchanges broke out at the N end of the Pres'l Compound, which the Americans have controlled since they pushed deep into Baghdad on Mon. Soon after 8 am, US A-10 tank-busters, known as wart-hogs, began dropping cluster bombs or using rapid-fire machine-guns on Iraqi forces still holding out in the area. To the accompaniment of wild, crackling explosions, they climbed out of their attack paths, discharging showers of fireworks-like decoys to shield them from Iraqi SAM's. After one of 6 passes, windows popped on all 12 storeys of the adjacent Planning Ministry as a shower of what appeared to be cluster bomblets exploded against its red-brick S facade. At mid-morning, US marines opened a 2nd front, launching multiple missile attacks on the Al-Rashid military complex about 15 km from the city centre. Two US helicopters were circling low as great plumes of smoke and debris leapt to the sky. The huge military complex was the 1st target in the war when Pres George Bush acted on CIA advice to launch a dawn strike on a bunker in which the agency believed Saddam, possibly his 2 sons and some senior associates were hiding. Yesterday's renewed assault on the complex is thought to be intended to clear the way for a US column moving in from the SE. Heavy exchanges of machine-gun fire could be heard from the complex, which was lost in a cloud of smoke and dust. The Americans also reportedly control the Al-Rashid Hotel, while a huge fireball engulfed the Baath Party HQ. Baghdad divided as battles rage Baghdad. US forces have been battling through the streets of central Baghdad, widening their control over the city. US troops are pounding the remaining pockets of Iraqi defenders, who have offered fierce but sporadic resistance. Baghdad is a quiet but divided city. The Americans control large parts of the W bank of the Tigris, where most of the govt ministries and palaces are. They have expanded their enclave and say they are pressing in from the SE and N suburbs, including the Shia stronghold of Saddam City. The Iraqi regime controls the E bank of the Tigris, the old city centre, the shopping district and the main press hotel. Fierce fighting took place along the boundary earlier today, with 500 Iraqi troops bussed in to attack the Americans. US troops have been backed by tanks and warplanes in their battle for control of the city. ABC correspondent Geoff Thompson is in Baghdad, travelling with US troops, and says marines are still pouring into the besieged city. Brits attempt to police looting in Basra Basra. Brit soldiers in the S Iraqi city of Basra have started trying to discourage widespread looting. Some residents have complained the troops have not stopped looters from stripping shops, hotels and govt buildings. Despite the presence of Brit tanks and armoured vehicles on the streets of Basra, as well as soldiers on foot patrol, there is little security for local people there. Doctors and nursing staff at one hospital in the city were able to save contents from looters only by standing guard at the hospital gates. Brit soldiers, keeping watch from a vantage point high over the city, said they had seen others stealing ammunition and even the guns that fighters, who were fleeing the city, had thrown into the river. Brit soldiers say they are not in the business of policing the city, although they say they will divert troops to law and order when they can. Iraqi capital surrounded Baghdad. Soldiers have spanned out further across Baghdad and have the Iraqi capital virtually surrounded after a two-day delay, US officers say. Marines in 1000s of armoured vehicles have poured into the city from the E after clearing road jams at a key bridge crossing. US tanks have battled across Baghdad's main presidential compound amid heavy exchanges of tank, artillery and gun fire. Mystery surrounds the fate of Iraqi Pres Saddam Hussein after US strikes destroyed a building where he and his 2 sons were thought to have been meeting with senior aides yesterday. Fresh waves of airstrikes have pounded the S and SE fringes of the city while in the centre, 2 US tanks have captured a key bridge over the Tigris River, where they met stiff resistance from Iraqi forces. US officers say their forces are only a few km from surrounding Baghdad. Marines have poured into the city from the E after clearing a key bridge across the Diyala River. Lt Col Ohnemus says clearing the bridge "caused a delay of a couple of days". He says the marines overcame the obstacle by apparently using their own bridge. He says there is "probably a few km, it's not very much" that has not been sealed. Iraqi Info Min Mohammad Said al-Sahhaf remains defiant, telling journalists US forces will surrender "or be burned in their tanks". 100s of families have fled Baghdad, driving E in cars, trucks and minibuses overflowing with mattresses, kitchen utensils, beds and food, correspondents report. Saddam may have survived bombing: reports Baghdad. US forces tried to extend their hold in Baghdad as new reports threw cold water on Washington's hopes that a mighty air strike had killed Saddam Hussein. After another night with US troops and tanks holding chunks of his capital, intel sources told Brit newspapers the Iraqi Pres had likely left a Baghdad building just before US warplanes hammered it with huge bombs. "We think he left the same way he arrived in the area, either by a tunnel system or by car, we're not sure," The Times in London quoted a Brit intelligence source as saying. "He was probably not in the building when it was bombed," The Guardian quoted a source as saying. US Major General Stanley McChrystal said there was "a site of destruction where we wanted it to be" but said it was unknown if Saddam had been inside. A B-1 bomber that was already in the air over W Iraq was fed the coordinates and struck the building with 4 2,000-pound, satellite-guided bombs, 2 of them bunker busters, officials said. McChrystal said at the Pentagon that the massive strike came just 45 minutes after the US had received the intelligence. The weapons officer in the attack said the B-1's crew had been told: "This is the big one." "We shoot them down like the morons they are": US general S of Baghdad. 100s of Muslim fighters, many of them non-Iraqis, were putting up a stronger fight for Baghdad than Iraq's Republican Guard or the regular army, a top US military officer said yesterday. "They stand, they fight, sometimes they run when we engage them," Brigadier-General John Kelly said. "But often they run into our machine guns and we shoot them down like the morons they are." Gen Kelly, asst cmdr of the about 20,000-strong 1st Marine Div, said US intel indicated that there might be anywhere between 500 and 5,000 of the fighters, whom he described as terrorists. Gen Kelly said a captured Syrian fighter who had his leg blown off had refused medical help. "They are arrogant. They are determined," he said. The fighters were armed with AK-47 rifles and hand-held rockets, he said. "We are finding them more dangerous than the conventional Iraqi units." Gen Kelly said pockets of the Rep Guard and Iraq's regular army were engaging 1000s of US marines who had entered Baghdad from the NE after seizing control of bridges across the Tigris River. The resistance was unco-ordinated, he said. Any rational military command would have surrendered by now, he said. Gen Kelly said marines were about to seize buildings and land in Baghdad that were of strategic importance. "Once we take ground we tend not to give it up." Arab world riven by fury and despair Baghdad (The Guardian). As US forces tighten their grip in Baghdad, much of the Arab world appears reluctant to accept the inevitable fall of Saddam Hussein's regime. Some are refusing to believe the news or are sinking into quiet despair. Some commentators were clinging to a vain hope that the Iraqi leader may have one final masterstroke up his sleeve, while militants view suicide attacks as the Arab world's only chance of escape from American domination. For many in the Middle E, the invasion of Iraq is seen as a further humiliation of Arabs and Muslims, comparable to the defeat at the hands of Israel in 1967. But the sense of humiliation is mitigated by a belief that Iraqi forces have put up a much stronger fight, especially in Baghdad, than has been acknowledged in the W. The suffering of Iraqi civilians has become one of the main themes in the Arab media's war coverage. Although hostility towards US policies in the region is widespread such hostility is not new. Analogies with the defeat of 1967 are probably wrong, according to Hani Shukrallah, managing editor of al-Ahram Weekly in Cairo. "In 1967 the expectations were enormous," he said. "We never imagined defeat, let alone a battle that was finished in 6 days with no resistance. This time, the surprise has been the level of Iraqi resistance. Expectations were not high and the hope was that Iraq could keep the battle going long enough for some other element to intervene and end the war." Another crucial influence on the Arab psyche, he believes, is the strength of the anti-war movement in W countries. " "It has made them feel less isolated, less targeted as Arabs and Muslims." Others disagree. Samir Ragab, editor of al-Gomhuria, an Egyptian daily, yesterday lamented that Baghdad's resistance was crumbling before the world's only superpower and called for guerrilla war against the invaders. A new audio tape attributed to Osama bin Laden also urges suicide attacks and calls on Muslims to rise up against Arab govts that support the war against Iraq. "The US has attacked Iraq and soon it will also attack Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Sudan. The attacks in Saudi Arabia and Egypt will be against Islamic movements there," the voice on the tape says. Kuwait, along with other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council - Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman -- is insisting that Iraqis "should run the affairs of their entire country". Although several GCC members have given tacit or actual support to the US-led invasion, all are concerned about continuing American involvement in Iraq. Iraq's children will pay ultimate price of war Baghdad (The Times). The despairing face of Ali Ismail Abbas, the 12-yo boy who lost both arms in the blast that killed his entire family, has become a symbol around the world of the casualties of the Iraq war. The US is something of an exception to that; the picture has made an appearance of sorts -- in Time magazine, for one -- but the war pages of the nat'l newspapers this wk have been illustrated almost entirely with pictures of Marines crossing bridges and of Donald Rumsfeld, the Sec of Def, professing caution about progress, but looking pleased. All the same, now that American troops are in Baghdad and the number of civilian casualties is rising, there are questions about whether that death toll will cost the US support, and what the lasting effect of 23 y of war will be on Iraqis, particularly children who have known nothing else. Yesterday doctors from the ICRC visiting S Iraq said that they had seen "incredible" levels of civilian casualties. In the town of al-Hillah, about 100 miles S of Baghdad, they reported seeing a lorry arriving at the hospital to deliver the dismembered dead bodies of "dozens" of women and children, said to have been killed in bombing at al-Nasiriyah. The Iraqi Govt has claimed 1,250 dead and 5,000 injured. But no one from US or Brit forces or from independent internat'l organisations has yet made a formal estimate for the number of dead and injured Iraqis, either civilian or military. The ICRC says that it would be handicapped in its work on the ground in treating the wounded if it got embroiled in a partisan debate about the exact numbers killed. In any case, the ICRC's small teams have been confined mainly to Baghdad and Basra. But at the weekend, the ICRC reported from Basra that during the 1st 3 days of fighting around the city, hospitals were seeing 100 wounded a day; since then, that has fallen to 2 or 3 dozen. For Iraqi military deaths, there are no formal tallies, but Pentagon aides have privately suggested figures of several 1000s. In most countries, these cause less outrage than civilian deaths. But the Iraqi Army has relied so heavily on conscripts (and there are so many anecdotes in this war of Iraqi soldiers being forced to fight at gunpoint) that the distinction is blurred. The WHO has given warning of the psychological damage to Iraqi children from the casualties, all the more because of the heavy reliance on conscripts who may have wanted nothing to do with the war. According to Anthony Cordesman, of the Centre for Strategic and Internat'l Studies, 274,000 are conscripted every year. There are no good estimates of how many Iraqi children have been left without parents by the 3 wars that Pres Saddam Hussein has waged in the past 23 years. Deaths of Iraqi soldiers in the 1991 Gulf War are put at more than 10,000; those in the 1980-88 war with Iran are thought to be much higher, although estimates vary widely. Optimists might say that the young people of Iraq will be particularly glad to see an end to the killing and to Saddam's regime itself. It will allow them a more hopeful future than they could otherwise have expected. But their reactions may not be that straightforward. As the WHO was arguing, if their families have been destroyed, they will be disorientated and furious. It would be no surprise if they blamed the US rather than Saddam for their personal tragedies. Most seriously, for those who are sitting in the Pentagon and State Dept sketching out plans for bringing Iraq quickly back to its pre-1980 levels of prosperity and sophistication, the overwhelming majority of Iraqis are too young to have any memory of that time. Iraq war burdens black Americans in many ways Op/Ed (USA Today). On Fri, the day US forces seized control of Baghdad's major airport, a small group of anti-war demonstrators gathered outside NY City's Riverside Church to protest the fighting in Iraq. Their demo was part of an observance of the 35th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr, the civil rights movement's most revered leader. Exactly one y before he was shot dead on Apr 4, 1968 in Memphis, King gave a speech at Riverside Church that linked the war in Vietnam to the struggle of blacks. In that address, King spoke out against the war for the 1st time, saying he opposed it because he "knew that America would never invest the necessary funds or energies in rehabilitation of its poor so long as adventures like Vietnam continued to draw men and skills and money like some demonic destructive suction tube." Even more worrisome, King said, was that "we were taking the black young men who had been crippled by our society and sending them 8,000 miles away to guarantee liberties in SE Asia which they had not found in SW Georgia and E Harlem. So we have been repeatedly faced with the cruel irony of watching Negro and white boys on TV screens as they kill and die together for a nation that has been unable to seat them together in the same schools." A recent Gallup Poll reported that 78% of whites but only 29% of blacks support the pre-emptive war Pres Bush has launched against Iraq. The pollsters didn't ask why black opp'n is so strong, but it's a good bet the general objections raised by King 36 y ago -- if not his specific words -- play a major role. The Bush Admin has asked Congress for $75 bn to cover war costs during the next 6 months. Meanwhile, blacks have an unemployment rate of 10.2% -- double that of whites. Nearly 19% of African-Americans didn't have health insurance last year, substantially higher than the US average. Furthermore, a 2002 Harvard University study of 239 of the largest school districts found strong evidence that many public schools are "re-segregating." That comes at a time when the Admin is trying to overturn the University of Michigan's use of affirmative action to diversify its undergraduate and law school student bodies. Last week, Children's Defence Fund Pres Marian Wright Edelman told a group of black columnists that the combination of Bush's proposed budget and tax cuts will come at the expense of poor children, many of them black. Although African-Americans have no love for Saddam Hussein, a survey of chat rooms on black Web sites and discussions on black radio talk shows suggest that many, if not most, disbelieve the reasons Bush has given for ordering troops into Iraq. They think the war has more to do with Iraq's oil than with the weapons of mass destruction the Admin claims Saddam's regime possesses. This does not mean African-American opponents of this war are incurably pacifist or stridently anti-Republican. 12 ya, when Bush's father ordered US troops to turn back Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, 59% of blacks supported his action, a Gallup Poll found. Back then, most African-Americans saw a clear provocation that justified military action. That's not the case today. The current president basically asked Americans to accept his word that Saddam's regime threatened US security and required committing our troops to a war. Given Bush's political policies and their own economic priorities, not many African-Americans are willing to do that. One US marine killed, 6 wounded in Baghdad suburbs Baghdad. One US marine was killed and 6 others wounded in firefights on Tue in the suburbs of Baghdad, hours after they had completed their advance into the capital, a US military official said. One marine was killed and 3 wounded when they came under fire in NE Baghdad while 3 others were wounded in a separate clash in the city's eastern suburbs, Lieutenant Colonel Pete Owen said. The 1st firefight started after Iraqi soldiers opened fire with rifles from multi-story buildings while the second, involving a battalion, is ongoing, said Lt Owen, executive officer of Regimental Combat Team 1 with the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. Rocket kills one in Iran: report Tehran. A rocket, apparently fired in the war in neighbouring Iraq, killed one person in SW Iran on Tue, Iran's student news agency ISNA reported. ISNA, quoting a local official in the city of Abadan, said the rocket had hit a residential district outside the city, killing a teenager. A stray rocket from the battle in S Iraq hit an oil refinery depot in Abadan late last month, injuring 2 people. Iran, which has taken a neutral stance in the war, played down the incident and said it was a natural consequence of living next to a war zone. [Later reports say the stray 450 kg LGB killed 14 people -- 7 women and 4 children in Shkin. Amnesty Int'l has called for an investigation]. US may "seek justice" from POWs Geneva. The fate of 1000s of Iraqi POWs is in question. The Brit Govt says although the majority of prisoners will be dealt with under the Geneva Convention, there will be some exceptions. But, it added, internat'l laws would still apply. But the US, which has refused to sign up to the Internat'l Criminal Court, has its own plans for dealing with Iraqis it believes have violated the Geneva Convention. The US ambassador for war crimes, Pierre Richard Prosper, says that if war crimes have been committed against American troops, it will exact its own justice. "The crimes particularly against US personnel, we believe that we have the sovereign ability and right to prosecute these cases," he said. UN must play central role in Iraq: Chirac Paris. French Pres Jacques Chirac on Tue reiterated that the UN must play the central role in overseeing the reconstruction of post-war Iraq. He said only the world body had the "necessary legitimacy" to undertake such a task, noting that the UN could provide a solid framework for postwar Iraq that would ensure the future stability of the country and the region. M Chirac said his point of view was "very widely shared throughout the world", and across Europe in particular. Earlier on Tue, US Pres George W Bush and Brit PM Tony Blair said in a joint statement following their summit in N Ireland that the UN had a "vital role" to play in the reconstruction of Iraq. M Chirac, who has staunchly opposed the US-Brit decision to invade Iraq in a bid to oust Pres Saddam Hussein, said he "totally shared" Mr Bush and Mr Blair's opinion on the UN issue. M Chirac's For Min Dominique de Villepin will meet with his Brit counterpart Jack Straw early Wed in Paris for talks expected to focus on the shape of a postwar Admin in Iraq. The French Pres said he would receive UN Sec Gen Kofi Annan in Paris early on Thu. M Chirac also confirmed that he would travel to St Petersburg on Fri and Sat for talks on Iraq with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. Mr Annan is expected in Saint Petersburg on Sat. Before the outbreak of the US-led war in Iraq on March 20, France, Germany and Russia were the most active members of the UN Sec Council in opposing the use of military force against Baghdad. The foreign min's of the 3 countries, meeting in Paris on Fri, called for an early role for the UN in running postwar Iraq, voicing concern about a humanitarian emergency there. ADF may be involved in distributing Iraqi aid Canberra. The ADF says the Govt is considering whether the military will play a role in distributing aid in Iraq. The PM has said the Defence Force could help protect the delivery of humanitarian assistance, but indicated it is unlikely a large number of troops will remain in Iraq as peacekeepers. Defence rep, Brigadier Mike Hannan says the Govt is considering what role the Defence Force could play. "As the PM's said the AUS approach will be primarily one of providing humanitarian assistance," he said. "The ADF may be part of that and certainly we have some capabilities that could be useful... but I point out to you that the specialist roles that we have in the operation at the moment are primarily combat roles and they would probably not be the capabilities that could be useful in humanitarian activities." Aid agencies alarmed at medical shortages in Iraq Baghdad. Aid agencies have warned that overwhelmed Baghdad hospitals are running low on life-saving medicines and that civilian casualties are mounting in the capital. US forces tightened their grip on Baghdad, blitzing targets in the heart of the capital and seizing nearby Rashid military airfield on the 20th day of the war. "The hospitals have reached their limit. Iraqi medical and surgical personnel are working flat out 24 hours a day," ICRC rep Nada Doumani told a news briefing. The ICRC delivered enough emergency supplies to treat 100 war-wounded at Medical City, a 650-bed hospital complex, Ms Doumani said. "They delivered surgical supplies, sutures, anaesthetics, intravenous fluid, etc. Only 6 of the hospital's 27 operating theatres can be used," she said. On Mon, the Swiss-based agency delivered similar supplies to Kindi hospital, nr the city centre, and distributed drinking water to 3 surgical hospitals. But heavy fighting has prevented its small team in Baghdad from moving about more. The capital's main surgical hospitals and water treatment plants now rely solely on back-up generators because the normal power supply has been cut, an untenable situation, Doumani said. In Saddam City, a poor area in NE Baghdad, the flow of tap water has been cut by half, according to the ICRC. Asked whether ICRC had any concerns about possible disproportionate use of force by US-led troops, causing heavy civilian casualties, she noted the ICRC was in touch with authorities on both sides but was sticking to its strict rules of confidentiality. Both the WHO and UNICEF expressed concern about reports of diarrhoeal diseases among children in S Iraq being on the rise due to their drinking contaminated water. The WHO, a UN agency, relies on its 330 nat'l staff still in Iraq, as well as the ICRC, for info. "Supplies are running very low, particularly of emergency supplies. Nothing has crossed the border into Baghdad since the conflict began. Even where there were sufficient supplies, those supplies have been given out to hospitals and are being used up...," Simpson said. "We currently have a great deal of emergency supplies in Jordan. We are working very hard to find a way to get them across the border to Baghdad," he added. Aussie wheat finally unloaded in Kuwait Canberra. AUS wheat destined for Iraq has finally started to be unloaded in Kuwait, AWB Ltd said. AWB said the MV Pearl of Fujairah started unloading its 50,860 tonne cargo of SAn wheat overnight. The company's managing director, Andrew Lindberg, said the wheat was the 1st destined to go into Iraq since the start of the war. "AWB will deliver and discharge the wheat, and after it is milled at port, the World Food Program will distribute the bagged flour to the people with immediate needs," he said in a statement. "We have been able to secure an outcome which brings food to the Iraqi people at their moment of need while protecting the interests of AUS wheatgrowers." Mr Lindberg said a 2nd ship carrying 50,000 tonnes of AUS wheat was anchored in waters nr Oman, and would soon proceed to another port which it can unload. He said Kuwait Flour Mills, which mills only AUS wheat, would process the latest shipload. Bush to focus on Palestinians after Iraq Washington. US Pres Bush Jr promised to turn his focus to settling the Israeli-Palestinian conflict once Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was removed from power. Mr Bush held out the N Ireland peace process, spearheaded by Brit PM Tony Blair, as a possible model, saying he was "willing to spend the same amount of energy in the Middle East". At Mr Blair's urging, Mr Bush has promised to publish a so-called "road map" peace plan, which envisions creation of a Palestinian state by 2005, as soon as Palestinian lawmakers confirm a new cabinet under prime minister-designate Mahmoud Abbas, widely known as Abu Mazen. Saying he was "pleased" with the selection, Mr Bush told reporters after a two-day summit meeting: "I look forward to him (Abbas) finally putting his cabinet in place so we can release the road map." The Israeli daily Haaretz reported on Tue that Mr Arafat was undermining Mr Abbas's bid to establish a govt committed to reform and the premier-designate was considering pulling out rather than presenting his cabinet on Thu as expected. A senior Palestinian minister close to Mr Arafat denied the report. "There are no pressures being exerted on Abu Mazen. Any talk about this is completely unfounded," Saeb Erekat said. The road map calls for a series of reciprocal measures, including a halt to Palestinian violence and an end to Jewish settlement activity, to pave the way for a Palestinian state. It has been in the works for almost a y but has been repeatedly delayed. Chile forum highlights war divisions Chile. Internat'l divisions over the war have been highlighted at a world forum in Chile, attended by an AUS delegation. Coalition forces might be marching to victory, but they seem to be lacking world support. Overnight, politicians from 120 countries voted more than 80% in favour of a motion calling for an urgent end to the war. The AUS delegation that includes Labor, voted unanimously against the proposal, but were on the losing side. Delegation head and Fed Liberal MP Neil Andrew lampooned the decision at the conference in Chile. "It would be conspicuously stupid to withdraw troops right now and leave Iraq in chaos," he said. The conference will now debate the motion and vote again on the weekend. Congressman calls for creation of US 'Peace Dept' Washington. A US Congressman and anti-war activist on Tue revived his proposal for the creation of a "US Dept of Peace" to be headed by a cabinet-level official on a par with the Secretary of State or Secretary of Defence. Dem congressman Dennis Kucinich, a pres'l candidate and an outspoken critic of Pres Bush's policy on Iraq, unsuccessfully introduced similar legislation in July 2001. But he said he is reintroducing the bill because, especially during this time of war, Washington needs a Peace Dept. The proposed legislation calls for a dept that would advocate non-violence and peace education. It would support internat'l disarmament treaties and help resolve potentially violent conflicts around the world, Mr Kucinich said. The Dept of Peace would also promote non-violence as an organising principle in our society, and would generally seek to "help to create the conditions for a more peaceful world," he said. [Good luck with that!] Iraq opposition leader greeted in S town Washington (Reuters). The opp'n Iraqi National Congress said on Tue leaders from across S Iraq flocked to the town of Nasiriya to greet its leader Ahmad Chalabi, but a CIA report said he and other returning exiles would find little support among Iraqis. The classified CIA report appeared to be part of the long and bitter struggle within the Bush Admin over whether Chalabi and his colleagues can be effective leaders. Francis Brooke, a close adviser to the opp'n leader, said local Iraqi leaders had brought requests for Chalabi to mediate with the US military authorities on matters such as power supplies and people held as POWs. Some of them were initially skeptical of US intentions because the Iraqis had seen no clear evidence the Americans were intent on eliminating the Baathist network set up over decades by Pres Saddam Hussein, he said. Saddam's govt is under siege by US-led forces seeking to topple him and rid Iraq of WMD, which Iraq denies having. The US military flew Chalabi to Nasiriya on Sun, giving the INC a head start over other Arab opp'n groups in establishing a political presence under US protection. It was a defeat for the State Dept and the CIA, which do not believe Chalabi is a credible Iraqi leader. The CIA report said Iraqis would not favour leaders of opp'n exile groups for leadership positions in a new govt. But analysts say Chalabi's return will put him in a strong position when the US starts to put together an interim Iraqi authority to run the country. Brooke said the INC presence was useful but he doubted it would be a critical factor in forming a govt. "It is a chance to demonstrate our popularity on the ground. But the interim Iraqi authority is part of a process which started in London (last year)," he added. Chalabi left Iraq in 1958, when the monarchy was overthrown, but Brooke said many of his visitors had memories of his family. He is a Shi'ite Muslim, like most southerners. US plans big opposition meeting Washington (Reuters). The Bush Admin plans to set up a big opp'n meeting inside Iraq, but INC officials said on Tue that press reports of a meeting this wk were premature. "It's the Bush Admin that's calling the meeting and deciding who's invited and what's the purpose. At the highest levels those questions are undecided," said one official, who asked not to be identified. After their meeting in N Ireland, Pres Bush and Brit PM Tony Blair added little to their timetable for forming a new temporary govt to replace Saddam's. Brooke said the main benefit of the INC presence was the role the Iraqi opp'n could play helping US and Brit forces know who among former Iraqi fighters was friendly. He confirmed a local militia allied to the INC took control of the SE town of Amara on Sun but later withdrew when the CIA threatened it would be bombed. Iraqi opp'n figure Kanan Makiya said in Washington on Tue the militia of several 1000 armed men, led by a man named Abu Hatem Mohammed Ali, captured the HQ of the Amara governorate, 230 miles SE of Baghdad, without support from US forces. He described Abu Hatem as a well-known guerrilla leader, a longtime contact of the INC and a man known to the Pentagon. Iraqi opp'n to meet this weekend in Iraq London. Iraqi opp'n groups will meet in the S Iraqi city of Nasiriyah on Sat, a representative told a London press conference. "There will be a meeting in Nasiriyah on Apr 12 for all opp'n parties and we hope all opp'n groups will be represented," said meeting organiser Ghassan Atiyyah. Members of the Iraqi National Congress (INC), the Iraqi National Accord (INA), the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Islamic Al-Dawa party were present at Tue's press conference in London. The US-backed INC has sent 700 fighters to S Iraq to join coalition forces in the campaign to topple Iraqi Pres Saddam Hussein, the INC had said on Sun. Its leader Ahmad Chalabi, who has close US ties, is gearing up for a major role in post-war Iraq. Tokyo. JETS SCRAMBLE TO INTERCEPT UFO! Japan reportedly scrambled fighter jets last wk to intercept an unidentified aircraft that invaded its airspace. The aircraft is believed to have come from N Korea. The daily Mainichi Shimbun says an aircraft failed to ID itself as required on entry to Japanese airspace over the Sea of Japan on Apr 1. The paper says, without citing sources, that the incident triggered the dispatch of 2 F-15 fighter aircraft, but the mystery plane was gone by the time the Japanese jets got to the area. US base to move from Seoul: officials Seoul. The US military will relocate its main base from the S Korean capital to a new location within the country as soon as possible, officials announced in a statement following US-S Korean military talks. "The 2 sides agreed to relocate Yongsan garrison as soon as possible," the statement said. Two days of talks led by Richard Lawless, US deputy assistant secretary of defence for E Asia, and S Korea's assistant defence minister for policy, Cha Young-Koo, concluded earlier. No decision was taken during the talks on the contentious US proposal to withdraw US forces from the front lines with communist N Korea, officials said at a press conference. The US deploys 37,000 troops in S Korea, nearly 15,000 of them with the 2nd Infantry Division N of Seoul nr the border with the Stalinist N. "Both sides agreed to continue discussions on the timing of the overall alignment, including the 2nd Infantry Decision," the statement added. War will limit spending: Minchin Canberra. Fed Finance Min Nick Minchin has indicated this year's fed budget is unlikely to contain many new spending initiatives, such as paid maternity leave. Sen Minchin told a function in SYD last night that next month's budget is likely to be in surplus. But he says the high cost of participating in the conflict in Iraq will restrict other spending. He says once new initiatives, like paid maternity leave, are approved, it becomes very difficult to cut them in the future. Sen Minchin says he would like to see proposed spending measures examined to see if tax cuts would be better value for money. Sen Minchin says the Govt is continuing to assess whether a system of taxpayer-funded paid maternity leave would deliver real value for money. Sen Minchin says delivering a budget surplus should be seen as a priority. Aust oil experts eye Iraq openings Canberra. Oil and gas industry experts may be the 1st Aussies to take advantage of the commercial opportunities in Iraq after the war. The US has already announced reconstruction and aid contracts for Iraq worth $1.9 billion, with half of that work available to non-American companies. So far, 90 AUS companies have registered their interest through AUS trade officials. Austrade's Martin Walsh says the best opportunities for AUS firms will be in agriculture, health care, water supply and oil and gas development. "We have similar conditions to Iraq in some areas of AUS where we're developing gas facilities," Mr Walsh said. "Through the range of engineering firms that we have in AUS that have internat'l experience, we can certainly respond to any requests to help rebuild or even extend the systems that currently exist." Fraud: Aust's most costly crime Canberra. Fraud is the most costly crime in AUS, according to a new report from the AUS Institute of Criminology. The institute estimates that crime costs AUS $32 bn each year. Of that, crimes such as credit card, tax and welfare fraud cost close to $6 bn a year. This is nearly one-third of the direct cost of all crimes, which is about $19 bn a year. The calculations take into account property loss, medical expenses, lost productivity and place a monetary value on pain and suffering. Homicide and burglary are also high on the list of costly crimes. Institute director Adam Graycar says the findings will help police best direct resources. Desert communities go solar Darwin. Three outback AUS communities are going solar, the N Territory govt announced. The desert communities of Hermannsburg, Lajamanu and Yuendumu -- home to around 2,500 residents -- will glean their power from 30 solar concentrating dishes, NT Resource Min Paul Henderson said. The move by the communities -- which are off the territory's main power grid -- is expected to cut their annual diesel fuel usage by more than 400,000 litres. Each 14 metre wide dish contains 130 square metres of mirrors, concentrating the sun's energy by 500 times, generating 24 kilowatts. Mr Henderson said construction of the dishes would inject $2 mn into the local economy in transport, earthworks and electrical and plumbing work. Brisbane. DOUBLE JEOPARDY IN JEOPARDY! The mother of Deidre Kennedy says the baby's savage murder will not be in vain if it helps overturn the 800-yo law of double jeopardy. Almost 30 y to the day since the killing of her 17 mo daughter, Faye Kennedy has launched a petition with fed LP MP Peter Dutton calling for change to the law. Her accused killer was twice found guilty over the murder but walked free after successful appeals, incl the use of double jeopardy. The long-standing law, which has its origins in the UK, prevents someone from being tried twice for the same crime. The alternative allows the state to persecute individuals by re-trying a case until it drives the defendant broke and renders or renders a guilty verdict, whichever comes first. Melbourne. BAD DESIGN CAUSED CHAIR-LIFT DISASTER! The Vic govt says poor engineering and installation caused the collapse of the Arthur's Seat chair-lift SE of Mel earlier this y. 18 were hospitalised and more than 50 stranded on the chair-lift for up to 5 hrs after a pylon collapsed on Jan 3. A state govt source says an investigation into the accident found water had pooled beneath anchor bolts on a chairlift pylon, causing it to corrode, fatigue and eventually collapse. Warragamba. NSW DROUGHT SITUATION IMPROVES! The NSW govt has released official drought figures for Apr, showing a tiny decrease in the number of drought-affected areas. However, Energy and Util's Min Frank Sartor says the threat of compulsory water restrictions remains. Mr Sartor says average dam levels in the SYD Basin are currently at 58% and compulsory water restrictions kick in when the avg level drops to 55%. Canberra. AUSSIE WHEAT ARRIVES IN KUWAIT! AWB says a shipload of Aussie wheat that was sold to Iraq before GWII is finally being unloaded in Kuwait. [There are still fears that Umm Qasr is still not safe. Reports say the harbour is still littered with underwater mines]. The exporter says the MV Pearl [Perle?] of Fujairah started unloading its 50,860 tonnes of SA wheat o'night. The company's MD Andrew Lindberg says the wheat is the first destined to go into Iraq since the start of the US-led invasion. He says a 2nd ship carrying 50,000 tonnes is anchored in waters nr Oman, and will soon proceed to another port to unload. KL. MALAYSIA STOPS CHINESE VISAS! Malaysia has stopped issuing visas today for travellers from mainland China because of the SARS outbreak. China's S prov of Gunagdong has reported 43 deaths and 1,206 cases of the disease -- making it the hardest-hit region in the world. However travellers from HK can still get a visa into Malaysia. A For Min'y officials says the Malaysian Embassy in Beijing has been ordered to stop issuing the visas until SARS is contained. Canberra. THINK OF QANTAS! Acting Transp Min Wilson (iron bar) Tuckey says the 1,000 Qantas staff who are set to lose their jobs should realise it's in the best interests of the company. [Poor company!] Mr Tuckey says Qantas is acting wisely and in the interests of its Brit shareholders by slashing staff numbers now. He says he hopes the workforce realises that 1,000 job cuts now [actually, the reports indicate 1,700 jobs will go; some by attrition, some by conversion from full-time to PT, and some by sacking] is better than 35,000 jobs lost if the company goes under. Qantas CEO Geoff Dixon says 1,000 jobs will be made redundant between now and Jun 30 because of the impact of the US-led war in Iraq, and the SARS scare. Canberra. GM SURVEY! A survey by opponents of GM crops shows 70% of Vic farmers are concerned about GM canola. They survey was commissioned by ICM Agribusiness in consultation with the Network of Concerned Farmers. It's found strong concern about GM canola and its possible contamination of traditional crops. This follows the finding last wk by the nation's gene tech watchdog that [like rabbits, cats and prickly pear] GM canola doesn't pose a health or environmental risk. GM canola is set to be approved for general use next m. Brisbane. FIRE MAY BURN FOR DAYS! O/S specialists, called in to put out a well-head fire which exploded and killed a man on Min, says it could take up to 10 days to extinguish. Experienced oil rig mgr Rodney Joseph Fiechtner of Toowoomba, died after an explosion at the gas field exploration site at Myall Ck, nr Surat in SW Qld. 2 of his crew, aged 27 and 33, remain in the Royal Bris Hosp with burns to up to 20% of their bodies. {{ CONTINUOUS WAR NEWS 8 pm BBC World News. 1000s of people have come out on the streets of E Baghdad, claiming "Saddam is god's enemy". They're demonstrating in Saddam City, a predominantly Shia area of capital. Brit intel had seen posters on the streets of the area wks ago. They had been expecting a demonstration like this. There have also been scenes of looting in Saddam City. 8.30 pm 6 US soldiers have been injured in fighting in E Baghdad. 8.40 pm Brit cmdrs say the Baath party's command and control has melted away everywhere. Crowds have reportedly come out on the streets to celebrate in several Iraqi towns. Paul Wood, Baghdad. There are 2 cities of Baghdad. In the one where I am, people are nervous. In the E, the Shia Baghdad, the American Marines are moving in on the final stages of Operation Iraqi Liberation. But the pictures can't be taken too literally. The US is not popular here. There is also looting going on. There will be problems with maintaining law and order. As for the demonstrations. These are the pictures Downing St and Washington wanted to see. But we are seeing 2 things [some artillery goes off in background], there was an initial protest about the bombing -- 600 civilians died here. This flush of nationalism has given way now they know Saddam is on the way out. The Shi'ites see it as a new beginning for them. The country is divided in various ways. By ethnicity -- Arab and Kurd. By religion -- Muslim and Christian. Even the Muslims are divided into Sunni and Shi'ite. This complexity will cause problems for the Americans. But today is liberation. Tomorrow are the problems it will cause the occupying force. We will see a resurgence of ethnic identity now that Saddam is gone. There has been a rigid straightjacket of Arab Stalinism. The first reaction to its removal has been the looting. There are 10-15,000 US troops in Baghdad, 30-35,000 around the area. But there are 3 mn Iraqi people. People here have been stashing away Kalashnikovs and other arms. They fear Saddam City will come across the roads and bridges, and attack the affluent area of the city and all the symbols of the regime. What are the Americans going to do when the hotels and shops starts to go and people start to fear for their lives in their own homes? 10.50 pm A Reuters corresp says 20 US tanks and mil vehicles have taken up positions around the sq in the very C of Baghdad. They are broadcasting messages in Arabic not to shoot at them. In Basra there are reports of reprisals against former members of the regime. But the people still need food and water. Crowds were clambering for water as tankers came into the town today. The fighting continues even though the battle is over. Young men are still seizing aid trucks. There is a chronic lack of medical supplies, with victims laying helpless in hosp. Many wonder what the future holds. Nr Mosul, Kurds have captured a key mountain. The KPD rep says it was the most important gain so far. The front lines are now only 6 km from Kirkuk and 40 km from Mosul. Commentators are worried that with no C command in the Iraqi forces there is no way to deliver an order to surrender. The last order was to stand steadfast and fight. In Arbil, Kurdish peshmerga are celebrating. But they have something to lost. They have advanced so much in self-rule, once they come back under the C control of Baghdad they might be curbed in the freedoms they have been enjoying under the no-fly zone. They want a federation with a self-rule area. But there are 2 Kurd factions here. They don't agree on everything. Turkey is worried about the region's independence tendencies might push Turkmen to indep. In C Iraq there is sporadic fighting That will delay aid workers. It also will cause unnecessary loss of life, now that the regime seems to be teetering. Kurd peshmerga and US sp forces are still advancing across Iraqi Kurdistan as Iraqi troops withdraw into Kirkuk. 9.07 pm Rageh Omaar, Baghdad. Large sections of the pop'n now see the Saddam regime as a govt in name only. Govt stores have been looted. From 1 building -- I can't ID it -- ordinary Iraqis grabbed whatever they wanted. One man carried off a huge pot. Others concentrated on more practical appliances. They scrambled to get what they could. There was jubilation, disbelief , and range. These are just the first scenes. The Americans are going to have to move quickly, to assert their control, if this is not to descend into anarchy. Centcom briefing, Doha. Brig Vince Brooks. Usual opening platitudes. More platitudes. Latest events. More films. [For a $1 mn set, funny he's using a pointer and a map to point out key towns and cities]. Nr Karbala in an underground storage area US forces found food and Roland missiles. A truckload of SAM's were also found SE of Baghdad. They were ID-ed as SA6's. They had been altered to have IR seeker on the nose of the missiles. They found them based on a tip-off . Messages of support for the us are being b'cast from mosques in Saddam City. Operations remain opportunistic. There is some fighting still on-going, particularly in the area of bridges in downtown Baghdad. Large volumes of humanitarian supplies are beginning to flow. We have more and more freedom of action. A tactical loudspeaker teem is b'casting info to residents of Az Zubayr. The Coal'n is present, how to draw rations, the US is here to rid Iraq of the regime, the bombing is not directed against them. We have seen some reinforcement of Tikrit. We might not go there. But we would expect action there will be similar to seen elsewhere. Are Kurds planning to move into Kirkuk? There have been some limited advances there. We think that needs to continue. There are still Iraqi forces in the N. We want to prevent them reinforcing Tikrit or Baghdad. We want them to lay down their arms. Looting in Basra and Baghdad? We have concern about civil disorder. Were are seeing a lot of jubilation after years of suppression. It's started to settle down in Basra. We will see this in other areas. As we work with the pop'n these things will settle down. How to convince Iraqis in N to surrender when they know Kurds may take revenge? I don't agree with your assumptions. It's been stable and controlled there. We remain comfortable. It's a good and ongoing operation. Forces in Baghdad still have combat work to do. Some areas are free. But pockets are left. We haven't found the leaders, so those operations continue. A Red Cross worker in Baghdad is MIA after their car hit by gunfire. 9.30 pm Baghdad. There is still artillery firing. Perhaps Iraqi mil units don't know what the sit'n is, or they are snr people in the regime that can't give up. The battle is won, but not over. It may take several days yet. The city newspaper is amusing, it still quotes the Info Min saying "we will push out the invaders". 9.40 pm Paul McG, Baghdad. There are jubilant scenes. But the Transp Min'y and Oly Comm'ee buildings are ablaze. Everything has been looted from govt buildings. There was so much looting that it's causing traffic jams. In the C of the city we saw Syrians armed with AK-47s waiting for the US tanks. But 1 km from city C there were amazing scenes of people condemning Saddam and tearing up money with his face on it. At the Sports Min'y looters were coming out with amazing things. People came out carrying soccer balls. Shooting started there. Everyone dropped their loot and ran. The regime has been crumbling for a few days. But we still hear artillery fire on the outskirts of the city. The city C has been quiet since morning. We can't see any govt officials on the streets. The regime does not exist any more. The looting has been fairly non-violent. Everyone seems to think there's enough loot for everyone. People are taking stuff they will never use. It's indiscriminate looting. Looters have hit city hospitals, the UN compound, and some shops. Aire raids continue on Tikrit. Saddam has a network of loyal supporters there. The locals have vowed it will be the US's Stalingrad. [They were saying that about Baghdad, too]. The US is trying to prevent units loyal to Saddam reaching the city. The Kurds say Saddam is probably hiding in the city. In Irbil there have been scenes of jubilation. It's been like Baghdad, but without the looting. In Hillah the US has strafed a former mil base to flush out fighters. But they found it empty. The fleeing Iraqis left a large weapons cache. In Baghdad, journalists have attended a moving ceremony for their comrades killed by American tank fire yesterday. The dead journalists were loaded in vans for their return journey home. They were Ukrainian and Spanish. After the Palestine Hotel was hit, members of the foreign press worked to get the injured to hosp, but 3 of them were DOA. "Very sorry", said the Dr at the hosp. Al Jazeera say they are removing all journalists from Iraq, but they are presently trapped in the basement of their building, caught between US and Iraqi fighters. Water tankers have arrived in Basra to help ease the water shortage. 10 tankers each containing 40,000 L have set up, and people with containers of eery shape and size have lined up. AUS will become a formal occupying power of Iraq, under the 4th Geneva Convention. After Opp'n rep Kevin Rudd pointed to the treaty, Alex Downer has conceded AUS is obliged under the agreement. 10 pm Daybreak has heralded new explosions and the crackle of gunfire. Snipers are still active in Baghdad. But the US military say they've wrapped up the fighting in the E of the city. A battle in the E with elements loyal to the regime had been wrapped up. Soldiers say their trip to Baghdad has been anti-climatic. There remains a problem of who to accept the surrender from. 10.48 pm (AUS) ABC Al Jazeera didn't turn up at the Centcom briefing today. They are still angry over the targeting of their building in Baghdad. The US says snipers were using it as cover. The news network denies that. Al-Jazeera said they gave the complete co-ordinates of their office building to the US back in Feb. The data incl the lat, long, height and description of the building to avoid becoming a target. Their office had been hit 18 m ago in Afghanistan. Gen Brooks had little to say about the incident. But the Palestine Hotel may have been shot because tank cmdrs saw a TV camera and mistook it for an RPG launcher. Iraqi officials say the civilian toll so far is more than 1,000 killed and over 5,000 injured. 10.55 pm Baghdad, Geoff Thompson. Marines are moving through the subs, NE of Baghdad. They are trying to catch up with the rest of a convoy. There are interactions with the locals. There are some signs of fighting. But there are no signs of looting or celebrations like in other parts of the capital. We're heading to a regimental combat troops base. They are going to consolidate control in the NE. As we move into the urban C we will see more of the activity there. We're hearing fiercest fighting is coming from the foreign fighters, and not the Iraqis. Haithan Rashid Wihaib, former adv to Saddam Hussein. Saddam moved to Tikrit 3 days ago, but even in Tikrit he will not be safe. The town holds the first string of his personal bodyguards, his own village and his own tribe. The people in Tikrit hate him, like everyone else. He has executed mil figures in Tikrit. There were rumours before the war there had been 23 pilots from his own family conspiring against him. His son Uday killed them all with his own pistol. The restaurant that was bombed is part of Uday's empire. Maybe intel forces have seen Uday there. He was there frequently. Maybe they hoped Saddam would come there. Maybe he used a double to go there. But he would never go to a place like this. It's too open, and in a rich area of the city. Saddam has rented 5,000 homes around Iraq, in poor neighbourhoods, just in case he would be moving from one to another. In 1991 he used the same tactic staying until raids are over. He doesn't stay more than 1 hr in any one such place. The man in the TV street walk 2 days ago was not Saddam. The body-language was completely different from Saddam. The way he allows them to touch him, to approach him. The way his body-guards -- the number one circle -- were acting in a very un-careful way. Usually they are very nervous, even in peace time. They are much more aggressive, normally. Al Jazeera is reporting there are secret negotiations with Moscow for Saddam to leave the country? I believe he will try to escape from Iraq. He will never give himself to the Coal'n. He will definitely never kill himself. Would he try to martyr himself? No, that will never happen. In Tikrit he only has a few of his tribe that are loyal. They will flee with him. His 2 sons. His private sec. Some of his very close family members. No-one else will fight for him in Tikrit. 11.30 Baghdad. BBC World. Several tanks and US troops are positioned around the C square. A group of Iraqis surround the statue of Saddam in Tahrir Sq. Shots ring out occasionally in the background. There is also a group of people holding a sign in the C of the square saying "Go Home". On Lebanon TV they say Saddam is in the Russian Embassy in Baghdad, trying to arrange transit out of Baghdad. People are now trying to bring the statue down, climbing up on the plinth that's about 6 m high. Some more shots are ringing out. Most Russian diplomats and the Ambassador left some days ago. Rumsfeld had said there was a 3rd-party deal in the offing, but he said the US would not allow it. Ropes are being tied around the statue. A US tank seems to be backing-up. Lt Mark Kitchens, US mil rep in Doha, is talking to a reporter. He's mostly talking about freedom. Unable to topple the statue, a tall Iraqi has taken a sledge hammer to the base. It's about 3 m across. There is reality in Baghdad, and there are perceptions. Looters broke into the feared security HQ building, ready to strip it bare, and found... it was already empty. Now other men from the crowd are taking turns at hammering at the plinth. }} CONTINUOUS WAR NEWS ---------------------------------------- Thu, 10 Apr 2003. Continuous war news Markets 29 injured in W Bank bombing Iraqi amb says war over Aussie Iraqis warn US Baghdad seized US assembles future govt Aid arrives at Baghdad intl Japan sends ships to Afghanistan Russia pulls out of Balkans UN session ends in impasse US applauds Timor SARS concerns grow Concorde futures AF grounds concorde Qantas plan quashed Workers talk with Qantas Telstra to cut jobs AIRC orders return to work Drought assistance reform New town found in Qld Yet another drug haul Markets Continuous war news {{ CONTINUOUS WAR NEWS Midnight. ITS DAY TWENTY-ONE. Washington. VP Dick Cheney is giving a press conf. He seems to be reciting from the same script used on Doha about 3 hrs ago. 0.10 Finally, an APC has pulled up next to the statue of Saddam. Cables have been tied around the statue's neck. Apparently the Americans were initially reticent to "help". It's supposed to be something the Iraqis would do. Rageh Omaar is in the group of shouting men. Many are climbing on the APC. The crowd is getting bigger. It initially was in the dozens, it's now in the 100s. The Marines have asked everyone to move back from the statue. The APC is backing up about 20 m. Everyone has been asked to move back further. The Americans are throwing rations out to the crowd. The APC is inching backward. An 11 yo boy has just kissed the Marine Capt in charge of the demo operation. No, the APC is coming back. They need to move the cable from around Saddam's feet to around his neck. In Washington, Pres Bush said this was an historic moment. The thirst for freedom of the Iraqi people was un-quenchable. The words were conveyed by Whitehouse mouth Ari Fleischer. 0.25 There is more fighting in the capital. The top floor of a govt building is on fire. It's the ministry of agriculture. The Pres mouthpiece in Washington has continued, we are in the middle of a shooting war. 0.26 The Marines are going to use their own huge chains that they will attach to the statue. People are starting to wander off. There's gunfire coming from somewhere. Soldiers are moving off, looking off into the distance. They are now running off somewhere. They're being followed by reporters. Soldiers on tanks are looking through binocs. The APC is un-hinging an A-frame crane at its front. A Marine has climbed up on the crane. But he can't quite reach the chest-level of the statue. OK. He's put an American flag on the head of the statue. Someone has said "Oh, no!" A very insensitive thing to do. "The ultimate humiliation", said Rageh Omaar. Someone has told him to take the flag off. Someone raised an old Iraqi flag, and there was a cheer from the crowd. The Marine has put the Iraqi flag on the statue's neck. There was some clapping from the crowd. They've tied off the chain. 2 Marines are climbing down from the A-frame. One climbed back up and took the flag off. It might have been bad symbology for Marines to pull the statue down and have it fall on the ground. The APC is revering slowly. Move back, everyone! The chain is tightening up. People are throwing stones at the statue. They're chanting "Death to Saddam, Death to Saddam". The APC's engines are revving loudly. It's tipping.... It's tipping.... 0.51 am It's down! Well, it's tipped over at a 90 deg angle. It still hasn't fallen off its plinth. OK. The top 1/2 has broken off and hit the ground. The crowd is jumping on it, trying to break pieces off. "Death to Saddam, Death to Saddam". Pres Bush and PM Blair must be happy. They're trying to fix the Iraqi flag to the plinth. Anyone got a piece of blu-tack? The wide-shit shows about 100 people in the square. Dozens of cars are stuck in a nearby street, apparently held back by American troops. [Later pictures showed a dozen men dragging the statue's head through the nearby streets]. 1.13 am NBC reports a US missile went astray over Afghanistan, nr the border, and ended up hitting a house nr Shkin, Pakistan. 11 civilians were killed. 1.16 NBC reports Saddam and Qusay may have been injured and are in Mosul, trying to get to Syria. Uday is reportedly dead. ITN News, James Bays. There is anarchy in Baghdad. I've seen people shot and held up at gunpoint. People are bemused that widespread disorder isn't being stopped by Saddam's police or other forces. There is no sign of the Info Min. I was talking to him only yesterday. All other Iraqi officials that had been with us in the Palestine Hotel, as well as all the troops on the streets are also gone. There are no militia and no Fedayeen, no checkpoints. Everything has disappeared. Maybe they have taken off their uniforms and and are hiding somewhere. 1.32 am (US) ABC Baghdad. The city is still not secure. Some reporters that have been driving around the city report shooting and pockets of Fedayeen still fighting the US forces. One reporter was pulled out of a car and beaten up. They were only rescued by Baath party officials. Marines are moving to a position in N Baghdad where there are reportedly 50 enemy tanks. Looting is still continuing in Basra. The Red Cross says with the breakdown of law and order in Iraq, the number of dead and wounded can no longer be counted. The Pentagon has reported there is some revenge violence going on in Baghdad, with citizens grabbing former officials and beating or killing them. 1.39 am (7.11 EST). (US) ABC. Sen John McCain says the fighting is not yet done. The N oilfields still need to be secured. [Because it's all about the regime change and the WMD, right?] The Coal'n flew 1,700 missions tody, 550 of them strike missions. 2 US special ops soldiers have been rescued from S Iraq and are now recovering in Kuwait. The Russian embassy has denied Saddam Hussein is hiding in their building in Baghdad. 7.10 am It's just past 1 am, Baghdad time. US forces have been using the cover of darkness to expand their control of the capital. They've also been trying to suppress some of the looting and anarchy that's still going on. The city's police force disappeared yesterday. 2 km from the square where Saddam's statue was being pulled down, a firefight was raging. One Marine was reportedly killed. Reporters say US forces have also been seeing an ambush technique where one soldier in civvies asks for a cigarette from US troops, and another under cover subsequently opens fire. The unemployment rate in AUS is expected to edge up to 6.1% when data is released later today. [Later reports show it returned to 6.2%]. Hans Blix has accused the US and Brit of planning to invade Iraq for a long time. Dr Blix has reportedly walked away from the weapons inspection process in disgust. In Nasiriyah, Ahmad Chalabi, who's being groomed for a leadership position by the US, says Saddam and his 2 sons may be alive and hiding in NE Baghdad. Analysts say Bush had predicted the war would last 30 days. It's about 3 wks, but the fighting isn't over yet. The US can only fight a modern war for about 6 wks at most, due to supply restrictions. This rules out reports the US will roll from Iraq into Syria, they say. Ch 7 reports their SMS poll "do you now support the war in Iraq" is running 80% for "Y". About 15,000 votes were rec'd. Conservative commentators are calling for severe penalties for Greenpeace demonstrators, these days called Bolsheviks, for what is said to be "an act of sabotage" in delaying the departure of the HMAS Sydney earlier this wk. 10 people were arrested for hampering the sailing, with 2 people climbing the sides of the ship and chaining themselves fore and aft. 2 have already appeared in court. [First demonstrations are banned as "saboteurs", then dissent is banned as "treason". Isn't that what we're fighting for?] 7.35 am Basra. Unknown Brit reporter. Looting is still mostly unrestrained in Iraq's 2nd city. We interviewed a hotel owner that was breaking back into his home. Before the war he'd concreted up the doors and windows of his property to prevent looters getting in. Now he's using a pick to get back in. As we were talking to him a pro-Saddam crowd gathered chanting "Down Bush, Down Bush". We retreated. Our car was damaged by the crowd. You can still see their handprints. US forces have continued to meet fierce resistance at Hillah, S of Baghdad. The firefight there raged as people in Baghdad were greeting US troops and shouting "Down with Saddam". NY. Iraqi Amb to the UN, Mohammad al-Douri, has conceded the regime has fallen. He says he hasn't heard from Baghdad for several days. "The game is over", he told one reporter. Ever contradictory, Rumsfeld said later war was not a game, and he won't declare it over yet. With no WMD and no Saddam in custody, observers say the Def Sec is still unhappy about the possible conclusion to the Evil Regime. }} CONTINUOUS WAR NEWS NY (7 am). MARKETS! With signs the war in Iraq was almost over, attention turned to the US economy, and traders weren't pleased. The markets unexpectedly dived after climbing in early trading. The Dow was up 80 pts as the statue of Saddam toppled, but closed down 101 (1.2%) to 8,198. The Nasdaq also traded down 26 (1.9%) to 1,357. NY Gold was up sharply $4 (1.2%) to $US326.45/oz. In London, the FTSE is also down marginally to 3,861. The German DAX is down 33 pts (1.2%) to 2,734. The AUD was up almost 1/2 c to 60.56 US c. Oil was up 3% in o'nigh trading. Gold was also up almost $4 (1.2%). Gaza City. 29 INJURED IN W BANK BOMBING! The Israeli army has killed 12 people, incl several children, in a controversial air strike on a Hamas militant leader and a foray into a Gaza town. Meanwhile, an extreme RW Jewish group has claimed responsibility for a bombing in a W Bank school that injured 29 students. The Palestinians slammed the late Tue airstrike as a bid to sabotage an internationally-backed peace road-map. NY. IRAQI AMB SAYS WAR OVER! With the fall of Baghdad to invading US-led troops, Iraq's UN amb has declared the war is over. Mohammed al-Douri has become the first Iraqi official [all the others seem to be missing] to conceded defeat in the US-led war. Also he's expressed hope that the Iraqi people will now be able to live in peace. Al-Douri's comments are the first admission by an Iraqi official that coal'n forces have overwhelmed Iraqi troops after a 3-wk campaign. Canberra. AUSSIE IRAQIS WARN US! Aussie Iraqis say they're relieved that Pres Saddam's regime is crumbling. However, they've warned that the US-led forces should leave Iraq as soon as possible to avoid another bloody battle. The Iraqi Migrants Council of Aus has welcomed the scenes of jubilation shown in Baghdad streets o'night at the arrival of US cmdrs. Baghdad. BAGHDAD SEIZED! A snr US cmdr says US forces have seized the centre of Baghdad and the combat phase of the Iraqi will will end in a few days' time in the capital and the S. Gen Buford Blount, cmdr of the 3rd Inf. says while not every area of Baghdad is secure, the C part of the city is. Blount says the end of the combat phase is days away. Meanwhile, new firing, possible from tanks, has been heard from the W of the Tigris. Washington. US ASSEMBLES FUTURE GOVT! The US has ID-ed about 43 Iraqi politicians to take part in a meeting in S Iraq on the political future of the country. Iraqi Nat'l Congress leader Ahmad Chalabi says 14 former exiles and about 29 from inside the country have been selected and will meet at an airbase outside the town of Nasiriyah. US VP Dick Cheney says the meeting will be on Sat, but his office said afterward it would be later, depending on the state of security on the ground. Washington. AID ARRIVES AT BAGHDAD INTL! Aircraft have begun delivering aid to the Baghdad Int'l airport. US Def Sec Rumsfeld says planes are already landing at the airport. Dismissing claims of humanitarian crisis in Iraq, Rumsfeld says the humanitarian problem occurred under Pres Saddam's regime for decades. [When the US was an ally, and he did nothing about it for 35 y, on Rumsfeld's estimate]. Tokyo. JAPAN SENDS SHIPS TO AFGHANISTAN! A Japanese def officials says 2 Japanese warships have left on a mission to provide logistical support for the US-led campaign in Afghanistan. A rep for the Japanese Def Agency says 2 destroyers and a support vessel sailed from the S port of Sasebo this morning. The flotilla will relieve 3 other Japanese warships already on station in the Indian Ocean refuelling and guarding vessels belonging to the US-led coal'n. Moscow. RUSSIA PULLS OUT OF BALKANS! The Interfax news agency says Russia will pull its peace keeping troops out of the Balkans. A NATO officials has confirmed Moscow wants to take its troops out. Citing financial concerns and peace in the Balkans, the official says the Russian military has made a final decision to withdraw its peacekeeping forces from Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina. The presence of Russian peacekeepers in the Balkans was seen as a sign of trust between Russia and NATO. NY. UN SESSION ENDS IN IMPASSE! A divided UN Sec Council meeting on the N Korean crisis has ended in impasse. Members have been unable to agree on a common statement and no date has been set for a resumption of discussions. Brit, France and especially the US are seeking to bring UN pressure to bear on Pyongyang. Unlike the lead-up to the Iraqi war, the other 2 permanent members, China and Russia, argue that such a move will only aggravate an already volatile situation. Washington. US APPLAUDS TIMOR! The US has backed E Timorese prosecutors seeking justice against Indon army officers and militia leaders accused of violence and militia leaders accused of violence before and after the newly-indep nation's breakaway from Indon. E Timor's Serious Crimes Unit said earlier it's indicted 16 people, incl 8 Indon army officers, for crimes against humanity in the 1999 strife. It's the 2nd attempt in less than 2 m by the UN-funded unit to bring Indon officers to justice. HK. SARS CONCERNS GROW! Concern is growing over the global spread of the killer SARS virus, with more deaths reported in HK and more cases being reported in N Am bringing the number of infections close to 3,000. In China, the WHO says it wants to open an investigation in Beijing following allegations the death toll is higher than official figures state. The economic impact of the disease has worsened as more airlines cut flights to affected areas. London. CONCORDE FUTURES! BA says it will soon make an announcement on the future of Concorde. However it declined to comment on a report that it will withdraw the supersonic jets from service later this y. The BBC says the airline will announce today that it is returning the service, probably by the N autumn, due to a drop-off in demand. A BA rep says they've made no secret of the fact they are reviewing Concorde's future, but it will make an announcement shortly. Paris. AF GROUNDS CONCORDE! Air France will suspend its Concorde services on May 31, in advance of a planned end to flights in Oct, and will only resume them if the global economy picks up. AF and BA both say they're taking the aging aircraft out of service for good from the end of Oct. But a rep for the French flag carrier says Concorde could be readily put back into service before Oct if there's a genuine improvement in the economic sit'n. Wellington. QANTAS PLAN QUASHED! NZ competition watch-dogs have rejected a plan for a Qantas/Air NZ alliance in a draft determination. It's only the first stage in a competition ruling process to be finalised by the end of June. World airlines have been hammered by the ramifications of a passenger downturn triggered by the Sep 11 terrorist attacks, followed by the Iraq war and the recent spread of SARS. The ACCC has also announced that it's rejected the proposal. Sydney. WORKERS TALK WITH QANTAS! Unions will seek urgent talks with Qantas after it's decision to sack 1,400 workers. The airline CEO Geoff Dixon says 1,000 will be made redundant before Jun 30, while 400 will go through natural attrition. Another 300 FT positions would be converted to PT because of the impact of the war in Iraq and the deadly SARS virus. Unions say the decision will also deal a crippling blow to former Ansett employees, who have found work with Qantas but now face their 2nd stint of unemployment in as many y. Sydney. TELSTRA TO CUT JOBS! The telecom union says Telstra's plan to cut jobs in a cost-cutting measure. The Comm, Elec and Plumbing Union says leaks from snr mgt have exposed a plan to slash FT jobs. The union says the revelation comes at a time when Telstra's share price is still experiencing problems. The union says its members will vigorously oppose any reduction in permanent FT staffing levels and use all available options to defend their jobs. Sydney. AIRC ORDERS RETURN TO WORK! Workers at SYD's Villawood foreigners jail have returned to work after the AIRC said detainees' safety was at risk. About 160 workers walked off the job yesterday, staging a 24-hr strike over concerns about increasing violence and staffing shortages. Aus Corr'l Mgt, which runs the detention centre, yesterday successfully applied for an urgent hearing in the AIRC. Canberra. DROUGHT ASSISTANCE REFORM! The nation's ag ministers will try to sort out drought assistance reform when they meet today. Fed, state and terr'y ministers will meet in Bris, with drought and assistance to drought-hit communities at the top of the agenda. CBR and the states have been at loggerhead on drought assistance, with the Commonwealth demanding greater contributions from other jurisdictions. However, the states and territories have resisted, arguing the federal govt has failed to honour previous commitments to overhaul the system. Brisbane. NEW TOWN FOUND IN QLD! A remote N Qld town which the fed govt didn't recognise as existing has finally been acknowledged. The bureaucratic error which wrote off Gununa was picked up when an officer from Qld's Innovation Dept visiting the Mornington Is town, which has a population of 1,114. Qld Inov Min Paul Lucas says the officer was sent to find out why Gununa missed out of funding from the fed program to provide mobile phone coverage for small towns. Sydney. YET ANOTHER DRUG HAUL! AUS's 2nd-largest ecstasy haul, with an estimated street value of $37 mn, has been seized in SYD from crates imported from Germany. AFP say they've severely dented an int'l drug trafficking syndicate with the seizure of the drugs, which arrived in SYD by airfreight in early Feb. Agents arrested 2 men and seized more than 1/2 mn tablets during yesterday's bust in SYD's S. Sydney. MARKETS! The markets were dragged down by News Corp which fell 9%. The All Ords closed down 11 pts to 2,905. News Corp lost 1.03 to end at $10.70. The unemp data out today was "disappointing", with the loss of 42,800 jobs last m. Unemp rose to 6.2%, above market expectation. It was seen as a "correction" in the numbers. Analysts say the economy has still managed to create more than 150,000 jobs over the prev 6 m. In Japan, the Nikkei closed down about 1%. Gold is presently trading at $US325/oz. Oil was down slightly at $US28.38/bbl. The AUD is 60.54 US c. {{ CONTINUOUS WAR NEWS 1 pm (AUS) ABC says around 1,250 Iraqi civilians have been killed in the war to date. 1.30 pm Michael Ware. In the N of Iraq the fighting continues. The war here has followed the Afghanistan model. The US and Kurdish fighters have been matched by the Iraqis. One town has been taken and re-taken a number of times. For some reason, no more US troops have come into the area. The 1,000 US paras dropped in have not been deployed to the front. No-one knows why they were parachuted in. Some air-strips were in the control of the Kurds. They are still twiddling their thumbs say the sp forces cmdrs. No more have arrived by air, either. For now, the Kurds and US special forces are battling the enemy. The Iraqis have armour, which is proving a headache to the Americans and the Kurds. But there is another development. Kurdish fighters are taking leave and going back to their home towns of Mosul and Kirkuk. The Kurdish fighters have been told to hold back from entering the oil towns. Turkey and other countries in the region want a share of the oil and Turkey also doesn't want the 20 mn Kurds in S Turkey to link up with a well-funded Kurdish population in a semi-autonomous N Iraq. But 1000s of Kurdish civilians and fighters "on leave" are going back home. There are arms-smugglers operating into the towns and Kurdish cmdrs are in contact with people in the towns, setting up safe houses and gathering intel. It's not credible that the Americans don't know this but what they don't officially know, can't hurt them. It seems the Kurds are planning civilian uprisings to gain control. 4.30 pm US forces have been searching the site of the Al Mansour restaurant that had been bombed. They are searching for any signs of Saddam. In Basra, thieves have entered a local bank using RPG's. But a cmdr said they defeated themselves, incinerating all the money they were trying to steal. Iraq's amb to the UN, Mohammad al-Douri, has left NY for France. Reports of fighting are still coming from the E as US forces move through the outer subs. The Pentagon says 101 Americans have now been killed in the Iraqi war. 30 Brit soldiers have been KIA. Blood-stained American uniforms have been found in Baghdad. The Pentagon has not released the names on the uniforms. 4.40 pm The BBC is reporting US forces are attacking a mosque in the E of the city where they believe Saddam Hussein is hiding. Marines have toured a luxury appt building in downtown Baghdad that houses Baath party officials and their families. Some of the women were very scared, pleading for mercy. A Marine's hand on one woman's shoulder didn't make things any easier. There appeared to be no party officials around. This morning, Baghdad. Marines move around the city. Some govt buildings are still burning. Their facades are blackened. The Marines arrive at the Oil Ministry. Iraqis have a bulldozer and are removing another statue of Saddam. There is an impromptu party as it is toppled. Marines tell reporters they're about as happy as the dancing men. But then shots ring out. 2 hrs of gunfire and RPG fire follow. The marines are flanked on 3 side by snipers. They spot 3 heads bobbing behind a wall. Marines urge their cmdr to allow them to take the shot. But he stands them down. He turns out to be right -- they are a frightened civilian family, caught in the cross-fire. At the end of the skirmish 2 snipers are dead and 1 has escaped. 5 pm There's an on-going firefight at a mosque in E Baghdad. It's been going for 3 hr so far. Marines are fighting what they believe are the Sp Rep Guard. The fighting has been so fierce, there is speculation they are guarding Saddam himself. 1 Marine is dead, and 8 are wounded. The ICRC has suspended its work in Baghdad after a worker was killed by gunfire. He had been missing yesterday, but it's now confirmed the worker was killed. The man had dropped off staff and was on his way back to an ICRC office. The vehicle came into a crossfire incident, 2 others escaped but he was left behind. For 24 hrs it was unknown what had happened. The ICRC retrieved his body today. The rate of wounded coming into hosp has slowed over the past 2 days. There is a mixture of military and civilians. A lot of pre-positioned surgical supplies are still available. But sheets, basic surgical supplies, dressing and anaesthetics are running low. These have been supplied so far, but the sit'n could get worse. The water sit'n is also critical. The current sit'n of lawlessness is particularly bad for security. The ICRC is going to take it day by day. 6.48 pm There are unconfirmed reports that Kirkuk has fallen to Kurdish forces. The reports say Kurdish fighters are in the C of the large oil town. 7 pm BBC is reporting that Kirkuk is the latest city to fall to Coal'n forces. Kurds say while there are some Iraqi fighters in the city, the bulk of the Iraqi army has moved out. Kurd special forces had filtered into the city in recent days to foment an uprising. Thomson & Cox, Baghdad. Baghdad by night is a dangerous place. Marines on patrol say they came under attack and fired back. The film shows a firefight that lasted several mins. Some Marines insist the car approached at high speed and opened fire. One says he could see snipers in a tree. But the film shows tracer rounds coming from off-camera are red -- the colour of Coal'n tracers. The enemy use green. No matter whether the patrol was involved in a firefight or not, 3 people in the car are dead. A Marine cmdr said there are suspicions 2 Marine patrols started firing on each other, spared by a speeding car. 9.37 pm Reportedly, a firefight nr a mosque that has resulted in the death of a US Marine and the injury of 20 others was based on a tip-off, that has now proved false, that Saddam was hiding inside. 10.13 pm Iraqis say pictures of Pres Bush Jr have been sold for up to $A350 in Baghdad. There's apparently a shortage. The people are getting rid of their pictures of the old Pres, and installing the pictures of the new Pres on their walls and mantlepieces. Pres Bush and PM Blair have made a televised address to Iraq, using the old frequency of Iraqi TV. Pres Bush told Iraqis that they were free and that US forces would leave as soon as possible. Iraq would move to a W-style democracy with Iraqis eventually electing a govt from their own population. PM Blair said Saddam lived in luxury while others in Iraq were poor. He said the oil money would now be used for the Iraqi people, instead of buying WMD. The well-planned propaganda immediately fell flat because electricity is has been across Iraq for days after Coal'n aircraft dropped chaff over power-lines and generating plants. CNN has shown another statue of Saddam "brought down" by US forces in Baghdad. First they tried to pull it over. That didn't work. Then they planted explosives around it. We held out breath, and they set it off. Again, the Iraqi dictator's statue proved as stubborn as the former dictator. 11 pm Simon Bouda, Qatar. Rumours about about the locations of Saddam Hussein. The strongest suspicion he's left Baghdad and headed to his home-town of Tikrit. In Basra, Islamic clerics have appealed to Brit forces to impose a curfew to limit looting. But the Brits have refused. 20,000 Kurdish peshmurgas occupy Kirkuk. Happy crowds there demolished yet another 6 m bronze of Saddam. In Hillah, Tikrit, and Mosul there is still fighting, artillery fire and fire-fights. The main target for Coal'n forces now is Tikrit, where the full force of the US military and air support is aimed. There are still no signs of WMD. But more chem suits, sarin test kits and other equipment have been found nr Baghdad. US marines have also found warheads that they say could be used to deliver chem or bio weapons. The CIA is now hunting for Iraqi scientists, to ask them where the WMD are hidden. The Pentagon says it has 7,300 Iraqi POW's -- a smaller number that previously claimed. 11.30 pm Turkey has demanded that "military observers" be allowed into Kirkuk to ensure Kurds don't remain in Iraq's main oil town. So far, the Americans have managed to hold back the entry of Turkish troops in large numbers. There has been significant fighting around Bagdad today. The capital is still an ugly place, according to Marine cmdrs. There were fire-fights nr a mosque and outside a palace in the N of the city. In the last image the US wanted, soldiers fighting nr the Imam al-Adham mosque punched hole in a wall, apparently to get at the fighters inside. The Americans say they caught and killed a number of irregular fighters after a 7 hr fight. They brought out a number of bodies dressed in black clothing. An exiled Ayatollah has announced he will return to Iraq from Iran. He's been in exile for 23 y. The Iraqi people are expected to welcome his return. The head of the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution, he leads mns of Shia and commands an army of 10s of 1000s of men, based in Iran. He has previously said he would call on Iraqis to rise up and oust the Americans if they don't leave the country quickly. The Council has demanded that an Iraqi govt take over immediately after the fall of Saddam's regime. 11.45 pm Col Sam Gardiner (ret) says there is an impending humanitarian crisis in Iraq. First, the electricity has been knocked out, apparently over the whole country. This means there is no water, and the rivers have become polluted with human waste. The food will start to run out by the end of the m, but supplies won't start to flow into the country in any volume until mid-May. The food distribution network that had existed as part of the oil-for-food program may have been destroyed. With the looting of computers in govt offices in Basra and Baghdad the lists of distribution points and contacts have probably been lost. Gardiner says the US military probably don't comprehend the size of the crisis, which he says may be the largest ever faced. While their priorities are the enemy forces first, and the aid 2nd, they probably have them backwards. }} CONTINUOUS WAR NEWS ---------------------------------------- Fri, 11 Apr 2003. Continuous war news {{ CONTINUOUS WAR NEWS Midnight. ITS DAY TWENTY-TWO. 1.11 am Pres Bush's approval rating is 77% -- the highest in 10 m. A WashPost poll shows 80% of Americans support the war. 18% think the war is not yet over. 77% see more difficult fighting ahead. Looting in Basra has continued for 3rd straight day. In Baghdad, looting of the ministry buildings is also continuing. People are taking office furniture, photocopiers, and anything else they can carry off. Bombing of Tikrit is continuing, "shaping the battlefield" read for US ground forces to attack Saddam's home town. At least 105 American soldiers have been killed in the Iraqi war so far. 7 are POW, and 8 are listed MIA. The Brits have recorded 30 KIA. Iraqi fighters are still attacking US positions in W Baghdad. 1.20 am A Times reporter says the battle in the N of Baghdad injured many civilians and there are reports some were killed. The street around the palace and mosque was "devastated". She says occasional small arms and mortar fire is still being heard in downtown Baghdad. 6 am Kurds have gone on a looting rampage in Kirkuk. Looting continues in other towns and cities across Iraq. In Baghdad, Dep PM Tariq Aziz's home has been stripped. Reporters say thieves have taken the plastic plants and even the light-switches from the house. The German embassy and French cultural centre in Baghdad have been stripped. The UN says the main priority for Coal'n forces is now the restoration of law and order. It's also an obligation under the Geneva Conventions. A snr Shi'ite religious leader and his aide has been assassinated by a mob at a mosque in the holy city of Najaf. The cleric was known as an anti-Saddam activist. HE had just returned from exile in Brit. The Red Cross has resumed operations in Iraq but has called on Coal'n troops to provide security. PM Howard has received another phone call from Pres Bush Jr. Expect another public announcement in AUS regarding his latest instructions. China has reported 2 more deaths from SARS. Iraqi officials have sealed the border with Jordan. Brit has warned Syria against helping what remains of Saddam Hussein's forces. The warning comes after a 2nd warning from Donald Rumsfeld in Washington o'night. 1 US Marine has been killed and 4 injured in a suicide bombing in Baghdad o'night. A man with explosives strapped to his body asked for cigarettes at a checkpoint. He then set off the explosives. Hospital facilities are so bad in Baghdad, the badly-injured Marines have had to be flown out to Kuwait. Marines opened up on a car that tried to ram them in Baghdad. Several people were killed, no questions asked. US soldiers also came under fire in several incidents o'night. Iraqis have begun barricading themselves into their homes to protect themselves against rampaging mobs and looters. In Basra, there's a shortage of doctors at hospitals because they've been staying home to protect their families. UN Sec-Gen Kofi Annan has called for the return of weapons inspectors to Iraq after the war. It's unknown whether Hans Blix would be interested, after publicly washing his hands of the process yesterday. Coal'n warplanes have continued bombing Tikrit o'night. More weapons caches have been found around Iraq. A large one outside of Baghdad reportedly had enough grenades, mortars and RPG's to fill a dozen large trucks. 7.30 am Marines have made 2 new finds of possible WMD. In one location their radiation metres went off the scale. Reports say they think they've found weapons-grade plutonium in an underground bunker. Elsewhere, a van was captured that could be one of Rumsfeld's portable bio-weapons labs. Marines shoot at the vehicle as it tried to escape. Kurdish forces are reportedly battling for control of Iraq's 2nd N oil town of Mosul. Some observers expect it to fall within 48 hrs. }} CONTINUOUS WAR NEWS NY. MARKETS! The Dow closed up 21 pts to 8,221. The Nasdaq was also up 8 to 1,365. In Asia, all major indexes closed marginally down. Gold is trading at $US326.45/oz, oil is down at $US27.42, and the AUD is unchanged at 60.54 US c. Gaza City. TARGETED ASSASSINATION! Israeli helicopters have launched 4 missiles at a car carrying militants in Gaza City, killing a top cmdr and wounding 12 by-standers. Witnesses and doctors say the leader the the Islamic Jihad's military wing, Mahmoud Zatme, died in the attack. It's the 2nd targeted assassination from the air this wk in Gaza. In other violence, gunmen in the W Bank broke into an Israeli army base and killed 2 soldiers before being shot dead. Baghdad. MINISTRIES ON FIRE! At least 5 ministries are on fire in C Baghdad as looters rampage through the Iraqi capital, where anarchy is setting in. An AFP corresp says the buildings housing the ministries of information, trade, education and higher education and industry are ablaze, as is the old market of Baghdad's commercial centre on Rashid St. And there are no firefighters. The skyline of the capital, which US forces captured yesterday, is glowing orange as clouds of smoke billow into the night air. Baghdad. LOOTERS RAMPAGE! Looters are rampaging as Baghdad descends into chaos, and the first suicide bombing since the fall of the regime has killed 1 US soldier. Meanwhile, US and Kurdish forces have seized the key oil city of Kirkuk -- raising Turkey's concerns of a Kurdish independence bid. However the Kurds say they'll leave the town in US hands. The suicide attack in Saddam City, an impoverished suburb in the N of the capital, has come a day after the city fell into US hands. Vienna. "PLUTONIUM" ALREADY KNOWN AS URANIUM! Officials say American troops who claimed they'd stumbled across Plutonium and other evidence of an Iraqi nuclear weapons program have probably found known stocks of low-grade U. Also the troops may have broken UN seals meant to keep control of the radioactive material. A US Marine Corps combat engineering unit has claimed it found an underground network of laboratories, warehouses and offices beneath the Tuwaitha nuclear research centre S of Baghdad. The Marines say they also found a large amount of highly radioactive material. Some had ID-ed it as "enriched plutonium" because their radiation meters had gone off-scale. Washington. SARS ID-ED! Scientists say they have ID-ed the virus behind the deadly SARS illness that's claimed 111 lives worldwide. Also they've proposed naming it after a doctor who ID-ed the disease and later became a victim. The new coronavirus is a relative of one of the many viruses that cause the common cold. 2 research teams reporting in the NEJM say the virus is, as suspected, new to humans. Washington. NEW SARS MEASURES! Govts around the world have tightened defences against a new respiratory disease. WHO teams are in Beijing and in China's Guangdong prov, the source of SARS. However the organisation's infectious disease chief Dr David Heymann says they would like permission to look further. Singapore has slapped a quarantine on arriving foreign workers and has taken drastic measures to enforce quarantine orders on 100s of people suspected of exposure to SARS. Belgrade. PRES DENIES INVOLVEMENT IN KILLING! Former Serbian Pres Vojislav Kostunica has fiercely rejected claims that his associates were involved in the assassination of his rival, the Serbian PM. Also he's accused the govt of a communist-style witch-hunt. Kostunica spear-headed the Oct 2000 revolt to oust his predecessor, Slobodan Milosevic. However he later fell out with other pro-democracy leaders, incl Zoran Djindjic, who was killed on Mar 12. Washington. CLONING IMPOSSIBLE! Scientists say it may be impossible to clone human beings, or any primate, using the current techniques. U of Pitt researchers are trying to understand why attempts to clone monkeys have failed. They've reported in Science that from the very first step, cloned primate cells don't divide properly. This causes a helter-skelter mix of chromosomes too abnormal for pregnancy to even begin. Lead researcher Gerald Schatten says most people in the cloning field will be surprised by this. [Especially the group that claims to have produced dozens of human clones already!] Canberra. TOO EARLY FOR THE "V" WORD! PM Howard says it's too early to declare victory in the war, but he's planning AUS's involvement in the post-war administration. Mr Howard says AUS will join the US and Brit as occupying powers in running postwar Iraq in the immediate aftermath of the war. He's also confirmed Aussies will be involved in the post-war hunt for WMD across Iraq, with some military personnel to also stay on after hostilities are over. However he says it's too early to declare victory in Iraq. Canberra. CREAN WORRIES ABOUT SECURITY! Opp'n leader Simon Crean says AUS has to get beyond the euphoria of the fall of Baghdad and assess the longer-term security consequences of going to war. Mr Crean told ABC radio that AUS's security must become the focus of the govt, now the nation's at greater risk of terrorism for joining the US-led war on Iraq. Mr Crean says the govt has to argue for the UN to take over the interim admin so troops can return home as soon as possible. However, Mr Crean also conceded even if the UN took over the admin Aussie troops might have to remain. Canberra. KEELTY WARNS OF ATTACKS! As progress in the Bali bombing investigations slows, fed police chief Mick Keelty warns that terrorists operating in the region could be planning more attacks. Mr Keelty says law enforcement experts who deal with terrorism talk about perpetrators of attacks being in periods of preparation. Also he warns that the terrorists who killed around 200 people -- incl 89 Aussies -- in the Oct 29 bomb blasts in Kuta could be preparing new attacks. Tomorrow is the 6 m anniversary of the bombing. London. VIRGIN WANTS CONCORDES FOR FREE! Virgin Atlantic founder Richard Branson has offered to buy BA's Concorde fleet for 1 pound. Branson, the king of publicity stunts in the UK, says in a statement he'll ask BA for the full operating figures of the fleet of 7 Concordes. Branson says if after examining the figures VA can make a success of the operation, they will ask that they were given the aircraft, as well as slots and other facilities that they use. Canberra. AG MINS MEET! The nation's ag mins meeting in Bris have steered away from a battle over drought assistance. Instead, they largely agreed on the make-up of a meeting that will take place after the drought to look at ways of streamlining drought assistance in the future. The state and fed govts have been at loggerheads over plans by fed Ag Min Warren Truss to have the states contribute more towards drought assistance programs. Brisbane. CALLS TO END FUEL SUBSIDY! A leading business academic has called for the scrapping of Qld's fuel subsidy. Prof Allan Layton, who heads QIT's economics school, says the subsidy's costing taxpayers $1/2 bn pa. However he says it delivers only $375 mn to motorists. The state govt currently gives retailers 8.3 c/L of fuel sold to help lower prices. Prof Layton says rather than paying the subsidy, the govt should spend the $1/2 bn on roads and public transport. Adelaide. SCHOOL PATROLS 24/7! Daylight security patrols of 56 SA schools thought to be at risk of arson and vandalism during the school hols will start tomorrow. SA Ed Min Trish White says the move follows successful night-time surveillance of high-risk schools during previous school hols. Ms White says the around-the-clock security for schools will incl a specialist squad of plain-clothed security officers, a police helicopter, CCTV, static guards and police patrols. ======================================== (*) 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. *** Has anyone got a spare cup of J-DAMS? ***