From the World-Wide Resourses of the Western Australia Reserch Senter(*) OIL THE NEWS THAT FITS MY VIEWS #34 =============================== 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... ------------------------------------------------------------ We have absolutely no plans whatsoever to invade Syria... I cannot put it more strongly than that. -- PM Tony Blair, Parliament, 14 Apr 2003. These are good days... for the history of freedom. -- Pres Bush Jr, Press stmt, 15 Apr 2003. Talking about the US-led conf nr Nasiriyah, the Pres still had something nice to say about France. ---------------------------------------- Mon, 14 Apr 2003. 12 teens die in bus accident Ferry toll rises to 19 Pentagon plans propaganda war US troops detain looters US troops encounter fierce resistance in Tikrit US seizes Tikrit Saddam's nr Tikrit: Chalabi US forces test canisters for chemical weapons Marines backtrack on Iraq chemical arms report Bush accuses Syria of having chemical weapons US has Saddam's DNA: Franks Butler in no doubt about Iraq weapons Armed men order Shiite leader to leave Iraq Najaf siege ends, ayatollah missing US soldiers wounded in shooting nr Baghdad Small arms fire erupts in Baghdad Security fears spark anti-US protest in Baghdad Bashir charged over JI terror plots Beef up Afghan security, UNHCR warns North Korea hints at readiness for talks Obasanjo's party leads in Nigerian poll Palestinian PM proposes draft cabinet line-up Yemeni police arrested after Cole suspects escape Low US wheat stock blamed on drought Iraqi scientist surrenders Human genome done Labor ahead before fall of Baghdad: poll Industry welfare cut back Jap tourism to decline Aussie ind'y backs carbon plan New aussie SARS case Continuous war news Athens. 12 TEENS DIE IN BUS ACCIDENT! 21 Greek teens have died and 24 others have been injured when a truckload of lumber crushed their bus. It's been described as Greece's worst road tragedy in decades. Authorities in N Greece say in all 32 people were injured. 9 girls were among the dead. The bus was carrying 49 students aged 15 and 16 and 3 teachers on an excursion. Police say the crash occurred nr Tembi, 450 km N of Athens on a twisting stretch of motorway going through a gorge. Dhaka. FERRY TOLL RISES TO 19! The death toll from Bangladesh's latest ferry disaster has risen to 19. Local officials say 5 more bodies were recovered before a hail storm halted rescue work. Several newspapers put the latest toll at 21, but a fire brigade rep says divers have retrieved 19 bodies. The ferry's been lying under water for more than 36 hrs in Kishoreganj, 80 km N of the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka. Pentagon plans propaganda war Washington (BBC). The Pentagon is toying with the idea of black propaganda. As part of George Bush's war on terrorism, the military is thinking of planting propaganda and misleading stories in the internat'l media. A new dept has been set up inside the Pentagon with the Orwellian title of the Office of Strategic Influence. It is well funded, is being run by a general and its aim is to influence public opinion abroad. It has been canvassing opinion within the Pentagon on what it should do. The options range from the standard public relations stuff -- doing more to explain the Pentagon's role -- to more underhand tactics such as e-mailing journalists and community leaders abroad with info that undermines govts hostile to the US. These e-mails would come from a .com return address rather than .mil to hide the Pentagon's role. The most controversial suggestion is the covert planting of disinfo in foreign media, a process known as black propaganda. All this has sparked off a fierce debate within the Pentagon. The options range from "the blackest of black programmes to the whitest of white," one official told the NY Times. Some generals are worried that even a suggestion of disinfo would undermine the Pentagon's credibility and America's attempts to portray herself as the beacon of liberty and democratic values. Def Sec Donald Rumsfeld has asked a team of lawyers to check the proposals' legality. The Pentagon is forbidden from spreading black propaganda in the American media, but there is nothing to stop an American newspaper picking up a story carried abroad. The Pentagon is well versed in what it calls "psyops", dropping leaflets and using radio broadcasts to undermine enemy morale. But these kind of activities have always been confined to the battlefield, such as Afghanistan. Using covert tactics on media outlets of friendly countries is much more controversial. US troops detain looters Baghdad. US troops in Baghdad have detained looters for the 1st time since coalition forces invaded the Iraqi capital. Protesting in the capital, about 100 Iraqis called on the US invaders to put an end to the looting and violence which has plagued the city since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime. Nearby, US troops stopped 25 men on a bridge, arresting 4 on charges of stealing. It is the 1st time since American soldiers occupied Baghdad a wk ago that they have detained Iraqis for looting. A rep for the US marines says coalition troops will soon begin joint patrols with Iraqi security forces in an effort to restore order to the capital. US troops encounter fierce resistance in Tikrit Tikrit. US marines are fighting Iraqi forces, including tanks, on the S outskirts of Saddam Hussein's home town of Tikrit. A commander in charge of the operation says at least 15 people have been killed in firefights and five Iraqi tanks have been destroyed on the outskirts of the city. A journalist travelling with the marines says the battle is a significant one with a great number of Cobra assault helicopters and F-18 fighter jets providing support overhead. Maj Rumi Nielson-Green from the US Central Command headquarters says coalition forces still face fierce resistance from "leftovers" of the Iraqi army. Tikrit. US SEIZES TIKRIT! US armoured vehicles are controlling the C of Tikrit. 5 armoured vehicles are deployed in a main sq of the town after US marine reconnaissance battalions entered before dawn, meeting no resistance. They posted themselves at the foot of a statue portraying the Iraqi dictator mounted on a horse. At the US Centcom in Qatar, officers say occasional resistance has been encountered on the outskirts of Tikrit. Saddam's nr Tikrit: Chalabi S Iraq. The leader of Iraq's main opposition party says he believes Iraqi Pres Saddam Hussein is alive and somewhere nr his hometown, Tikrit. Over the weekend, Arabic satellite network Al Jazeera quoted a former head of Iraqi intelligence, who said Saddam did not survive a US bombing attack last week. However, Ahmed Chalabi of the Iraqi National Congress has a different theory. "We think that Saddam Hussein is still alive and still in the general area," he said. "Many of his people are with him, his son Qusay is there ... many, many of the Baathists, they are there now and some of them are in touch with us." US forces test canisters for chemical weapons Baghdad. US forces have again claimed to have found possible evidence of chemical weapons in Iraq. Marines in Baghdad initially claimed to have found nearly 300 artillery shells which had tested positive to chemical agents. That claim was later revised to five canisters. Further tests will now be carried out to try to confirm what type of chemical, if any, is inside. US marines officer Stephen Armes says the shells tested positive for a chemical substance, believed to be a blister agent. However, the US military says further tests have to be carried out to confirm what is inside the warheads. The AUS Govt says any evidence of weapons of mass destruction found in Iraq may be destroyed before the UN verifies the material. For Min Alexander Downer says the overthrow of the Iraqi Govt means the UN needs a new partner for inspections. He says this will require changes to Sec Council resolution 1441. Mr Downer says in the meantime inspectors -- including US, Brit and AUS experts -- may have to destroy the evidence. "Whether there are UN people there or not, that won't be central to whether these materials can be destroyed but that might give some people a sense of greater confidence that they have been destroyed," he said. "Though I wouldn't have any doubt about the desire of the Americans to destroy these materials." Marines backtrack on Iraq chemical arms report Baghdad. US marines reported on Sun finding five canisters with a substance testing positive for chemical agents but backed off a claim of finding 278 suspect artillery shells. Officers with the marine's 1st Battalion, 5th Regiment said the canisters were found on Sat in a Baghdad schoolyard among large stocks of ammunition. Corporal Chad Arva, a chemicals analysis specialist, said the contents of the canisters "tested positive 3 times for blister agents". But battalion officers backed off an earlier claim they had found likely blister agents in 278 artillery shells. The report had come from the battalion's operations officer, Maj Stephen Armes, and his commander, Lt Col Fred Padilla. But they later said they had been mistaken. Bush accuses Syria of having chemical weapons Washington. US Pres George W Bush says the US administration believes there are chemical weapons in Syria. While speaking to journalists at the White House, Mr Bush warned Syria it must cooperate with Washington as it continues its effort to overthrow the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq. He warned the Syrians that they must not harbour any military officials of Saddam Hussein's regime who need to be held to account. Asked if Syria could face military action, Mr Bush said: "They just need to cooperate". Def Sec Donald Rumsfeld has accused Syria of taking in senior officials of the Iraq regime. US has Saddam's DNA: Franks Doha. Iraq war commander Gen Tommy Franks said on Sun that US-led forces had DNA of Saddam Hussein and would use it to check whether attempts to kill him had succeeded. "He's either dead or he's running a lot," Gen Franks told CNN television in an interview at Central Command headquarters in Qatar. "He'll simply be alive until I can confirm he's dead." "The appropriate people with the appropriate forensics are doing checks...in each of the places where we think we may have killed regime leadership." Saddam and his inner circle were targeted in the 1st strike of the war on March 20 with bombings of a building in Baghdad, and then later on in the campaign, again in Baghdad. Asked if US-led forces had samples of Saddam's DNA, he said: "Oh, of course... what you should know is that we have the forensic capability to chase these things down and we'll chase them down, every one of them, all the way." Butler in no doubt about Iraq weapons Sydney. Former UN chief weapons inspector, Richard Butler, says there is no doubt that Iraq still has WMD. Mr Butler says when he and his team were thrown out of Iraq by Saddam Hussein 4 ya, he told the Sec Council that missiles, chemical and biological weapons were still unaccounted for. He says his successor, Hans Blix, last m gave the Sec Council a near identical report. "[There is] no question that there are unaccounted for weapons in Iraq, but if they're not found, if the Iraqis have successfully hidden them or destroyed them, then I would predict there would be an enormous political problem," he said. "This is the fundamental rationale that was given for going into Iraq in the 1st place. God help us if they're not found." Armed men order Shiite leader to leave Iraq Najaf. Armed men have surrounded the house of a top Shiite Muslim cleric in the Iraqi holy city of Najaf, giving him 48 hours to leave the country or face attack, aides to the cleric said. The siege of the home of Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, a sign of religious strife at the heart of Iraq's majority community, boded ill for nat'l unity after the US-led war to topple Saddam Hussein. Shiite sources said Sistani was not in the house, but that his son was. US troops stationed on the outskirts of Najaf had entered the city to help restore order, they said. US Central Command in Qatar had no immediate confirmation of the move. "Armed thugs and hooligans have had the house of Ayatollah Sistani under siege since yesterday," Kuwait-based Ayatollah Abulqasim Dibaji said. "They have told him to either leave Iraq in 48 hours or they would attack." Mr Dibaji said the house was surrounded by members of Jimaat-e-Sadr-Thani, a shadowy group led by Moqtada Sadr, the ambitious 22-year-old son of a late spiritual leader in Iraq. Shiites form a 60% majority in Iraq but have long suffered discrimination at the hands of a Sunni ruling elite and, in the past 3 decades, under Saddam. Unrest in Najaf, 3 days after another leading Shiite cleric was murdered at its main mosque, was a further troubling sign for US forces hoping for stability in Iraq after the war. Abed al-Budairi, an aide to senior cleric Abdul Majid al-Khoei, who was murdered in Najaf on Thu, said Sistani left his Najaf home before it was surrounded by men wielding knives and guns, but that Sistani's son was in the building. Najaf siege ends, ayatollah missing Najaf. An armed siege of the home of a Shi'ite Muslim spiritual leader in the Iraqi holy city of Najaf has ended and tribal leaders are in control of the city. An aide to the cleric says tribal leaders entered the city to protect Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani after his home was surrounded on Sat by armed men demanding he leave Iraq within 48 hours or face attack. Mohammad Baqir al-Mohri says Sistani, who is in his 70s, was not in the house at the time but his son was present. "The siege has ended," Mr Mohri said. "The tribal leaders are now in control of the city." "When the tribes arrived, the armed men had already left. Mr Sistani was not in the house. Nobody has seen him." The stand off at the heart of the Shi'ite community augured ill for nat'l unity after the US-led war to topple Saddam Hussein and set alarm bells ringing across the region. Kuwait-based Ayatollah Abulqasim Dibaji said on Sun that Sistani's house was surrounded by members of Jimaat-e-Sadr-Thani, a shadowy group led by Moqtada Sadr, the 22-year-old son of a late spiritual leader in Iraq. However, Mr Moqtada, who is no longer in Najaf, sent him a message denying any involvement. Associates of Mr Moqtada have also said he had no link with the siege or the killing on Thu in the city's main shrine of senior cleric Abdul Majid al-Khoei, who had just returned from exile. Some Shi'ite sources say US troops stationed on the outskirts of Najaf had entered the city to help restore order, but Sistani's aide says they have avoided getting involved in the dispute. The US military had no immediate comment. Najaf, where Sistani and many other top Shi'ite spiritual leaders live, is a centre of pilgrimage and religious learning and home to the tomb of Imam Ali, son-in-law of the Prophet Mohammad and considered the 1st Shi'ite leader. US soldiers wounded in shooting nr Baghdad Baghdad. At least 4 US soldiers were wounded on Sun when they came under sniper and rocket-propelled grenade fire south of Baghdad while clearing an Iraqi arms dump, senior officers told Reuters. "There was an explosion and then they came under direct fire," one said, adding that the incident occurred while soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division were clearing rockets and mortar rounds at Mahmudiya, 40 km south of central Baghdad. "Someone fired at them from a building, either over or through a crowd," another officer said. "Because of the firing, the crowd dispersed and we had 4 soldiers hit." Officers said fire had come from a nearby building, which soldiers were now trying to clear. The wounded were evacuated to a field hospital. There was no info on their condition. Small arms fire erupts in Baghdad Baghdad. Small arms fire has broken out close to the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad, home to foreign media covering the US-led war on Iraq. Reuters correspondent Edmund Blair says he heard several minutes of shooting, before flares lit up an area nr the hotel. He says there was a period of silence, followed by more shots and another flare. It is not immediately clear who is involved in the shooting or why it started. There have been numerous exchanges of fire in Baghdad since US troops took over the city in the middle of last week. Security fears spark anti-US protest in Baghdad Baghdad. Iraqi anger is growing over continued lawlessness in their occupied country with local residents staging the 1st anti-American demo in Baghdad since US troops arrived last week. The protest by about 100 Iraqis came as US forces began the task of restoring the battered country to normalcy, launching a recruitment drive to put Iraqis back to work in key sectors. If the size of the Baghdad demo was small, it reflected mounting impatience with the US failure to stem widespread looting and re-establish order and basic services since the regime of Saddam Hussein fell on Wed. But life was inching back to normal, with stores beginning to reopen their doors and traffic picking up pace. More people were on the streets and bus services were resuming between the Iraqi capital and cities in the south. Near the site of the protest, 100s of locals queued up for their 1st jobs in the post-Saddam area, triggering massive traffic jams in central Baghdad. They flocked to a recruitment desk in the Palestine Hotel, where a marine rep said US officials sought to put Iraqis back to work in key sectors, starting with the police and electricity depts. Baghdad, a city of five mn people, has been without electricity for about 10 days while most homes are also without water and telephone services. But the biggest fear among residents has been the security, highlighted by the pillage of entire sections of the city in recent days by rampaging youths from the immense Shiite suburb of Saddam City. Marine Staff Sgt Jeremy Stafford, a rep for the civil affairs program, said US troops were in talks to start joint patrols with Iraqi security forces. US troops were also seen detaining looters for the 1st time in Baghdad, stopping 25 men on a bridge over the Tigris and taking 3 into custody. The commander of US forces in Iraq, Gen Tommy Franks, said he could visit Baghdad this wk to visit troops. He said the trip would be low-key and not a "parade". US forces who invaded Iraq on March 20 in a declared bid to strip Baghdad of suspected nuclear, chem and bio weapons have yet to find what they consider a "smoking gun", or irrefutable proof, that Saddam possessed such arms. Bashir charged over JI terror plots Jakarta. Indonesian prosecutors have accused Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir of plotting terror bombings in Indonesia and Singapore as part of a campaign to topple the Indonesian govt and set up an Islamic state. An indictment filed in court describes the Muslim cleric as "emir" or leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) regional terror network which is blamed for a series of bombings or attempted bombings in the region. Bashir is formally charged with treason, which is punishable with a 20-year jail term, and 3 immigration offences. He is accused of conspiring to commit treason with Abdullah Sungkar, Hambali, Zulkarnaen, Imam Samudra and Mukhlas. Hambali, as the suspected former operations chief of JI, is Asia's most wanted man. Samudra and Mukhlas are awaiting trial for the Bali bombings last Oct which killed 202 people. The 25-page charge sheet does not accuse Bashir, 64, of direct involvement in the Bali bombings. But it says he gave his blessing to the Christmas Eve bombings of churches and priests in 2000 which killed 19 people in Indonesia. Bashir "also approved the planning to bomb American interests in Singapore known as program C," it says. Singapore foiled that bombing plot with the arrest of a large number of JI suspects. The charges, along with 1000s of pages of evidence, have been handed over in preparation for a trial which a court official says could take place in Jakarta "within weeks". The charges says Bashir and Abdullah Sungkar, who has since died of natural causes, set up JI in the 1990s with Sungkar as leader and Bashir as his deputy. The 3 immigration charges accuse Bashir of making false documents to show he is a resident of the Java town of Ngruki, where he set up an Islamic boarding school. Bashir is also accused of making a false affidavit about his whereabouts from 1985 to 1999 and with failing to carry out his obligations as a foreigner in Indonesia. Bashir fled to Malaysia in 1985 after serving a three-year jail term for subversion but never notified the Indonesian embassy there of his presence -- a necessary requirement if he wished to retain his Indonesian citizenship. He returned to Indonesia after the fall of dictator Suharto in 1998. Bashir, who was detained last Oct, was not present in court. He denies any links to terrorism. Beef up Afghan security, UNHCR warns Kabul. The UNHCR has warned the Afghan Govt and the internat'l community to improve security in the war-torn nation or face a downward spiral of less aid and further instability. UNHCR rep Maki Shinohara says greater security is needed to ensure the safe return of 100s of 1000s of refugees and internally displaced people and the implementation of aid and reconstruction projects. Humanitarian organisations temporarily suspended operations following the killing of foreign Internat'l Committee of the Red Cross worker Ricardo Munguia on Mar 27 in S Uruzgan province. And an Italian tourist was shot dead in S Afghanistan last wk in an attack local officials blame on the Taliban. A recent wave of attacks on foreign and govt targets has raised fears of a spring offensive by Taliban and Al Qaeda remnants, although the US military says such attacks are not out of the ordinary. While most internally displaced people had fled drought, a rep says the UNHCR is concerned that people are still fleeing alleged persecution in N Afghanistan. Human rights bodies have reported several cases of ethnic Pashtuns being harassed, robbed and even killed in N Afghanistan, where they are identified by the local Tajiks and Uzbeks with the ousted Taliban regime, which drew its numbers largely from the Pashtuns, who dominate the south and east. Of the estimated 600,000 displaced people throughout the country, some 350,000 are in the south. Most of the displaced people in the south are nomadic Kuchis, driven from their traditional Registan desert areas due to drought and conflict. This y the UNHCR plans to help around 1.5 mn refugees and internally displaced people to return to their homes. North Korea hints at readiness for talks Seoul. There are fresh hopes for a breakthrough in the North Korea nuclear stand-off, with an apparent softening of Pyongyang's stance. The US State Dept is examining comments made by a North Korean Foreign Ministry rep over the weekend. The rep hinted that Pyongyang might be willing to accept multilateral talks on its alleged nuclear weapons program. He says if the US is prepared to make a bold switch-over in its Korea policy for a settlement of the nuclear issue, North Korea will not stick to any particular dialogue format. It could be a significant breakthrough. Until now, Pyongyang has insisted on direct talks with the US but Washington has said it will only consider multilateral dialogue. Obasanjo's party leads in Nigerian poll Abuja. Nigerian Pres Olusegun Obasanjo's party is well ahead as results trickle in from poorly organised parliamentary elections, marred by at least 10 deaths. The worst violence was in the oil-rich Niger delta but foreign observers and Nigerian analysts alike are expressing relief that the death toll in Sat's voting was not higher. An estimated 10,000 people have been killed in outbreaks of ethnic, religious and political violence since 1999, when Mr Obasanjo's election ended 15 y of military rule in Africa's most populous nation. IRI observers, however, listed numerous election failings, from late opening of polling stations to unprotected ballot boxes and inadequate lighting at counting centres. The vote for the 360-member House of Representatives and 109-seat upper chamber Senate was the 1st in Nigeria since Obasanjo came to power in the 1999 military-supervised poll. The parliamentary ballot was a dress rehearsal for his bid to win a 2nd four-year term in a presidential election on Apr 19. Official results emerged with painful slowness from the Independent National Electoral Commission at its headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria's inland capital. By late on Sun only 47 of the House seats had been declared, with Pres Obasanjo's Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) winning 31. Palestinian PM proposes draft cabinet line-up Gaza City. The moderate new Palestinian prime minister, Mahmud Abbas, has presented Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat with a draft proposal for a new cabinet. Palestinian officials say the draft plan has former Gaza security chief Mohammed Dahlan listed as head of interior security. The officials say Mr Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, presented the initial proposal to Mr Arafat, adding that the veteran Palestinian leader was "not happy" with the line-up. Mr Arafat has been under intense internat'l and domestic pressure to share power with Abu Mazen. Abu Mazen is aiming to carry out wide-ranging changes in the eight-year-old administration, which has been accused of corruption and complicity with anti-Israeli attacks. Mr Arafat was said to be unhappy with the appointment of Mr Dahlan, the former head of Gaza's preventive security service charged with curbing attacks on Israel, and with whom Mr Arafat fell out before Mr Dahlan quit his job last year. One source says Mr Abbas may propose himself as interior minister, with Mr Dahlan as head of the key internal security forces, after Mr Arafat objected to Mr Dahlan taking the post himself. Mr Abbas has also proposed Nabil Amr, a strong critic of Mr Arafat within his Fatah faction, as info minister, pushing out long-time incumbent Yasser Abed Rabbo who would be a minister without portfolio. Saeb Erakat, Min of Local Municipalities, would be replaced by former industry minister Saadi al-Krunz, while banker Azzam Ashawa would take the trade portfolio. Mr Erakat would also be a minister without a portfolio. In the proposal Nabil Shaath will retain the Internat'l Cooperation Ministry, although planning will be split from the dept and handed to Nabil Qassis, the officials who asked not to be named, said. Gen Nasser Yusef, seen as an Arafat loyalist, is in line to be nominated deputy prime minister, although another of Arafat's allies, Azzam al-Ahmed, could be dumped from the public ministry. Ghassan Khatib may be moved from labour to tourism and Kemal Ashrafi, a deputy from Gaza, will take the health ministry. Fatah's Central Committee is to discuss the proposal later on Sun local time, officials said. "Arafat will make a big fuss... but in the end he will agree," one leadership insider said. Palestinian sources say Mr Dahlan will meet with US approval, and is seen as a figure capable of taking on hardline factions who have refused Mr Abbas's call to suspend attacks on Israelis. The line-up will also have to be approved by the Palestinian Parliament, which could, in its turn, object to the number of old faces in the new cabinet. A parliamentary official says there has been no formal request yet to discuss the new cabinet in session this week. Yemeni police arrested after Cole suspects escape Aden. A number of policemen and prison guards have been arrested after 10 Yemenis awaiting trial for the deadly Oct 2000 attack on the USS Cole escaped from jail. "The head of the secret police in Aden and his deputy have been arrested for questioning," authorities told AFP news agency on condition of anonymity. "All the prison guards have also been arrested for questioning" on Fri's jailbreak from the S Yemeni port city. The men cut open the bars of a prison window and climbed out at dawn. Jailers realised one hour later that they were gone, according to officials. The interior ministry said 2 of the fugitives, Jamal Badawi and Fahd Mohammed al-Qasaa, were directly implicated in the Cole attack, which killed 17 US sailors and was claimed by Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda terror network. The other 8 are suspected of membership in Al Qaeda, it said. First investigations showed that Badawi and Qasaa and the 8 others had recently been moved from individual cells into a shared cell, the sources said. One of the accused had recently smuggled in a blade with which the prison window's bars were cut, they added. Yemeni police have finished their investigation of the 17 men, carried out in cooperation with the US Fed Bureau of Investigation, and have sent their case to prosecutors. But the suspects, who could face the death penalty, have not been formally charged. Yemeni officials say the US wanted to delay the trial until prosecution of other key Al Qaeda figures. 17 US sailors were killed and 38 others wounded in the Oct 12, 2000 suicide attack when an explosives-laden boat rammed into the hull of the destroyer in Aden harbour. Low US wheat stock blamed on drought Washington. Drought has emerged as the culprit behind a lack of wheat in the US. The US Dept of Agriculture forecast this wk is that its stockpile will be the lowest in 6 years, but growers say they'll increase plantings of wheat and cotton by 2% next year. US wheat ending stocks were even lower than forecast last month, off another 20 mn bushels due to increased feed use. But the overall drop was due to pervasive drought which continues this y in the upper mid-west plains. USDA world agricultural outlook board chairman, Gerald Bange says the board is still looking at the production of about 1.6 bn bushels for 2002/2003. For the US that's down about 17% on our previous forecast. Mr Bange refrained from predicting on how the Iraq war would effect crop figures or what the future market position would be for AUS, who fears its ally in the war could become a trade adversary in peace. Washington. IRAQI SCIENTIST SURRENDERS! US officials say a top Iraqi nuclear scientist has surrendered as US forces step up a search for Iraqis who can shed light on the country's weapons programs. A US official says Jaffer al Jaffar has turned himself in. Saddam Hussein's chief scientific advisor, Lt Gen Amir Saadi [that's how they spell it, here] has also surrendered to US forces. The official says Jaffar would known about possible locations of nuclear-related facilities and would also know other people associated with Iraq's nuclear programs. London. HUMAN GENOME DONE! Scientists have completed the finished sequence of the human genome, or genetic blueprint to life, which holds the keys of transforming medicine and understanding disease. An int'l consortium of scientists says the set of instructions on how humans develop and function is done -- 2 y earlier than expected. It's been les than 3 y since they finished the working draft of the 3 bn letters that make up human DNA. Labor ahead before fall of Baghdad: poll Canberra. The latest Morgan Poll on fed voting intentions has found the AUS Labor Party was ahead of the Liberal-National coalition before the fall of Baghdad. The poll was conducted early this m and suggests that on a two-party preferred basis ALP support was up 6.5% to 54%, while the coalition was down 6.5 to 46%. Roy Morgan Research executive chairman Gary Morgan says support for the coalition parties was high in the 1st wk of the war. But he says as progress slowed, so did the numbers. "It shows that the electorate is very volatile and it really depends on what they see on the television the day before and read in the newspaper the day before," he said. Sydney. INDUSTRY WELFARE CUT BACK! A key assistance scheme to the pharmaceutical ind'y will be axed when the fed govt hands down its next Budget on May 13. The Aus Fin Rev reported today that the $300 mn pharmaceutical ind'y investment scheme will be cut. Pressures to hold the budget in surplus arising from the cost of deploying Aussie troops in Iraq and new spending initiatives in health and education are cited as key factors in the scheme's demise. Brisbane. JAP TOURISM TO DECLINE! AUS is bracing itself for a plunge in Japanese tourism numbers for the trad'l Golden Week peak holiday season. Tourism expert Roger March says the Iraq war, SARS, and public holidays falling on weekends have conspired to convince potential Japanese holiday-makers to stay home. Mr March says a survey by the Japan Tourism Bureau has found Japanese travelling to AUS will drop 24% for the so-called Golden Week between Apr 25 and May 5. Canberra. AUSSIE IND'Y BACKS CARBON PLAN! Big business has agreed to support carbon emissions trading as it prepare to meet govt to find a solution to GW. [What! Mosley proved that NASA has proved that didn't exist!] The Govt-Business Climate Change Dialogue came together last y and it's to discuss solutions with snr mins in CBR today. The ACCI says it agrees, in principle, to incl emissions trading as an option to abate greenhouse gas emissions. Perth. NEW AUSSIE SARS CASE! A 49 yo man has joined 2 others in Perth hospitals with suspects cases of SARS. The WA health dept says the man was admitted to Joondalup hospital yesterday after recently returning from Singapore. A 57 yo woman and a 44 yo man are already in Perth hospitals with symptoms like those of SARS, which has spread from Asia. The virus has so far killed 132 people around the world and has contributed to the down-turn on global air travel. {{ CONTINUOUS WAR NEWS 6 pm 250 US tanks and APCs have advanced into Tikrit. Fighting has been sporadic. They US fears Iraqis may be laying in wait. But reporters have shown a nearby mil base has been abandoned. On their approach to Saddam's stronghold, the US blew up 1 enemy truck. Reporters said there was a firefight lasting several mins. Baghdad. Snipers attacked US Marines o'night outside the media Palestine Hotel. After a firefight that lasted about 10 mins, 3 men were arrested. They claimed to be security guards, but the marines took no chances. Elsewhere in the capital, buildings are still burning. During the day the marines were rounding up suspected Fedayeen. 6.30 pm A Ch 7 telephone poll shows 75% of respondents support a Kennett comeback in Vic. There have been 40 more suspected cases of SARS found in HK. Officials are now taking the temps of all departing passengers. World-wide there are about 3,000 SARS cases. In Singapore, 600 have been quarantined, with webcams making sure they don't leave home. The world-wide toll stands at 130 in 30 countries. New countries to see cases incl Brazil, Brit, France, and S Af. The Nikkei tumbled 1% to a new 20-y low today. The All Ords was almost unchanged, closing down 3 pts to 2,906. The FTSE is down 58 to 3,809. The DAX is down 37 pts to 2,697. Gold was around 326.35/oz. }} ---------------------------------------- Tue, 15 Apr 2003. 359 die in 3 days of rd accidents US KIA stands at 118 19 killed in Phil violence 7 killed in Kashmir HK reports 7 new SARS deaths 3 killed in prison gun-battle Yet another US school shooting Tank shelling kills 1 US seizes Tikrit (again) Nigerian election surprises US squeezes Zimbabwe EU squeeze Myanmar US maybe finds weapons labs Worldcom set for comeback under new name Bring back Kim Higher ed spending boost Adel decl refugee friendly Legionella found in 9 Bris units Wheat virus found in CSIRO crop Aussie credit blow-out "ANZAC" to be protected Markets Continuous war news Bangkok. 359 DIE IN 3 DAYS OF RD ACCIDENTS! The Thai health min'y says at least 359 people have been killed and more than 23,000 injured in road accidents during the first 3 days of Thai new year celebrations. It's a time of notorious drunk driving in the country. Figures released by the Public Health Min'y show that men and boys have accounted for about 85% of the deaths and 75% of the injuries since the 5-day water festival, known as Songkran, began last Fri. Songkran is Thailand's biggest public holiday when mns of people travel for family reunions across the country. Washington. US KIA STANDS AT 118! The US military says its casualty list now stands at 118 KIA. Of the total US dead, 105 were killed by the enemy. 13 others died in accidents since Mar 20. There are 495 wounded in action, while 56 others suffered injuries from accidents. 4 US troops are still missing. Cotabato. 19 KILLED IN PHIL VIOLENCE! Muslim rebels have fired rocket-propelled grenades at an army detachment in the S Philippines, triggering a firefight that left 12 guerrillas dead and 2 soldiers wounded. The guerrillas claim to have killed 3 soldiers. Other violence in the region has killed 4 people, incl 3 civilians, and injured 11 others. Also today, Philippine prosecutors have filed murder and multiple attempted murder charges against 151 Muslim separatist leaders and alleged rebels for an Apr 2 bombing that killed 16. Srinagar. 7 KILLED IN KASHMIR! 7 rebels and an army soldier have died in separate violence in Kashmir where Indian and Pakistan troops also exchanged fire across a military control line. Army soldiers shot dead 3 separatist guerrillas in a gun-battle in the summer capital of India's Jammu and Kashmir state. An army soldier and 4 militants were killed in separate gun-battles across the Himalayan region. Police say 6 civilians were wounded in a grenade attack and a bomb blast in Srinagar. HK. HK REPORTS 7 NEW SARS DEATHS! HK has reported 7 new deaths from SARS in the highest daily tally since the start of the outbreak. The virus, which is new to science and has no known cure, has been carried by air travellers to about 20 countries in the past 6 wks. It's so far killed 144 people and infected more than 3,300 worldwide. Meanwhile, Aussies who have recently travelled to areas affected by SARS are being asked to defer giving blood for 14 days after returning. Guatemala City. 3 KILLED IN PRISON GUN-BATTLE! 2 prisoners and a policeman have been killed in a gun-battle when authorities stormed a Guatemalan prison controlled by inmates since a deadly riot in Dec. Int Min rep Nerl Morales says the 3 died from gunshot wounds after police searching for weapons in Pavoncito jail outside Guatemala City exchanged fire with armed inmates. The medium security prison had been under control of prisoners, many of them gang members, since a bloody Xmas Eve riot left 14 inmates dead. New Orleans. YET ANOTHER US SCHOOL SHOOTING! Teens armed with an automatic rifle and a handgun have opened fire in a packed HS gym, killing a 15 yo boy and wounding 3 girls. New Orleans po-lees say 4 suspects, aged 15 to 19, have been arrested nr John McDonogh HS, about 2 km N of the French Qtr. Students say the shooting appeared to be gang-related, and may have been retaliation for a prev fight. They say the boy was the target and the girls were accidental victims. Gaza City. TANK SHELLING KILLS 1! Medics say a man has been killed by Israeli tank fire in the S Gaza Strip town of Rafah. They say 32 yo Abu al-Hamid Abu al-Aish was killed in the Tel al-Sultan district of the city o'night. They haven't given any details of the circumstances. Rafah has been a continual flash-point of the 30 mo uprising as the Israeli army has sought to prevent arms smuggling across the frontier. Tikrit. US SEIZES TIKRIT (AGAIN)! US Marines and tanks have stormed into Saddam Hussein's final stronghold, seizing control of his hometown, Tikrit, in possibly the final major military action of GWII. Attack choppers swooped low over 1 district, firing heavy machin-guns to blast out lingering clusters of do-or-die defenders. Meanwhile, Marine patrols combed a bombed-out pres'l palace in search of snr supporters of the ousted govt. However the whereabouts of Saddam, who was born in a village nr Tikrit in 1937, remain unknown. Abuja. NIGERIAN ELECTION SURPRISES! Nigerians have awoken to a new political landscape, just 5 days before an historic presid'l poll, as parliamentary elections produced a number of surprises. Pres Olusegun Obasanjo's riling party made stunning gains in the opp'n fiefdoms of the SW but suffered setbacks in the N where his main opponent forged ahead. While most observers praised Sat's legislative poll as trouble-free by the standards of the country's bloody past, voting in the SE was marred by outbreaks of violence and attempted voting fraud. Washington. US SQUEEZES ZIMBABWE! The US is urging Zimbabwe's neighbours to step up pressure on Pres Robert Mugabe to hand power to a transitional govt to pave the way for new elections. A snr State Dept official says the election has to be int'ly supervised, open, transparent and with an electoral commission that works. Mugabe's been accused of winning re-election last y by fraudulent means. The US official says the neighbourhood of S Africa is increasingly aware of the problems by his rule. Luxemburg. EU SQUEEZE MYANMAR! EU foreign ministers have agreed to extend and beef up sanctions against the military junta in Myanmar for another y. The ministers decided to extend the list of people subject to a visa blacklist and freezing of assets, and to strengthen an arms embargo against the country. The EU in Oct 1996 banned all contacts with members of the Burmese junta and later imposed an arms embargo and economic sanctions. EU and US sanctions also include investment bans and restrictions on lending to the country by int'l bodies. NY. US MAYBE FINDS WEAPONS LABS! The US military says 11 containers buried nr an artillery ammo plant in S Iraq could be dual-use chem and bio laboratories. The metal containers, which could be attacked to semi-trailers or railway cars, were found by members of the 101st Airborne in Karbala. Karbala was the one site of the Iraqi chem weapons program in the 1980s. US Army Gen Ben Freakley told CNN about 250 kg of documentation were also found at the site, although there were no signs or evidence of weapons. Ashburn. WORLDCOM SET FOR COMEBACK UNDER NEW NAME! WorldCom is set to shake off the biggest accounting scandal in history and emerge from bankruptcy. The company has filed plans in a NY court to end bankruptcy protection and change its name. The news is expected to frighten its highly-indebted competitors. The company says it's secured backing from 90% of its creditors for a reorganisation plan to emerge from Chap 11. Sydney. BRING BACK KIM! A new poll shows almost 4 times as many Aussies want former Labor leader Kim Beazley to lead the party than present leader Simon Crean. The Newspoll, published in The Australian, shows after 18 m in the job only about 10% of Aussies want Mr Crean to head the ALP's next election campaign. About 36% want Kim Beazley to come back as leader. Even worse for Mr Crean, only 13% of Labor voters want him as leader, compared to 43% who want Kim Beazley. Canberra. HIGHER ED SPENDING BOOST! The fed govt is considering the $1.2 bn higher education Budget today, incl some $200 mn to boost the quality of university education. The Nat'l Tertiary Educ'n Union says it's difficult to assess the package before the Budget's unveiling on May 13. PM John Howard has indicated health will top the domestic spending agenda in next m's Budget as the govt came under increased pressure to provide tax cuts. Adelaide. ADEL DECL REFUGEE FRIENDLY! Adelaide has been declared a refugee-friendly city. The Adel City Council last night unanimously endorsed the move from councillor and mayoral candidate Greg Mackie. His motion called on Adel to welcome to the community people of goodwill from all over the world. It also called on the council to acknowledge that people seeking asylum need compassion and support. Brisbane. LEGIONELLA FOUND IN 9 BRIS UNITS! Legionella bacteria have been found in 9 out of 10 units in a Bris housing block where a victim of legionnaires' disease lived. The man died 3 wks ago. Qld Housing Min Robert Schwarten says the 10 other elderly residents of the block in bayside sub'n Wynnum have been evacuated and checked by doctors. Mr Schwarten says none of them show any trace of legionnaires. He says a task force involving his dept and Qld Health has been set up to investigate the matter. Canberra. WHEAT VIRUS FOUND IN CSIRO CROP! A virus which could wipe out Australia's wheat crop has been found in CSIRO research crops in CBR. Also parts of the CSIRO's Black Mtn research centre and a nearby experimental farm have been quarantined for fear that the wheat streak mosaic virus could spread. A rep for the fed Ag Dept says glasshouses containing the affected wheat are being sterilised, and vital research wheat crops are to be destroyed. Canberra. AUSSIE CREDIT BLOW-OUT! New figures show Aussies owed more than $6 bn on their credit cards, personal loans and overdraft in Feb. The ABS says personal finance borrowing jumped 4.7% to $6.1 bn in the m. The figures also show a rebound in borrowing for investment in resid'l construction, a worrying sign given the RBA's warning about property investment and debt levels. Canberra. "ANZAC" TO BE PROTECTED! AUS and NZ want the word "ANZAC" [and probably "Anzac", too] protected world-wide so it can't be used as a trademark. The 2 govt's are making a joint application to the World Intel'l Property Org'n to control the use of the word. Danna Vale, the Min assisting AUS's Min for Def, says 164 countries could be required to refuse any application to register the word as a trademark and to ban its unauthorised use as a trademark. Sydney. MARKETS! The Aussie bourse pushed higher today, led by strong O/S markets o'night. The Dow closed up almost 2% o'night to 8,351. It was led higher by some good profit reports. The UK was up 1%, Germany rose 1.7%, and the Nikkei closed up 1.1%. The All Ords added 27 pts to close at 2,932. The FTSE was also up about 1% today. A report from Yale shows 86% of Americans expect the Dow to be higher in 1 y. But at least 1/2 always think that. Last time there was unanimity in the survey, the Dow fell 10% over next 12 m. The AUD was almost exactly steady against the USD. Gold is down about $US3.60 to $US325/oz, and oil was trading around $US28/bbl. {{ CONTINUOUS WAR NEWS 1.20 am Tikrit. "It's over" a Marine told a BBC reporter. Patrolling the streets of Tikrit, the soldier said: "It's been pretty easy on us so far. They seem happy we are here". In his home town, Saddam's face hangs on every street lamp. But now the US flag is on the dome of the ornate entrance of Saddam's palace. And there are US tanks on the street. But the mood is relaxed. Marines are playing on a guitar in the palace grounds. But looters are also rummaging inside. They are people from outside Tikrit, looking for anything they can use. All Saddam's family have gone before war began, say locals. There has been no evidence of resistance for the last few hrs, according to a military rep. There was some yesterday when the US arrived from the S. But the military are waiting till nightfall to check. They only people left in the town are the poor who were not affiliated with regime. The town is practically deserted. In Basra, the water treatment plant is still out. There are new police patrols. It's their 1st full day. It's too early to see what impact they will have on security, but things have improved considerably. There are more Brit troops on the streets. Reporters say there's a "relative sense of calm". "But only relative", they add. At night there is still gunfire. The reception of the Iraqi police by the locals has been mixed. They are happy to see them back. OTOH some people ask "Who are they, how can we trust them?" A minority of the pop'n have been looting. At the city's main hosp they've run out of drugs, there is no clean water and no electricity. Doctors shouted at reporters, asking for help. "Why do you come here, why don't you help us?" Baghdad. Joint patrols between Iraqi police and Marines have started. But looting is continuing. Security is definitely improving in some neighbourhoods. In the city C, people have been coming to the Palestine Hotel, criticising everything to the Marines there. There have been protests for Saddam and also against Saddam. Some areas in the city are causing great concern. Following on from the destruction and looting at the museums, the Nat'l Library and Archives have also bee destroyed. The entire old royal court records, and the Ottoman archives, all have been burned. The entire building is now gutted. The Koranic library has also gone up in flames. Reporters found only 30 sheets from Ottoman times left. Iraq's whole historical record has been destroyed. Someone wants to erase the culture and take it back to year zero. Look at the pattern of pillage. They've looted the dept's of For Af, the dept of Culture, the dept of Trade. Only 2 dept's have not been gutted. The Min of the Int -- containing intel archives -- and the Min of Oil. Which speaks for itself. There was a firefight last night at the major city hospital. One of only about 4 out of 40 still operating in the capital. The shooting was between armed nurses and doctors and thieves. They looters were trying to take away needed equipment. 1.35 am Israel says it wants the US to deliver a list of demands to Syria, incl the removal of Hezbollah in the S of the country. Ali, the boy who lost 2 arms in a US attack, is said to be dying from possible blood poisoning. DOctors want to get him out of Iraq for specialist treatment ASAP. US Marines have been seen patrolling Baghdad along with Iraqi police cars. 2 am DW radio. China has declared SARS is now its top priority, following a sharp rise in infections there. There have been 100 new cases in the past 36 hrs. More than 70 people have now died from the disease in China. 1,400 are infected. There have been more than 120 deaths globally, with around 3,500 infected. 2.30 am Ahmed Chalabi says he doesn't want to take part in any govt in Iraq. He says he wants to concentrate on building civil society. Aussie human shield Ruth Russell has left Baghdad, headed back to Adelaide. The US says it will attempt to stop stolen Iraqi antiques from leaving the country. US troops have begun searching the tunnels under Baghdad for WMD and the missing Iraqi leaders. Brit For Sec Jack Straw has denied Syria is to be regime-changed next. 6 pm US has declared major mil ops in Iraq at an end. Gen Myers said Tikrit was the last place they expected any significant mil action, but there was no organised resistance. The US has now started to target Syria, threatening economic and diplomatic sanctions for their help to Iraq during GWII. The possibility was announced by Colin Powell. Reporters say the claims by Rumsfeld have a familiar ring. He said today Syrians have tested chem weapons in the past 12-15 months. A Fleischer said Syria had always been on the list of terrorist nations. Elsewhere, Egyptian pres'l adv, Osama al Bazz, said the talk sends a signal that Arab countries are being targeted one after another. The EU and Russia are also not happy. 2 US a/c carriers are to leave the Gulf region. The USS Kittyhawk and USS Constellation are to head home as early as this wk. Some stealth fighter aircraft have already returned to home base. In Baghdad, 2,000 volunteer Iraqi police are now operating on the city streets. They're recovering stolen goods, from tyres to kitchen sinks. Underground, the Coal'n are searching bunkers and tunnels, looking for Fedayeen and WMD. Nothing was found this time. In the S there was a haul of US missiles and mortar rounds and other weapons. It's just 1 of many caches found in the past 2 days. A rep said the Marines were rounding up some weapons and would refit and re-issue them to Iraqi forces later. The shops are mostly closed. AUS, Brit and US officials will meet tonight in Nasiriyah. They will be present to establish a new interim auth'y in Iraq. But agreement on the 1st stage may be difficult. The US's chief opp'n leader, Ahmed Chalabi, will be in the city. But he's staying away from the meeting. He says he will send a rep. The meeting would be adequate in "putting forth the US vision" he said. Shi'ites say they won't accept a US-installed govt. They say their own reps weren't invited by the US to attend. In Safwan there is no electricity, no water and no local govt. The military is wondering how to get the govt running. Only 1 man showed up to a meeting setup by the Brits to organise a local council. They cancelled the meeting. Mr Howard will travel to Bush's Texas ranch in Crawford to discuss the re-building of the Iraqi govt. Howard says he will see the Iraqi issue through for the AUS people. Peter Costello says he expects an announcement from the PM soon about his future as the LP leader. A Newspoll shows the fed Opp'n languishing. Support for Mr Crean as PM has fallen from 22% 1 ma to 16%. But support for Mr Howard has PM has increased from 51% to 62% over the same time. The fed Coal'n has opened up a 10-pt lead on the Opp'n as preferred govt. 45% of Aussies would vote for the Coal'n if an election was held now, compared with 33% who would vote for the ALP. Def Min Robert Hill has announced a 12-man Def Dept team will go to Iraq. It will concentrate on means to avoid future WMD threats from the country. Air traffic controllers will also be deployed. An immediate pull-out of Aussie forces is not planned. But there will be a wind-back. Hornets will soon return to base. There have been no casualties in Aussie forces in Iraq to date. An estimated 170,000 historical items have been stolen from museums in Baghdad alone. The thefts come despite warnings before the war. Under the Hague Convention, the Coal'n are responsible for overseeing the safety of cultural property. Not only Iraqi but world heritage material has been stolen. But the head of Aus Def Force, Gen Cosgrove, refutes any allegations of negligence. The US says it wants to help recover the material. But experts say some will no doubt be lost in private collections for an indefinite time. It may be the US strong-arm tactics are paying off, but Pyongyang has signalled it's now ready to engage in multilateral talks involving Russia, China and SK. Previously, it had demanded face-to-face talks with the US, something the Americans had rejected. The softening of the line has given reason for optimism. Analysts say talks will go ahead, and probably soon. Tamil Tigers wanting to attend a peace conf in the US have been denied visas. They have threatened to boycott another conf later in the y in protest. A landmark case heard by the full bench of the fed court has dealt a blow to the Imm Min, Mr Ruddock. The Court dismissed an appeal against a Palestinian man. It found the fed govt has no right to detain people prior to their expulsion from the country. The man had been held in custody prior to his departure to Palestine, earlier this y. Nasiriyah. 20,000 demonstrators have gatherer in Nasiriyah to protest against the US-sponsored meeting to prepare for an Iraqi transition govt. The meeting has also been boycotted by Ahmed Chalabi. And also the main Shi'ite group, which claims a following of about 80% of that pop'n in Iraq. American flags are flying from Saddam's places around the country, fuelling suspicions about the American agenda. The soldiers claim they are liberators. In Baghdad, ABC reporters experienced the heavy hand of American military security. They had been filming patrolling troops, when Marines ordered the film crew onto ground and to stop filming. It was a demonstration of just how touchy the Americans are. Gunfire still echos daw and night. The Marines also have to get used to Iraqis demonstrating their right to protest. "God curse Saddam, God curse America", some were chanting outside the Palestine Hotel today. The people of Baghdad are tired and restless. There are long queues at the few operating bakeries. War stopped most work in the city wks ago. People still can't move back to some areas due to the stench of un-buried bodies. Aussie SAS, operating on the W border of Iraq, has snared a busload of 59 men. The group were detained because they had a wad of $US600,000 and document saying more money would be paid if Americans were killed. 7.30 pm BBC TV reports US Marines have found "chemical generators". The equipment was reportedly sent from the US into Iraq via France, in violation of sanctions. They are so-called dual-use equipment. Masked Marines searched all 18 floors of the Palestine Hotel this morning. They broke into rooms, and questioned reporters, arresting 3 people. They wouldn't say exactly what they were looking for, except to say the building wasn't 100% safe. In a newspaper article, Israeli PM Sharon has called the leader of Syria "dangerous". Elsewhere, AUS For Min Alex Downer has denied AUS or the US would now launch attacks on Syria or Iran. }} ---------------------------------------- Wed, 16 Apr 2003. Armless boy flown out for treatment First Iraqi govt meeting Roadmap to be released HK records 9 new SARS deaths AUS v EU Continuous war news Dubai. ARMLESS BOY FLOWN OUT FOR TREATMENT! A 12 yo boy who lost his family and both arms in a US missile attack on his home in Baghdad is reportedly to be flown to Kuwait for treatment. CNN reports that Ali Ismail Abbas is among a group of children being flown to Kuwait by the US military for vital treatment. CNN cites the Limbless Assoc'n charity as saying the Kuwaiti govt volunteered to take Ali. The assoc'n has gathered more than $A400,000 as part of a campaign to raise funds to airlift the boy out of Iraq for special treatment. Doctors in the hosp that had been treating the boy said the critical shortage of supplies in Iraq had meant Ali was likely to die from a blood infection within days. Tallili Airbase. FIRST IRAQI GOVT MEETING! Selected Iraqi politicians and religious leaders have held their first talks on their country's future with US and Brit officials. In the spirit of democracy, Gen Jay Garner announced the Baath party was outlawed. Participants were flown to a makeshift US airbase beside the ancient Mesopotamian city of Ur in S Iraq and gathered in a carpeted marquee. After a day of delay and protests in the nearby city of Nasiriyah, the meeting agreed a future govt of Iraq should be organised under a democratic federal system after consultations across Iraq. The meeting was boycotted by key Shi'ite groups and the "Pentagon's man", Ahmed Chalabi. Washington. ROADMAP TO BE RELEASED! US Sec of State Colin Powell has again announced the impending release of the Middle E "roadmap". He said it would be published without any changes, despite concerns expressed this wk by Israel. Powell says the roadmap will be released in its "original" form once a Palestinian PM is confirmed. The plan was completed in Dec by the internat'l diplomatic quartet on the Middle E, but delayed due to political developments. Powell says Washington had received a series of initial comments about the draft from Israel and expects to hear more from the Jewish state. HK/Beijing. HK RECORDS 9 NEW SARS DEATHS! HK has reported a record 9 SARS deaths in the preceding 24 hrs. Meanwhile, Beijing has at last woken up to the disease creeping into its hinterland. US and Canadian scientists say they've independently mapped the genome of the virus blamed for causing the pneumonia-like illness. The discovery raise hopes a diagnostic test can be developed quickly so treatment can be given to sufferers ASAP. In HK, the govt says SARS has killed 9 people today and infected another 42. Canberra. AUS V EU! AUS will press the EU over its WTO action against the AUS quarantine system today. A meeting of EU and AUS ministers in MEL will cover a range of internat'l and bilateral issues. But the trade issue, sparked by complaints from the EU last m, is likely to dominate. The EU has made a formal complaint to the world trade body arguing that AUS used its quarantine system as a de facto trade barrier. {{ CONTINUOUS WAR NEWS 6 am US military forces have come under sporadic attack during the night in Baghdad. Firefights in Mosul reportedly resulted in 10 deaths and about 100 injuries on the Iraqi side o'night. The US military says it was responding to sniper fire when a local governor came under attack. 10 am The world SARS death toll is now 153. 11.30 am A Ch 10 telephone poll found an overwhelming majority of Aussies support Kim Beazley's return to the Labor leadership. Only 13% voted for present leader Simon Crean, while 86% nominated Kim. 13,000 votes were registered. AA staff have rejected a pay cut to keep the world's biggest airline afloat. Analysts say the end might be near, with the company losing more than $US10 mn each day. US airlines lost a staggering $US18 bn last y. 100,000 jobs have been shed to keep the sector afloat. 1,000 jets are now moth-balled. Aussie consumer sentiment indexes have risen 11% in Apr. They were boosted by a combination of easy victory in Iraq and higher share prices. After 2 y, the Royal Commission into the record collapse of HIH, AUS's largest insurer, has found 20 people should be charged, incl Ray Williams and Rodney Adler. It ID-ed 56 possible breaches of the Corp Act, incl withholding info from the Board. The collapse was "a shambling journey to oblivion", said the Commissioner. Midday. In Mosul, the death toll from a shooting incident now stands at 12. (AUS) ABC says another 60 were wounded when US forces opened fire during a rally. Pres Bush says victory in Iraq is certain, but not complete. Baghdad. Marines are still acting as police. They foiled a bank robbery today, recovering $4 mn in stolen money. After an early-morning raid on the Palestine Hotel, they set up checkpoints outside. They also showed a willingness to rough-up anyone not ready to co-operate. The Hotel has become a magnet for anti-US protests, and now the military believes it's the target of terrorists. Baghdad. (AUS) ABC showed film of US Marines and Iraqi police searching vehicles. In one, a rocket-launcher was found. The Iraqi police were not backward in giving the driver a cuffing over the back of the head. A passenger took his chance to escape. He wasn't re-captured. Marines told reporters the men appeared to be volunteer fighters, who were trying to make a name for themselves by challenging US authority. (US) ABC, Baghdad. There's been a new twist in the search for the Ace of Spade, Saddam Hussein. A news crew visited a safe house in a Baghdad suburb that was apparently used by the Iraqi leader. It had been the target of the 2nd "decapitation" attack, that instead destroyed a nearby restaurant and 4 homes, killing 14 civilians and wounding dozens more. Neighbours told the reporters they lived in a house only steps away from where Saddam was staying. They say they saw Qusay there. They say Saddam had used the house to tape his first speech during the war. The house is now bare, stripped by looters. But ABC confirmed one room in the house was the one shown in Saddam's TV appearance, in which he wore glasses to read a speech. The house also has 5 phone lines -- unheard of in Iraq. There were no signs of underground bunkers. Some bodies were still in the rubble outside. Neighbours said the ABC crew were the 1st Americans they'd seen on the scene. That claim stunned US officials now in Baghdad. Previously, the US military said it had done a reconnaissance of the area, to confirm the death of Saddam. Neighbours insist Saddam and at least one son escaped the attack unscathed. Abu Abbas has been nabbed in E Baghdad by the US military. They are claiming it's a victory in their war against terrorism, despite Abbas' renunciation of terrorism several y ago. He was convicted in absentia of planning the 1985 hijack of the cruise ship Achille Lauro. During the hijack, a wheelchair-bound American citizen was killed and thrown overboard. }} ======================================== (*) Who is responcible for W.A.R.S? A small group of dedicated sandgrubbers, bannana-lickers and 5th columnists on the run from support payments and sundry legalese in their home countries. Mention us at any Uncle Harry's Suburban Bunker and get a 10% discount on cop-killers! All speling macroizated for correctitood by Mcrosotf Speelchek. *** Please stand by for further orders from The Leader ***