From the World-Wide Resourses of the Western Australia Reserch Senter(*) OIL THE NEWS THAT FITS MY VIEWS #26 =============================== In the Run-Up to World War III, Reliably Reporting the News Relevant to Extreme Right-Wing Democratic Socialists Everywhere (validated for RiteThink(tm) by the Office of Our Man in Can-berra). Visit Our Home Page At: http://www.chickenhead.com/loserscopes/ See the Undeniable Evidence At: http://www.evil-doers.org/evidence Kindly Archived At: http://www.kymhorsell.com/BOZO/archives/ Iraqi Body Count: http://www.iraqbodycount.net/ ------------------------------------------------------------ Selecting latest news stories and other data for you... ------------------------------------------------------------ Iraqis are tough and I don't know why we failed to recognise that. -- Dr Harlan Ullman, author of "Shock and Awe", 26 Mar 2003. Telling TV interviewer "some circles" had not appreciated the obvious. Policing and mopping up will be a far greater effort than I think people are thinking about. -- Dr Harlan Ullman, author of "Shock and Awe", 26 Mar 2003. Telling TV interviewer "some circles" have not appreciated the obvious. What meets the eye always is not necessarily what is true. -- Gen Vince Brooks, Centcom briefing, 27 Mar 2003. Describing whose precision munition had killed 14 civilians, and destroyed homes and a marketplace in N Baghdad. However long it takes to win... Saddam Hussein will be removed... no matter how long it takes. -- Pres Bush, press conf 28 Mar 2003. Describing how long Gulf War II will take. It's not set by time... it's set by the nature of the job. -- Brit PM Tony Blair, press conf 28 mar 2003. Explaining why the military briefings have indicated it will now take weeks rather than days. I'm very pleased with the size of our coalition. -- Pres Bush Jr, pres conf 28 Mar 2003. Explaining his coalition is bigger than his fathers'. Think of what kind of signal that would send. -- PM Blair, pres conf 28 Mar 2003. Explaining why the Coal'n has gone to war against Iraq. ---------------------------------------- Wed, 26 Mar 2003. Markets Aid goes into Umm Qasr Aid groups ship water to Iraq Major fight nr Najaf Civilians die, but nobody knows how many Iraqis flee to the countryside Troops advance on "Red Zone" Expert predicts Baghdad bloodbath Bombs target Saddam's forces 300 dead in biggest clash yet Saddam's bunkers impenetrable, builder says Low-tech weapons repulse high-tech assault Northern front to help keep Turks out Basra uprising "fought with axes and knives" US, Brit hold nearly 4,000 Iraqi POWs Afghans claim they were mistreated in detention centre in Cuba Propaganda games give a distorted view of reality AUS media positions on POW's US enlists dolphins to aid war effort Ukraine sends 500-man anti-chemical weapons force to Kuwait North Korea threatens Japan over spy satellite plans Palestinian gets life for role in beating death of Israeli soldiers Palestinian girl killed in ambush: medics Flu kills 31 Quarantine imposed as Ontario finds new SARS cases Singapore reports 1st mystery pneumonia death Another plane down in Colombia Bomb kills 1 Mugabe takes brutal revenge for strike Police fear violent turn at SYD protest Hackers hit Al-Jazeera web site Headaches as Al Jazeera launches English website No standing on ceremony Saudis make peace plan for Iraq, US Blair to focus on "post-war Iraq" in US meetings Sec Council calls open meeting on Iraq Cargo in New Orleans being checked for radiation Vaile calls for fair slice of Iraq trade Govt sets aside "large sum of money" for war Govt still weighing options on troop re-inforcements Desalination plant ready in 12 months Maralinga $108 mn nuclear clean-up "an abject failure": scientist Security fears close trade bureau Aussies still going o/s Water restrictions Ethanol to be labelled in Vic Continuous war news Sydney. MARKETS! The All Ords closed higher today, buoyed by a rebound in O/S equity markets and a strong local performance in the banking sector. O'night, Wall St was up 0.75%. The FTSE was almost flat. The All Ords closed up 36 pts to 2,858. Gold is trading around $US329/oz and oil is $US28.50/bbl. The AUD was also up, trading around 59.90 US cents at 8 pm. The Nikkei closed up 1.3%. Kuwait. AID GOES INTO UMM QASR! A 7-truck convoy of food is headed N for the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr. People in the town are in short supply of provisions after days of fighting, that ended with Coal'n forces taking control. 3 trucks with food, 3 with water, and 1 with mixed supplies have set off from Kuwait airport amid a heavy sandstorm. The bad weather has forced organisers to scale back the original plan to send 30 trucks into Iraq. [It's also interesting that, after securing the town and clearing the port of mines as early as Day 2, supplies are being sent by road on Day 7]. Aid groups ship water to Iraq Doha. Aid groups in the Gulf region are preparing supplies to take into Iraq to try to relieve the humanitarian crisis developing in the wake of the coal'n invasion. The S city of Basra has had limited water supplies since Fri. UNICEF is planning to ship clean water from Kuwait into the city over the next few days. Rep Geoff Keele says UNICEF is shipping massive rubber bladders from Jordan, which will be used as distribution points for clean water in Basra. "We're going to have to get the water bladders to Kuwait, and then they'll be taken into the Basra area by some NGO's that we work with there... then the water tankers follow them in and fill them up with clean water," Mr Keele said. "This isn't an immediate tomorrow type of scenario, that will take a few days. "Time is of the essence right now." Najaf. MAJOR FIGHT NR NAJAF! An army officer says US troops have killed some 650 Iraqis in fighting nr the C town of Najaf. It's a toll that's far higher than numbers coming from the Pentagon. US officials in Washington had earlier said 150 to 300 Iraqis were killed in the Shi'ite Muslim pilgrimage city, nr which US troops were massed for a crucial push on Baghdad. Maj John Altman, intel officer of the 1 Brig, 3rd Inf Div, says the Iraqi dead incl Fedayeen Saddam ["Saddam's martyrs"] militiamen and fighters of the Baath party. Civilians die, but nobody knows how many Baghdad (AP). Evidence of civilian casualties is not hard to find in Iraq, but as fierce fighting rages in the S and Baghdad is battered by bombs, nobody can count them. The Iraqi govt reports 194 civilian dead. The Red Cross says it can vouch for 14, but there could be many more. A Web site that compiles Western news media reports says between 199 and 278 are reported dead. The reality is that none of these figures are complete or accurate. US officials say they are taking great pains to avoid killing civilians. Iraqi officials mock their assertions, and are largely succeeding in convincing large parts of the world that the war is targeting innocents. As for overall figures, however, there is little info. The ICRC says it has counted 14 dead and 110 injured since Sun in airstrikes on Baghdad. It has no figures for other parts of the country. In the S city of Basra, where UN Sec Gen Kofi Annan has warned of a humanitarian catastrophe, a Red Cross rep said: "We have no accurate account of casualties." The Web site www.IraqBodyCount.net, which compiles news reports, gives a minimum count on civilian casualties of 199, and a maximum of 278. The range is due to conflicting reports. Iraqi officials have reported more than 200 civilian casualties. But most of the evidence of civilian casualties is anecdotal -- although no less powerful. Journalists, taxi drivers and refugees who show up at this border tell of dozens of bombed-out cars lining the highway from Baghdad. Iraqi newspapers publish photographs of decapitated bodies. Every day, most Arab television stations show footage from Iraqi hospitals, where men, women and children lie in agony from injuries attributed to US missiles. Perhaps the greatest impact came from Qatar's Al-Jazeera network, which showed an Iraqi boy, maybe 12 y old, his head half blown off and a tranquil expression frozen on his face. An Al-Jazeera anchor apologised for showing such disturbing pictures, but said: "The world should know the truth." Still photos taken from the network were carried on the front pages of newspapers across the Arab world. "America's missiles of freedom assassinate the children of Basra," read a headline in Lebanon's leading newspaper, As-Safir. Syria's official news agency SANA reported that a US missile hit a passenger bus carrying fleeing Syrian workers on Sun, killing five people and injuring 10. A US Central Command rep had no info on the report. Another US missile killed a Jordanian taxi driver on Thu while he made a phone call at Kilo 160, a rest stop 240 km W of Baghdad. Taxi driver Sameer Sabah, a friend of the dead man, went pale when he heard one of his passengers at the Jordanian border speaking Spanish. Spain has been a key supporter of the US-led war. "Get out of my car before I do something," he said in a chilling monotone. "Your people killed my friend. He was killed by the cold hands of the American Army." Iraqis flee to the countryside Baghdad. The UN has seen few refugees fleeing the war in Iraq for neighbouring states but has reports of people leaving cities for the countryside, UN rep Fred Eckhard says. "In the N of Iraq, the UN assesses that there are some 300,000 internally displaced people who are largely staying with relatives," he said. Mr Eckhard says the Geneva-based Office of the UNHCR has reported "no substantial movement" of refugees across Iraq's nat'l borders. Internat'l staff working for the UN and its agencies were evacuated from Iraq last week, before US and Brit forces invaded the country from the S. Mr Eckhard says UN secretary-general Kofi Annan will meet with the chief UN relief coordinator, Kenzo Oshima, and the heads of the main agencies today. The administrator of the oil-for-food program in Iraq, Benon Sevan, would take part in the meeting, he said. Troops advance on "Red Zone" Doha. US forces now within striking distance of Baghdad are bracing for the risk that Republican Guard defenders are preparing to meet them with chemical attacks. Responding to reports that Saddam Hussein had drawn a "red line" for chemical attacks around the capital -- already ringed by trenches of burning oil -- a US official referred to an official analysis that "he might reserve any chemical weapons until coal'n forces get closer to the centre of Baghdad". The CBS network earlier claimed the Iraqi leadership had authorised Republican Guard units to use chemical weapons against US and allied forces once they crossed that red line. It also quoted an unnamed Pentagon official saying the risk had been anticipated: "Obviously the closer we get to Baghdad, the more he has to lose and the riskier it is -- but we are ready." The bulk of the 1,400 allied sorties expected to be flown over Iraq today will be concentrated on the Medina Republican Guard division, which is defending the S outskirts of Baghdad from the allied advance, US Maj-Gen Victor Renuarton said this morning. In co-ordinated movements yesterday, the US 3rd Infantry Division advanced on Karbala, about 75 km SW of Baghdad, and the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force moved on Hillah, 85 km S of the capital. Republican Guards in the areas around Karbala and Hillah fought off Apache Longbow helicopters on Mon. But the rapid advances into what the Pentagon is calling the "Red Zone" (after the final 20 yards on an American football field) were temporarily halted by sandstorms; critical helicopter operations of the US 101st Airborne Division were disrupted, slowing its advance to Baghdad from the W of the country. Brit PM Tony Blair said the heavily armoured and artillery-equipped columns were approaching a "crucial moment" of the campaign. In an extension of the guerilla warfare defence he has embraced, Hussein called on the Iraqi tribal militia to "fight the enemy wherever they are" without waiting for battle orders from military cmdrs. The US Navy was on heightened alert amid fears of Iraqi speedboat suicide attacks. 2 US helicopter pilots, who will join 5 American soldiers already held by Iraq as POS's, went down in the vicious encounter between 3 dozen Apache helicopters and the Medina Republican Guards in the Karbala-Hillah area. But the Apaches reportedly were forced to abandon many targets after encountering a firestorm of AAA, the Medina division apparently undeterred by heavy and prolonged coal'n air bombardments. A CNN reporter with the US unit involved said the pilots were "stunned" by the resistance to their strike on some of the 90 Iraqi T-72 battle tanks, the regime's most advanced armour. One pilot said the AA fire was a "hornet's nest". Many of the Apaches were damaged. More than 200 km to the rear of the advance on Baghdad, a column of 4000 US Marines was finally able to fight its way through the strategic city of Nasiriyah, with its bridges over the Euphrates River, and was on the road to the capital. The tough resistance, combined with the absence of any significant uprising by Iraqi civilians so far, suggests the US faces a major challenge in the Iraqi capital. About 21 US troops died or were taken captive in Nasiriyah on Sun. A NY Times reporter accompanying US troops said about 5,000 US Marines were still fighting security forces loyal to Hussein and Fedayeen paramilitaries, dressed as civilians, who reportedly used women and children as shields. Iraqi civilians claimed at least 10 deaths had resulted from US fire. The Brits claimed last night that the port city of Umm Qasr was "safe and open" after heavy guerilla-style fighting, which was continuing in the S city of Basra, where about 1.2 mn people have no power and less than half their normal water supply. The 1st Brit soldier to be killed in action died there yesterday, in an environment some troops likened to Northern Ireland. UN Sec Gen Kofi Annan, along with Russian Pres Vladimir Putin and the Red Cross, warned of a possible humanitarian crisis in Basra unless utilities were quickly restored. Expert predicts Baghdad bloodbath Canberra (AAP). Baghdad would probably become a bloodbath in a war that could drag on for months, an ANU academic warned today. Pres Saddam Hussein considered everyone of the Iraqi capital's 5 mn residents expendable except himself, said Prof of Political Science Amin Saikal of ANU's Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies. "My feeling is that there is a good chance that Baghdad will be turned into a bloodbath," Prof Saikal told reporters. "The coal'n forces will have no choice but to go for more massive bombardment and that is what Saddam Hussein wants." The Iraqi Pres intended to use the mounting casualties in his propaganda strategy in a war that he could not win militarily, but could prevent the US from winning politically. "I don't believe that this war is going to be short, swift and clean as we've been promised," Prof Saikal said. "This war is likely to last for weeks, if not months, and it's likely to have a dramatic impact on the civilian population of Baghdad." The survival of the elite Republican Guard troops and Fedayeen militia depended on the Hussein regime and they would fight to the end. The fanatical Fedayeen were trained in suicide operations as well as guerilla warfare. "Saddam Hussein will be relying very heavily in the 30,000 Fedayeen to carry out a number of suicide missions if necessary," Prof Saikal said. Prof Saikal's grim prediction came as Baghdad's residents increasingly armed themselves against coal'n armoured divisions that are only 60 km from their city. ANU Strategic and Defence Studies Centre director Dr Alan Dupont said Baghdad would not be a repeat of the street by street battle that claimed one mn lives in the Russian city of Stalingrad during World War II. But he agreed that the coal'n forces would probably have to take the war into Baghdad. And they could resort to indiscriminate fire power. "I don't think they're going to go in and carpet bomb the city and then try and take the whole city," Dr Dupont said. "They'll have to actually selectively identify sectors of the city that they believe are crucial to its defence, start to erode the defences and take out the decision-makers -- it's a big ask." Bombs target Saddam's forces Baghdad. More than 30 explosions have rocked Baghdad this afternoon, sending a huge plume of smoke into the sky as dawn broke over the Iraqi capital. The latest explosions shook the city around 1 pm AEDT, and smoke was reportedly seen wafting from around the area nr the Min of Info and the state TV studios. The raids came hrs after earlier strikes appeared to have targeted Iraqi TV, which has broadcast footage of US POW's and vows from the regime that Pres Saddam Hussein is still in control. State TV was off for around 45 mins on Tue night (this morning AEDT) before resuming transmissions until the normal night-time closedown. The youth channel of Saddam's son Uday did not come back on after the strikes. Iraq TV sources said transmitters had been hit. Meanwhile Iraqi satellite television monitored outside the country was disrupted, flashing incomplete images occasionally while remaining blank much of the time. Throughout the day, explosions to the S grew louder and more frequent. US ground troops were firing howitzers and rockets some 80 km from Baghdad while Brit forces attacked Republican Guard units from the air. On Mon, state TV upset US authorities by showing footage of 2 men it claimed were pilots of a downed US Apache helicopter. The day before it aired footage of five POW's, as well as at least 4 dead US soldiers lying crumpled and blood-stained in a makeshift morgue. The footage was believed to have been calculated to strike at the pride and prestige of US-led forces and show Saddam still firmly in control. Washington complained the broadcasts were in violation of the Geneva Conventions. In Washington, the Pentagon refused to confirm whether it sought to destroy or interfere with Iraqi television. "We never discuss targets," an official told reporters. 300 dead in biggest clash yet C Iraq. Up to 300 Iraqis have been killed in what is being described as the biggest battle of the war since fighting started last Thu. US and Iraqi forces exchanged fire E of An Najaf, about 200 km S of Baghdad. The Pentagon said a US tank was disabled by grenade fire and 2 other vehicles left damaged, but US forces suffered no casualties. Early reports had put the number of Iraqi dead at as high as 500, but estimates had since dropped to between 150 and 300. An official said the clash was with "dismounted forces" but it was unclear whether they were regular army or irregulars such as the Fedayeen Saddam. He discounted reports the engagement may have been the 1st ground clash with Republican Guard divisions defending the approaches to Baghdad. Elsewhere, military investigators have found no evidence of recent chemical weapons manufacture at a suspect plant secured by US troops in S Iraq. Saddam's bunkers impenetrable, builder says Washington (Reuters). Underground bunkers built for Iraqi Pres Saddam Hussein could resist massive bombardment and those hiding inside could survive for up to 6 m, a retired Yugoslav army officer who helped build them has said. "I believe that if Saddam does not leave, and I think he has nowhere to go, they will find him in one of these facilities -- if he does not find a way out by then," retired Lt Col Resad Fazlic said in an interview today. "These bunkers can resist a direct hit of a 20 kilotonne-strong bomb or atomic bomb impact and keep those inside independent of the outside world for 6 months," said Fazlic, who oversaw the building of the bunkers in the late 1970s. US-led forces started their six-day-old air and land assault aimed at ousting the Iraqi leader by hitting his compound in Baghdad. It was not clear if the compound that was hit was one of the 2 in the Iraqi capital that, Fazlic said, were built on purpose for the Iraqi leader. Fazlic said underground concrete fortresses were built by the former Yugoslav military in the cities of Baghdad, Mosul, Kirkuk, Basra and Nasiriyah after Iraqi officials toured similar facilities in former Yugoslavia. He said he took part in the building of more than a dozen underground bunkers in former Yugoslavia which was then led by late Pres Josip Broz Tito, who had warm relations with Saddam Hussein. "The most important thing was to design the main bunker and all those layers above it which were the main protection. Even if you only had to penetrate the main bunker with a missile it would have to impact it at the angle of 90 degrees, otherwise it would ricochet off its rounded surface," Fazlic said. "But before that, it would have to go through protective layers ... and to calculate all the right angles for impact and fire several successful hits in line is almost impossible," he added. The bunkers also had their own air filtration systems and alternative exits in case the main entrance was blocked. They could only be opened from inside, Fazlic said. Low-tech weapons repulse high-tech assault C Iraq (WashPost). US Apache Longbow helicopters retreated in the face of intense fire from AA guns, RPG's and rifles during their 1st large-scale strike deep in Iraq, according to officers and pilots. One Apache went down in a farmer's field and its 2 pilots were captured. The pre-dawn attack on Mon by a formation of Apaches was aimed at tanks and other weapons of Pres Saddam Hussein's elite Republican Guard around Karbala, about 80 km S of Baghdad. Col William Wolf, cmdr of the US Army's 11th Aviation Rgt, said the air assault, involving 30 to 40 Apaches, crippled 4 or 5 Iraqi tanks and several light vehicles. But pilots said they were forced to abandon most of their targets because of a curtain of fire from suburban streets, roofs and back yards, hitting nearly all their aircraft. Some of the dizzying array of fire was from Iraqi troops using conventional AAA. But some was from individuals firing AK-47 rifles or rocket-propelled grenades into the sky. "It was coming from all directions. I got shot front, back, left and right," said pilot Bob Duffney, 41, who flew combat helicopters in the 1991 Gulf War. "In Desert Storm (1991), we didn't have a firefight like this." Pilots struggled as bullets whizzed past their heads and damaged some key components of their aircraft. The barrage was shocking to both seasoned pilots and combat newcomers. Later on Iraqi TV, pics of a downed Apache and 2 capture US airmean were shown. US forces later tried to destroy the helicopter, but were unsure if they succeeded because sandstorms in the region reduced visibility. US cmdr Gen Tommy Franks confirmed that one helicopter did not return from its mission on Mon and its 2-man crew was missing. The Apaches, the new $US20 mn stars of the US Army's helicopter fleet, have been depicted as a superweapon against Iraqi armour. But the air battle showed they can be vulnerable to unconventional tactics. The Iraqi Govt publicised the loss of the helicopter as a victory of guerilla tenacity. Info Min Mohammed Saeed Sahhaf said: "Farmers shot down 2 Apaches." A Pentagon official said no distress or location signals had been received from the downed crew, and speculated they made an emergency landing. Northern front to help keep Turks out Kurdistan (The Guardian). US warplanes have stepped up their campaign in N Iraq by bombing the mountainous frontline between the Iraqi army and Kurdish guerillas for the 1st time, nr the oil city of Kirkuk. At least 6 bombs hit Iraqi positions on a ridge above the NE-ern town of Chamchamal. Aircraft also pounded Iraqi military targets around Kirkuk and in the neighbouring oil-rich city of Mosul. Mon's raid, just before 10 am, was the 1st direct strike against Iraqi forces encamped on high ground overlooking Kurdish Iraq. It followed the arrival at the weekend of several 100 US troops -- most of them special forces -- in the Kurdish-controlled zone, as part of the US's belated effort to open up a N front. On Mon evening, US warplanes also hit an Iraqi military camp at Feidur, 16 km S of the NW-ern Kurdish city of Dahuk. Earlier that day an American general set up HQ at Salahuddin to oversee a 2nd front in the war. The move appeared to be part of the effort to dissuade Turkey from sending its troops into Iraq. Maj Gen Harry "Pete" Osman of US Marines announced that his military co-ordination and liaison command in Salahuddin would bring together military and humanitarian operations in N Iraq and SE Turkey. With Ankara threatening to send 1000s of troops into the region to prevent any Kurdish bid for independence, Gen Osman said that his mission included "deconfliction of military activities". He did not elaborate on the phrase. Up to a dozen military transport aircraft have landed at Kurdish airstrips and US troops in civilian clothing drove around the Kurdish capital Irbil on Mon, requisitioning hotel rooms and buying basic supplies. Until now the majority of targets in the region have been Iraqi forts and military positions on the approaches to Mosul and Kirkuk, which are regarded as essential to controlling the N of the country. In the Dahuk region, special forces have been positioning themselves in the Kurdish hills overlooking the Mosul plain, from where they are calling in US bombers overhead. The Guardian saw a bombing raid on 2 military installations nr Shayhkan and Ayn Sifni, 3 km from the Kurdish self-rule area. From atop a hill, the thunder of further heavy bombing on targets around Mosul a few km S, rumbled through the drizzle. After the attack, 2 special forces' white Humvees could be seen speeding away. Kurdish cmdrs nr Chamchamal had earlier predicted that Iraqi soldiers would surrender once the US had bombed them. This did not happen. Instead, Iraqi troops could be seen carrying away their wounded, back into territory controlled by Saddam Hussein. Most of Chamchamal's residents fled last wk. The Kurdish guerillas left behind are now expressing impatience with the speed of the US campaign. They say Iraqi morale has increased. They hadn't expected that. US planes also struck the Bani Magem military barracks, occupied by Iraq's 1st Army Corps. The air strikes do not appear to be the prelude to any coal'n ground offensive in the N of Iraq. Turkey's refusal to allow American troops to enter Iraq through its territory means that the US has no army with which it can advance on Kirkuk or Mosul. Basra uprising "fought with axes and knives" Nr Basra. The cmdr of Brit forces in the Gulf says an uprising against the rule of Pres Saddam Hussein appears to have started in the SE-ern Iraqi city of Basra. Brit troops have fired on Iraqi positions to support the uprising and say they have seen Iraqi troops shooting at their own people to quell the unrest. An Iraqi opp'n group says civilians who staged the uprising fought with axes and knives against heavily armed Govt militiamen. The 'Iraq Headquarters' of the US-backed Iraqi National Congress (INC), located in Kurdish-held N Iraq, says reports from "field officers" communicated by satellite phone indicated the uprising erupted in central Basra. An INC rep says there were casualties but no figures are available. Saddam's Fedayeen is a militia that the Brit command says has 1,000 men in Basra. It is headed by Iraqi Pres Saddam Hussein's elder son, Uday. The Brit chief of staff at Central Command, Major Gen Peter Wall, says the rebellion seems to be in its "infancy" but that Brit troops trying to secure the city are "keen to exploit its potential". Maj Gen Wall also says Iraqi soldiers who have fled the battlefield are being forced to return to fight after "significant threats against their families". Iraq's Info Min, Mohammad Said al-Sahhaf, has denied the report in a statement to Al Jazeera television. However, one Brit officer nr Basra says coal'n forces have seen a large crowd on the streets of the city and the Iraqis are firing their artillery at their own people. The main Shi'ite Iraqi opp'n group, based in Iran, also says a revolt is underway in Basra. Dozens of buildings are said to be in flames in the city, a stronghold of Shi'ite Muslims, long repressed by Saddam Hussein's ruling Sunni Muslim Ba'ath Party. Brit tanks are massed outside the city and preparing to move in and Brit troops are bombarding Iraqi mortar positions in an effort to support the uprising. Brit forces have been attempting to secure control of the city, which they want to use to establish a corridor to deliver humanitarian aid to the rest of the country. If confirmed, a rebellion would represent a huge coup for coal'n forces reluctant to fight their way through Iraq's cities and towns. The allied forces hope that rushing humanitarian aid into Basra, which has been without water and power for days, will send a strong signal to the rest of the country. US Def Sec Donald Rumsfeld has warned the people of Basra against rising up against the regime, saying they should not do so until they are sure coal'n forces can protect them. In a sign that Brit and US forces may not be able to help the Shi'ite population against pro-Saddam Hussein paramilitaries, Mr Rumsfeld discouraged citizens from staging a rebellion. Mr Rumsfeld says Saddam Hussein has sent members of the special republican guard to Basra and armed militia groups. In 1991, 1000s of Shi'ites were killed after an uprising. Meanwhile, Brit Lt-Col Chris Vernon says his forces in Basra have also seen civilians being used as human shields. US, Brit hold nearly 4,000 Iraqi POWs Doha. US-led forces in Iraq are holding more than 3,500 Iraqi prisoners after 5 days of combat and Iraqi troops are surrendering "by the 100s", US Def Sec Donald Rumsfeld says. Mr Rumsfeld and America's top military officer have told reporters the Iraqi captives are being treated in accordance with the Geneva Convention and that they expect Baghdad to do the same for US prisoners. "Iraqi forces are capitulating by the 100s," Mr Rumsfeld said at a Pentagon briefing. However, Mr Rumsfeld refused to predict how long the war might last, as the Iraqi military puts up stiff resistance in some cities and towns. Air Force Gen Richard Myers, chairman of the military Joint Chiefs of Staff, says the US expects fair treatment for Americans captured by the Iraqis and that the ICRC should be given access to them. "We are doing that with the enemy POW's we have that are nearing numbers now close to 4,000," Gen Myers said. "I think, maybe even today or tomorrow, we will have the Internat'l Red Cross in there looking at the condition of the Iraqi POW's we have." Afghans claim they were mistreated in detention centre in Cuba Kabul. Afghans recently released from the US detention centre at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba have told how they were kept in tiny cages and subjected to interrogations for more than a y to prove their innocence. Some of the 18 have also described how they suffered brutal treatment at the hands of Afghan jailers, before being transferred to Cuba as suspected Al-Qaeda or Taliban fighters. They are only the 2nd batch of prisoners released from the detention centre, which holds 100s of people captured during the coalition's campaign in Afghanistan, including 2 Aussies. US authorities have described the detainees as unlawful combatants who can be held indefinitely without trial. Propaganda games give a distorted view of reality Canberra. Reporters attending yesterday's Defence Dept briefing in CBR were invited to put themselves in the shoes of an SAS soldier. Literally. Also to try SAS rations, wave around SAS guns and meet the attractive SAS models -- all offered as a substitute for what reporters really want to get: real news about AUS troops. Following recent briefing room skirmishes in which journalists have wondered aloud why they bother to go at all, given the paucity of the briefings, Defence is resorting to stunts. Think of it as just another small tactical manoeuvre in the other war: the propaganda war. Every modern battle is fought on 2 fronts -- the military campaign and the media campaign. Ever since Vietnam, the military and its political masters have been acutely aware that they must win both. So, where does the balance of power lie in this war? The big change, said Matthew Ricketson, a snr lecturer in journalism at RMIT University, is the practice of "embedding" journalists with military units. He sees this as both a good and bad thing for media coverage. Good because journalists get to see things with their own eyes. Bad because it was difficult to remain objective. "What you need is a blend of eyewitness accounts and people back at head office gathering a whole range of info ... sifting and analysing." But the evidence to date, according to Ricketson and others, is that the right balance has not been struck by all media. The American cable networks are the worst offenders in what he describes as "presenting war like a reality TV show". Kay Saunders, a history professor at QU, also sees much of the TV coverage as a cross between reality TV and a violent video game. Embedding resulted in viewers "seeing the military's point of view without the human impact," she says. "We see the spectacular explosions. What we don't see is the innocent civilian casualties." Then there is the issue of deliberate media bias. John Schwartz, a snr lecturer in media and communications at Swinburne Uni, commenting on the widely publicised statistic that all bar one of Rupert Murdoch's 170-odd papers and the Fox network have a pro-war position, said: "No doubt all his editors are noting Murdoch's views. Fox is unbelievably bad ... almost pure govt line." Yet he sees hope in the growing diversity of news sources available to media consumers. He mentions Al-Jazeera as an alternative with "respectability and credibility" and independent sources in the Arab world, particularly Iraq. But more important are the burgeoning net sites. Thanks to the internet, anyone can tap into a range of independent views. Ironic that the web, originally intended as an unjammable military communication tool, is rapidly becoming our greatest protector against the lies of war. Sydney. AUS MEDIA POSITIONS ON POWS! Walter Hamilton, acting director, news/current affairs,0 ABC TV: "It is acceptable for ABC programs to use images of American, Brit or Iraqi POWs that identify them. It is important that we do not broadcast footage that identifies captured Aussies before their families have been notified." David Hurley, in charge of Nine Network war coverage: "The Geneva convention applies to the captors, not the media. We showed the pictures. If it happened to Aussies, we would think long and hard, but once relatives were informed, we would be inclined to run it." Robert Whitehead, editor, SYD Morning Herald: "The Herald has shown hostages in previous wars. We'll be mindful of privacy issues for affected families if Aussies are involved." Ian Cook, Seven Network news director: "If AUS POWs are taken, we will apply the same self-censorship as in America -- but we will seriously consider whether the pictures should ever be shown, even after families have been notified". US enlists dolphins to aid war effort Umm Qasr (Reuters). Forget precision bombs, unmanned spy-planes and high-tech weaponry, the US army is about to unveil its most unlikely mine detector -- all the way from San Diego, Cal, the Atlantic Bottle-Nosed Dolphin. At the S Iraqi port of Umm Qasr, secured by US and Brit forces after days of fighting, soldiers made last-minute preparations on Tue for the imminent arrival of a team of specially trained dolphins to help divers ensure the coastline is free of danger before humanitarian aid shipments can dock. US Navy Captain Mike Tillotson told reporters that 3 or 4 dolphins would work from Umm Qasr, using their natural sonar abilities to seek out mines or other explosive devices which Iraqi forces may have planted on the seabed. Tillotson said the dolphins were trained not to swim up to mines, but to place a marker a small distance away, minimizing any danger to themselves. Several mines were discovered last wk on the back of ships along the Faw peninsula, but teams of divers searching around Umm Qasr port since Mon have not found any embedded mines. Ukraine sends 500-man anti-chemical weapons force to Kuwait Kiev (AP). The 1st contingent of Ukraine's anti-chemical weapons force headed to Kuwait on Tue to help neutralize the effects of potential Iraqi attacks. An IL-76 military transport aircraft departed from the W city of Lviv with about 20 members of the 532-man volunteer 19th Army Battalion and equipment on board, the Defense Ministry said. The troops were to be stationed in Arejan, some 70 km from Kuwait City, and deployed around the Al-Kuwait airport and the Al-Ahmadi and Dokha seaports, the ministry said. Ukraine's decontamination and defense unit has wide experience. About 25 of the force's members took part in cleanup operations after the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident. Others saw action during the Soviet-Afghan war in the 1980's and a few have since served as UN peacekeepers. Pres Leonid Kuchma offered to send the battalion last m in a bid to mend ties with the US, which worsened last y following US claims that he approved the sale of radar systems to Iraq in 2000. Both Kuchma and parliament have insisted that the force be limited to defensive and humanitarian missions and have resolutely opposed the US-Brit attack. 78% of Ukrainians also oppose the war, according to a recent poll by the Razumkov Center for Economic and Political Studies. Kuwaiti AA forces will defend the Ukrainian battalion and the govt will supply food and other provisions, the ministry said. The US has indicated it is ready to help fund the mission, which could cost up to $US1 mn a month. Similar forces from Poland, the Czech republic and Slovakia have also been sent to the Gulf. North Korea threatens Japan over spy satellite plans Seoul. N Korea has told Japan it will face self-destruction if it pushes ahead with its plan to launch a spy satellite into orbit this week. The official Korean Central News Agency has accused Japan of acting as "a shock brigade" for the launch of a US pre-emptive attack and nuclear war against North Korea. State media says if Japan takes the road of submission to what it calls the US policy of re-invasion, Japan will not have its security guaranteed but will face self-destruction. Earlier today, North Korea said it had told the US it was pulling out of regular military liaison talks at the DMZ frontier because of the US military exercises in the South. Palestinian gets life for role in beating death of Israeli soldiers Jerusalem. An Israeli military court has sentenced a Palestinian militant to life in prison for his involvement in the death of 2 soldiers by a Palestinian mob in the W Bank in 2000, an army rep said. He said Mahmoud Matzleh, a member of the militant group Islamic Jihad, was also convicted of ordering attacks, including a suicide bombing that killed 2 women. Two other Islamic Jihad militants tried with him, Husam Shehada and Haitham Hamdan, received life sentences as well for other attacks nr Jerusalem that killed five Israelis, he said. 2 unarmed Israeli reserve soldiers were killed in Oct 2000 at the outset of a 30-mo Palestinian independence uprising against Israel after they mistakenly drove their car into the W Bank city of Ramallah. Both were arrested by Palestinian police and then beaten to death by Palestinians who stormed the police station where they were being held. Palestinian girl killed in ambush: medics Tel Aviv. Undercover special forces have shot dead 4 people including a young girl during an ambush in the W Bank city of Bethlehem, witnesses and medics say. They say Israelis in civilian clothes fired on a car in the town's centre, killing 3 men inside. The girl was killed when the Israelis shot at a 2nd car in the mistaken belief militants were inside, the witnesses say. Israel radio says the 1st car contained members of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, who opened fire before being killed by Israeli forces. It said another car came into the area moments after the 1st and Israeli forces, believing they were about to be attacked, shot and killed a 10-yo girl inside. Hospital officials said another girl of 15 in the car was wounded by shrapnel. Israel radio said the male driver was also hurt. The Israeli army said it was checking the reports. The army has reoccupied much of the W Bank in a clampdown on a Palestinian uprising for independence since Sep 2000 and has conducted raids, sometimes undercover, to seize suspected militants. Earlier in the day, Israeli soldiers shot dead a 14-yo boy during clashes with stone-throwers in the N W Bank city of Jenin, medics said. An Israeli army rep said soldiers shot 2 youths after they tried to climb on top of a tank to grab its mounted machine gun. Local witnesses said the 2nd youth was in hospital in moderate condition. It was the 2nd killing of a Jenin youth in as many days by Israeli troops occupying the city. Until now, violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict had eased since US and Brit forces invaded Iraq last wk to destroy its alleged WMD. Israel strongly backs US-led efforts to topple Iraqi Pres Saddam Hussein, one of its fiercest Arab foes and a supporter of the Palestinian uprising. Palestinians have denounced the invasion and held pro-Saddam rallies. At least 1,950 Palestinians and 727 Israelis have been killed in violence since negotiations for a Palestinian state in the W Bank and Gaza Strip hit an impasse. Beijing. FLU KILLS 31! Chinese officials say a mystery illness has killed 31 people in China's S Prov of Guangdong through the end of Feb. A rep for the Guangzhou city govt says 24 of the deaths occurred in the prov capital of Guangzhou and 7 elsewhere in the prov. Health experts say it isn't clear whether the deaths in G'dong are linked to a fatal respiratory disease that has spread to 3 continents. The rep says by the end of Feb, 792 cases of infection were reported in the whole Prov. Quarantine imposed as Ontario finds new SARS cases Toronto. Health officials in Ontario, Canada's most populous province, have ID-ed an another 8 probable cases of the deadly and mysterious SARS pneumonia virus that has killed at least 23 people worldwide. Province health officials have restricted access to the Toronto hospital where some of the 1st Canadian cases appeared. They say they may quarantine the homes of several hundred people who could have been exposed to the illness. A Toronto school has been ordered to close until Mar 31, after it was learned there are a number of students with unexplained fevers consistent with symptoms of the illness, known as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Ontario has now seen 18 probable cases and five suspected cases of the illness. 3 of the probable cases have died. Another 25 people, including nurses and other health care staff, are being monitored closely for symptoms. The health care staff and their families are being told to stay in their homes for up to 10 days. Suspected cases of SARS have also been reported in the US, Brit, France, AUS and Japan. Scientists at the WHO say they are still puzzled over the cause of the new killer pneumonia after 8 days of testing in 11 laboratories in 9 countries. They have ID-ed 2 common viruses as "very strong contenders" for the cause. Experts in HK and Germany say they believe the sickness is caused by a new virus from the paramyxovirus family, a large group of microbes that includes germs that cause measles, mumps and respiratory infections. Singapore reports 1st mystery pneumonia death Singapore. The govt has reported the 1st local death from a mysterious respiratory disease that has claimed other lives worldwide, after ordering the quarantine of more than 700 people to contain its spread. A health ministry rep says she can confirm one death. She said the death was related to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which often manifests itself as a form of pneumonia. SARS has already been blamed for 10 deaths in HK, 4 in Vietnam and 3 in Canada. Bogota. ANOTHER PLANE DOWN IN COLOMBIA! A plane carrying 3 Americans has crashed in S Colombia while searching for 3 other Americans captured by rebels last m. The US Embassy says the fate of the 3-man crew is unknown. The 3 military contractors were captured by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia after their plane crashed on Feb 13 on a S hilltop. A 4th American and a Colombian soldier abroad the plane were shot dead by rebels. Almost 5,000 Colombian military personnel are searching for the three. Jammu. BOMB KILLS 1! A bomb has exploded in an oil tanker in S India-Kashmir, killing 1 and injuring 5 other people. The Pres of the Jammu and Kashmir Petrol Tanker Assoc says the tanker was parked outside an oil depot in the disputed region's S winter capital of Jammu. He says a bomb was planted inside the engine. Police say the bomb squad and a forensics team has been sent to the site, which is nr the main rlwy stn. Mugabe takes brutal revenge for strike Harare (AP, AFP). 100s of opp'n supporters were attacked with iron bars and whips by forces loyal to Zimbabwean Pres Robert Mugabe seeking revenge for last wk's anti-govt strike, hospital officials and human rights groups said. The US condemned the violence, which it said was incited when Mr Mugabe compared himself to Adolf Hitler. The opp'n Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said on Mon that 2 of its lawmakers were arrested and at least 260 people were being held on allegations they participated in the strike that brought Zimbabwe's economy to a standstill. MDC leaders called the strike to protest against repression by Mr Mugabe's Govt and against acute food and petrol shortages. Police confirmed 200 arrests, state radio reported. The Zwakwana human rights monitoring group said Harare emergency wards had treated at least 250 people since Thu for broken bones, bruising and sexual assault. Zwakwana said people were beaten with wire whips, iron bars, electrical cords and rifle butts by ruling party militias, uniformed soldiers and police reservists. Witnesses said they saw police and ruling party youth militias taking part in assaults. The police would not comment on allegations that they had a role in the attacks, and the military denied any involvement through state media. Mr Mugabe on Fri threatened retribution against his opponents, saying the strike action was used to incite violence. He warned opp'n leaders that "those who play with fire will not only be burnt but consumed". Mr Mugabe said that he had been compared to the former Nazi leader in the Brit press, and said he was ready to embrace such a role. "This Hitler has only one objective: justice for his people, sovereignty for his people, recognition of the independence of his people and their rights over their resources," he said. "If that is Hitler, then let me be a Hitler tenfold." A statement issued by Amnesty Internat'l described deteriorating security conditions and mass arrests as "a new and dangerous phase of repression". In a statement on Mon, US State Dept rep Richard Boucher demanded "that the Zimbabwe Govt immediately cease its campaign of violent repression". Meanwhile, the man hired to secretly record opp'n leader Morgan Tsvangirai allegedly plotting to assassinate Mr Mugabe defended the quality of his muffled tape in a Harare court on Mon. Bernard Schober, who says he is a PI, was testifying in a court in Harare in the eighth wk of the trial of Tsvangirai and 2 senior party officials. Mr Schober is the 4th witness to appear for the state. He said he was hired by Ari Ben-Menashe, a political consultant based in Montreal, Canada, to set up a microphone and 2 cameras in his offices where Tsvangirai allegedly requested help in eliminating Mr Mugabe. The evidence against the 3 hinges on the video tape, which the defence has dismissed as inaudible. Mr Schober, who is Canadian, said portions of the tape he had heard in court compared "favourably with our products", but he admitted the fan in the building created a "constant humming" that distorted the sound on the tape. He said he and a sub-contractor hid the cameras and microphone in the ceiling of the board room at Dickens and Madson, Mr Ben-Menashe's firm, in time for a meeting between Tsvangirai and Mr Ben-Menashe in Dec 2001. The PI was cross-examined by defence lawyer Chris Andersen, who said his tape was "defective" and could have been deliberately distorted. "At least 90% was inaudible," Mr Andersen, who is part of a defence team that also includes star anti-apartheid lawyer George Bizos, said. Tsvangirai's defence team argues that their client was set up by Mr Ben-Menashe, who they say was working for the Zimbabwe Govt ahead of key presidential elections in Mar last year. Tsvangirai lost the polls to Mr Mugabe. Tsvangirai's trial began early last m and initially aroused enormous public interest. That has now waned, and fewer numbers of people are attending the daily court hearings. 11 witnesses are due to the appear for the state and the trial looks set to continue for some time. Police fear violent turn at SYD protest Sydney. NSW Police assistant commissioner Dick Adams says police intel indicates today's anti-war rally in SYD could turn violent. [He turned out to be right]. A rally and march scheduled for this afternoon is expected to draw a crowd tipped by organisers to exceed 20,000 to central SYD. [That turned out to be wrong]. Mr Adams says protest organisers have not properly cooperated with police and anarchist groups associated with the demo have produced leaflets calling for demonstrators to bring down the Govt. Mr Adams says he would advise parents to prevent their children from attending today's rally. "Please don't let your children come to the demo," he said. "Find other ways that they can engage in this public debate, indeed in taking part in some of the more organised and more serious peace rallies that are taking place." However, one of the protest organisers has rejected suggestions the protest could turn violent. A rep for the Books Not Bombs group says it has planned a peaceful demo as part of nationwide action. Hackers hit Al-Jazeera web site Doha (AP). Hackers attacked the web site of Arab satellite television network Al-Jazeera today, rendering it intermittently unavailable, the site's host said. The newly launched English-language page, which went live yesterday and posted images of the corpses of US soldiers killed in Iraq, was hardest hit in a bombardment of data packets known as a denial-of-service attack. Ayman Arrashid, internet system administrator at the Horizons Media and Info Services, the site's Web host, said the attack began this morning local time. Nabil Hegazi, assistant to the managing editor of the English Web site, denied that an attack was the reason the site was unavailable. He said it was difficult to access because traffic was almost 4 times more than expected. The Web host is based in the Persian Gulf state of Qatar. The servers that host the Al-Jazeera site are in France and the US. Arrashid said he could not determine the attack's origin, but only the US servers were affected, leading him to suspect that the attackers were in the US. He said technicians were working to thwart the attack, but could not estimate when the site would be fully available again. Al-Jazeera, also based in Qatar, is an unusually independent and powerful voice in the Arab world whose broadcasts of US prisoners and war dead has angered many Americans. Earlier, Al-Jazeera said 2 reporters had their credentials revoked by the NYSE because of the network's coverage of the war. The exchange said the decision was prompted by "space constraints". Other officials had previously told US reporters it was because of "security concerns". Al-Jazeera's English site was unavailable today from 4 out of 5 locations in the US, said Roopak Patel, a snr analyst at Keynote Systems Inc, a company that tracks Web performance. He said the Arabic site had starting Sun experienced periods of very poor availability -- which may have been caused by hackers, Patel said. Headaches as Al Jazeera launches English website Doha. Hacker attacks and technical glitches have caused a string of headaches for Arab satellite TV network Al Jazeera's new English-language website. Al Jazeera's info technology manager, Salah Al Seddiqui, says the company has also been told that its US-based host can no longer serve its site to users from the end of the month. Mr Al Seddiqui says the company is moving its servers to Europe. Ms Tucker says war sensitivities may have been behind the decision but the US host, DataPipe, says in a statement it is ending its relationship with a company that manages Al Jazeera's site on Mar 31. It says it had no direct ties with Al Jazeera. The new English-language site has no multi-media capability but carries photos from the footage showing the US POW's. The Arabic-language site had the video, prompting a flood of traffic on Sun. Search engine Lycos has cited that video as the factor that made Al Jazeera its most-searched term, generating 3 times as much search activity as anything else. The surge in traffic badly hit Al Jazeera's performance. Product manager Roopak Patel of performance tracker Keynote Systems says the site's performance "went to hell" on Mar 23. [My various listening posts showed Internet interference world-wide went significantly to Hell on Mar 22/23 AEDT]. Ms Tucker says the new site, which for now is devoted exclusively to the war on Iraq, is a temporary operation pending a full launch tentatively set for mid-Apr. No standing on ceremony LA. In 1975, the Oscar for best documentary went to Hearts and Minds, a film about the Vietnam war. Its producer was the dashing Burt Schneider, described as "the eminence grise of the American new wave" in Peter Biskind's book on the movies of that era, Easy Riders, Raging Bulls. Schneider's acceptance speech was a letter from the N Vietnamese, which he read out to the audience. It said: "Please transmit to all our friends in America our recognition of all they have done on behalf of peace." After furious viewers had called NBC, the network that broadcast the ceremony, an apology was delivered by the night's MC, Frank Sinatra. More than a quarter of century later, another war, another documentary maker, and another controversial acceptance speech. Michael Moore, who won the award for Bowling for Columbine, did not read out a letter from Saddam Hussein thanking the peace movement. But his remarks about George Bush, whom he called the "fictitious" president, and his opp'n to the war in Iraq, caused much the same sort of furore. Did the academy voters deliberately choose Moore's film because they were aware that he would, at least, stir things up, even if they would not have been aware, when they voted, that the nation would be at war? Moore certainly thought so. "Anybody voting for me for this award knew that they weren't going to get a speech thanking agents, lawyers, lawyers of agents and agents of lawyers," he said after the show. One journalist asked Moore whether he thought he was now going to be blacklisted in Hollywood, to which he replied: "I don't work in Hollywood. I'm funded by Canadians and others who don't live here, but it was Hollywood who voted for this award." In the part of his acceptance speech drowned out by the noise from the audience and orchestra, Moore told Pres Bush that, because both the Pope and country group the Dixie Chicks were opposed to him, his time at the Whitehouse would be limited. It was Dixie Chicks member Natalie Maines who made a disparaging remark about the president during a show in London on Mar 10, and retribution has been swift. One radio chain, Cumulus, which has 42 country radio stations, effectively banned the band. During the following week, their CD sales dropped by 27%, despite an apology from Maines. However, there is now, perhaps, a backlash against the backlash. In its business section on Mon, the NY Times reported that the Dixie Chicks' star is on the rise once more. A market research company, Mediabase, found that the group's song, Travelin' Soldier, was country fans' favourite last week. It's all about hearts and minds. Saudis make peace plan for Iraq, US Riyadh (AP). Saudi Arabia's foreign minister announced Tue that his kingdom made a peace proposal to Iraq and the US, pledging to "knock on all doors" to get it heard. Prince Saud's announcement mystified both Washington and Baghdad. And the prince was unclear about whether the initiative was new. He urged both sides not to let pride push them to continue a war "that is going to breed nothing but hate between our 2 peoples." In Washington, State Dept rep Richard Boucher said "we are not aware of any peace proposal from Saudi Arabia." Iraqi Info Min Mohammed Al-Sahhaf declined to comment in a TV interview with the Arab satellite television network Al-Jazeera, but added, "I think what this man said is baseless." The kingdom's calls for an end to the fighting come even as Saudi Arabia has quietly been aiding the US war effort, a position that carries the risk of an extremist backlash, especially if the war drags and Iraqi casualties mount. Just like almost everywhere else in the Arab world, anti-war and anti-US sentiments are simmering among Saudi citizens, fueled by images of dead Iraqis on satellite channels. Asked whether his country has been in direct contact with the US and Iraq in an effort to end the war, Saud said: "We have made the proposal and we are waiting for a positive response. We were not rebuffed, but neither were we given authorization that they're going with it." Saud's announcement came a day after an Arab League meeting made it clear there will be no united Arab stance on Iraq. Turki al-Sudeiri, editor of Al Riyadh daily, said the divisions at the Arab League meant Saudi Arabia had to act alone. Saud said the unexpected setbacks in the fighting have made it clear the war would not be a "walkover." Saudi Arabia hosted the US-led coal'n that expelled Iraq from Kuwait in the 1991 Gulf War. At that time, the kingdom was under direct threat from the Iraqis, who were moving S toward Saudi Arabia. After that war ended, 1000s of US troops, now housed at the Prince Sultan air base outside Riyadh, stayed to monitor the no-fly zone established in S Iraq to protect the country's Shiite Muslims from Saddam's troops. The American's high-profile presence roused the anger of Muslim militants and gave a pretext for Saudi-born Osama bin Laden to go after the ruling royal family and the US. Since the Sep 11 attacks, carried out by 19 followers of bin Laden, including 15 Saudis, dozens of al-Qaida sympathizers have been arrested in the kingdom and a few W-ers have been attacked. The attacks have strained the decades-old Saudi-US alliance. In the lead-up to the war on Iraq, 1000s of US troops were deployed nr the Saudi border with Iraq and in a garrison town in the N. More have been deployed at Prince Sultan. Also, more than 3,000 Saudi soldiers are in Kuwait as part of Peninsula Shield, to protect Kuwait from a possible Iraqi attack. Blair to focus on "post-war Iraq" in US meetings London. Brit PM Tony Blair is heading to Washington today for a snap Iraq war summit with US Pres George W Bush. He is pledging coal'n forces will not let the Iraqi people down this time. Brit troops might still be locked in combat with Iraqi militants but for Mr Blair's Labour Govt post-war reconstruction is now firmly on the agenda. Tomorrow the PM will travel to the US to take part in a summit with Mr Bush. With a humanitarian crisis building in S Iraq, Mr Blair wants to ensure co-ordinated delivery of vital supplies. "I will see Pres Bush at Camp David to discuss not just the military campaign but also the diplomatic implications of recent events for the future, in particular how we get America and Europe working again together as partners and not as rivals," Mr Blair said. For Sec Jack Straw is urging UN member countries to put aside differences over the war itself in favour of building a strong post-war Iraq. Sec Council calls open meeting on Iraq NY. The UN Sec Council will meet tomorrow morning (AEDT) in an urgent public session to discuss the war in Iraq. Council president Mamady Traore, Guinea's ambassador to the UN, says the meeting will begin at 3 pm local time on Tue. He says the meeting is expected to continue into Thu. Mr Traore says the session was called at the request of the Arab League and the Non-Aligned Nations (NAM) movement. Cargo in New Orleans being checked for radiation The Big Easy. Officials with US Customs and border protection descended on the Port of New Orleans Fri with sophisticated radiation-detection devices. After alleged Chicago gang member Jose Padilla was arrested m ago and accused of being recruited by al-Qaida to detonate a low-yield nuclear device or "dirty bomb" somewhere in the United States, officials on Fri were looking for any materials that could be used by terrorists to manufacture such a device. Customs agents now will scan cargo all along the nation's waterfronts. In New Orleans, about a dozen agents set up a rolling roadblock at the Felicity Street entrance to the waterfront truckway. Using radiation-detection devices, they carefully scanned every truck and cargo container rolling along the riverfront. "Since we went up to the alert level Orange on Mon afternoon, we've increased all our activities in the airports," said Customs Port Director Todd Owen. "Particularly here on the riverfronts, we're conducting more examinations of arriving passengers as well as cargo." Vaile calls for fair slice of Iraq trade Canberra. AUS has called on the US to be fair in competing for markets when the rebuilding of Iraq starts. Trade Min Mark Vaile says AUS is deeply engaged in talks with the US and the UN on the post-conflict reconstruction of Iraq. Mr Vaile says they have been told AUS wants to hold onto its past share of the Iraq wheat market. Mr Vaile says he expects frozen contracts for the sale of more than one million tonnes of wheat to Iraq to be honoured. "We have been a consistent and reliable supplier of quality wheat to Iraq over the last 11 or 12 y through the UN food-for-oil program," he said. "We've had a trading relationship with Iraq going back over 50 years. Of course our Govt is going to do everything we can to protect our interests in that regard." Govt sets aside "large sum of money" for war Canberra. Fed Treasurer Peter Costello says the Govt has set aside a large sum of money to pay for the war against Iraq. Mr Costello says Defence spending has also substantially increased in recent y to pay for counter-terrorism measures, East Timor peacekeepers and equipment purchases. He says while it is difficult to estimate the total cost of the Iraq conflict, the Govt will spend 100s of millions of dollars fighting the war. "I'm confident that we've allowed all of the funds that are required to support our fighting men and women in this financial year," Mr Costello said. "I'm doing next year's Budget at the moment -- I'll be bringing that down in May. "By May I hope we'll have a better fix on what will be required, if any, in the next financial year." Govt still weighing options on troop re-inforcements Canberra. The ADF says the Fed Govt has yet to decide whether to send fresh troops to Iraq to replace those fighting in the conflict. The Def Min, Robert Hill, says a contingent of troops could be sent to Iraq to replace existing forces. In today's def briefing, Mr Hill and ADF rep Brig Mike Hannan said SAS soldiers were proceeding with their actions in Iraq despite vicious sandstorms. Brig Hannan says the military has drawn up plans to refresh the troops deployed to the conflict. AUS's fighter bomber Hornets have flown more missions defending Coalition aircraft and Navy divers are continuing to try to clear mines from the S port of Umm Qasr. AUS special forces soldiers are dealing with severe weather conditions, with fierce sandstorms reducing visibility. But Brig Hannan says he expects the sandstorms will have little impact on the soldiers' covert operations. He says fierce sandstorms are making life uncomfortable for SAS soldiers on reconnaissance missions. ABC reporter Geoff Thompson, who is in Iraq, says sandstorms in the country are so strong that even taking shelter in a tent does not stop everything from becoming covered in dust. Desalination plant ready in 12 months Brisbane. A desalination company says Gladstone, in C Qld, will boast the state's largest water purification plant by Mar next year. Aqua Dyne AUS technical services manager Greg Paxton says the plant will be commissioned by carbon production company Astral Calcining, which is planning to start operating in 2004. Mr Paxton says the water distilled will be of boiler-feed quality and its use has support from both state and local govt. "State Govt is supportive of us, as is mayor Peter Corones," he said. "So very supportive of desalination systems, particularly because they offer a drought-proofing scenario for industry, the community and future investment. "It will be operational by Mar next y at this stage." Maralinga $108 mn nuclear clean-up "an abject failure": scientist Canberra. Doubts linger over the effectiveness of the $108 mn clean-up of the Maralinga nuclear test site, despite Fed Govt claims that it was a success. A former head of the Fed Govt's Maralinga Rehabilitation Committee (MRC) says the clean-up of the SA nuclear test site has not been successful. The former head of the MRC, nuclear scientist Alan Parkinson, says the shallow burial of nuclear waste at Maralinga is dangerous and a failure. He says all of the material should have been treated using in-situ vitrification where the material is virtually melted on-site, but the Govt stopped that process after an explosion in 1999. "The Govt used that as an excuse to cancel the remaining vitrification and simply buried everything, in a totally unsuitable geology in an unlined trench -- in that respect, the project was an abject failure," Mr Parkinson said. "The Govt's own documents pertaining to the nat'l store for radioactive waste says that shallow burial of long-lived isotopes is not acceptable, but that's exactly what happened at Maralinga." But a legal adviser to the Maralinga Aboriginal Community, Andrew Collett, says he is satisfied the clean-up has been and trusts the Govt's declaration the site is safe. He says the process of returning the land to the traditional owners will continue. Brisbane. SECURITY FEARS CLOSE TRADE BUREAU! The Qld govt has temporarily closed down 1 of its SE Asian trade bureau in the wake of security fears. Prem Peter Beattie has told reporters an officer at an unnamed SE Asian Qld trade bureau has been asked to go on leave for a wk. Mr Beattie says the move comes after security authorities assessed local circumstances. He says the decision will be reviewed at the end of the wk. Brisbane. AUSSIES STILL GOING O/S! Terrorism fears and global tensions haven't deterred Aussies from heading O/S on holidays. ABS short-term departure figures have found there's been a jump in internat'l travel. More than 2 mn Aussies took a short-term trip O/S in the 7 m to Jan 2003 -- a rise of 5.2% on the same period to Jan 2003. Of those who only went O/S to visit friends and relatives or have a holiday, there was a 5.4% rise in the same period. Melbourne. WATER RESTRICTIONS! Vic's water authorities say water catchments in the state's C have reached record lows [about 10% of capacity], and will dry out in 2 m unless the big drought breaks. Level-10 water restrictions banning all outdoor water use start tomorrow in a ban of towns N of MEL, incl Broadford, Waterford Pk, Kilmore and Wallan. With the drought reducing water catchment levels to 10% capacity, Goulburn Valley Water CEO Laurie Gleeson says 1.1 ML, 35 tanker loads, are being ferried from Seymour to Broadford daily. Melbourne. ETHANOL TO BE LABELLED IN VIC! Uh, oh! One to get Mosley upset! Vic's peak auto body says new state laws demanding the labelling of ethanol content in fuel will let consumers make a more informed choice. The RACV has welcomed the Vic govt's decision to intro mandatory labelling at the pump from May 1, with hefty fines to be slapped on those who don't comply. Consumer Af Min John Lenders announced the move today, making Vic the 1st state to intro mandatory labelling. *** CONTINUOUS WAR NEWS *** 8 pm There are reports that a missile attack has gone wrong. At 11.30 am local time missiles reportedly struck a residential area that contained a market. The hits occurred when the area was busy with shoppers. At least 2 Coal'n missiles struck the area in the N subs of Baghdad. Observers say they saw 15 bodies, and many others are injured. (AUS) ABC says at least 14 have been killed. They are all civilians. Iraq took reporters to the area a short time ago. They say it was like a scene from Hell. The worst sandstorms in living memory gave everything a reddish hew. Reporters saw charred bodies still on the street, next to burning buildings. Nr 3 badly-damaged appt building were 2 holes in the road. Local people are saying about 45 people died. Several bodies were found after rescuers dug through the ruins of homes and shops. Overnight, the Baghdad TV stn was bombed. The Coal'n says it was a "key command and control centre". But reporters say it has been playing mostly patriotic music. There is a warning to the media in N Iraq they should leave the area immediately. In AUS, DFAT says pro-Saddam groups may be preparing to attack W-ers in the region. The warning comes after one AUS reporter was killed in a suicide attack. The US says they believe army mechanics that were seen on Iraqi TV on Sun may have been executed, not killed in fighting as Iraq says. 9 pm Baghdad. The latest missile salvos have been designed to dismantle the Iraqi propaganda machine. The first attack was believed to be a new electro-pulse weapon. The Info Ministry & TV stns in central Baghdad have been destroyed. Iraqi state TV temp went off the air. The satellite feed is out. A civilian area was also struck, according to Iraqi TV. It's believed the pictures of Coal'n POW's upset Washington. Analysts see this as the start of new 2nd layer of bombing of strategic targets. They say the Coal'n is now attacking "govt targets" not "Saddam targets". It's intended to further separate in the minds of the people themselves from the regime. Getting civilians to rise up will be difficult while they're being bombed. Sandstorms are still fierce. They're creating problems for Coal'n forces and their "all weather" weapons systems. One of fiercest actions of the war has been seen at Najaf. Iraq is putting up fierce resistance in several locations. The 7th Cav has been attacked with rocket-propelled grenades. A US officer has told embeds 650 Iraqis were killed in one battle and 300 POW's taken. But Najaf city is still in Iraqi control. There are also reports 3,000 chem suits were found in hosp that was being used by militiamen as an HQ nr Nasiriyah. The final push to Baghdad is expected soon. Rep Guards may retreat into the capital to make a last stand. Iraqi TV has shown parachutes they say were used by a pilot and some missiles used to attack radar stns nr Baghdad. There has been no comment from the Coal'n. Iraq is still confident. Saddam issued a stmt through the Info Min urging guerrillas to kill Americans whatever way they can. The spiritual leader of S Iraq Shi'ite, now living in exile in Teheran, has called on his people to rise up and drive out the US military if they stay. Basra. There are many conflicting reports about the "uprising" in city of 1.5 mn. Brit forces have attacked the HQ of the Baath party in the city. The attack came after reports of an "uprising". Brit cmdrs say the uprising was put down by Iraqi militia in the city. The Coal'n is waiting for orders to enter the city. Iraq denies claims there was an uprising. But the Coal'n is certainly encouraging the people to rebel. "We are very keen to foment that", said a Brit cmdr. Observers say in the short term it would solve the supply line and comm problems of the Coal'n. But the say the tactic threatens a civil war in parallel with the invasion at a time no-one is able to control it. Iraq might break down into 3 countries -- as it was when it was formed by Brit after WWII. Reports show long queues of people waiting for water. The water is saline, but that's all there is. 40% of water supplies have been restored. Efforts are underway to repair an electrical stn to allow water pumps to resume, restoring the potable supply. At Red Cross HQ in Basra many locals have been gathering to get food supplies. The citizens are reportedly waiting for the Coal'n assault. Sydney. Iraqis living here think the Basra uprising will be suppressed, like it was in 1991. Either by Saddam, or by the Coal'n. They suspect a puppet govt will be installed by the Coal'n. They say the uprising isn't because people in Basra have been encouraged by the Coal'n, but because they want to get rid of Saddam. With electricity in the city still out, telephone contact is the only way to get message in and out. This is a problem for the Brit forces outside, who are trying to get messages in via radio. And leaflet drops. SYD Iraqis say they're not telling their relatives in Basra to trust the Coal'n. One says he is in AUS now because his family was betrayed by the US and Brit last time. The streets of Umm Qasr is now being patrolled by Brit troops, according to Coal'n reps. They are awaiting supplies that are due to arrive in the next 24-48 hrs. Brit cmdrs say they are moving to restore the local govt. Royal Marines are handing out food to the population. But Iraqis there mostly want cigarettes. The N front. Turkey is assuring the US and the world it has no designs on Iraq. The US has given up on restraining Turkey. If and when they go in the Kurds are ready, say observers. At present they are restrained in response to a small Turkish presence. But several Kurd cmdrs say they will "respond vigorously" if more Turks go in. In the closed military zone 15 km deep on the Turkish side of the border, reporters say they are not just seeing lightly armed troops -- suitable for delivering humanitarian aid, as the govt claims -- but tanks and other armour. There are about 15,000 troops. They aren't green. There are 3 special forces units there -- battle-hardened in mtns fighting the PKK. Not the sort of people for a humanitarian options, say reporters. War protests. There have been dozens of arrests in SYD and Perth after anti-war protests turned violent today. The most violent was in SYD, after 2,000 students met at SYD Town Hall. They then went to the office of the PM. 45 students were arrested, 14 were later charged. The near-rioting lasted 5 hrs. But if the planners were expecting to get attention for their cause, it didn't register in CBR. SYD Police zeroed in after some protesters started throwing chairs, fruit and marbles. Several police were hit and had to be treated at the scene. Police say demonstrators as young as 9 were in the crowd. The ringleaders were in their 20s, however. Police told TV reporters "a large group of Middle E males" incited the crowd. It was not a peaceful protest, they said. 18 were also arrested in Perth after demonstrations got out of control there. In MEL, 1,500 students marched from the State Library to Parl House. It was peaceful. Other marches were held around the country. Protests were also held around the world. 1000s marched in Lebanon, outside the Brit Emb in Beirut. A bomb exploded in the city, apparently connected with anti-war sentiment. Police used batons and water canon to clear away the crowd. Civil servants in Syria marched as 1000s of people poured into Damascus. Their protest was fuelled by the accidental Coal'n bombing of a bus nr the Iraqi border, in which several Syrians died. In Sudan, 30,000 demonstrated, lighting fires and pelting police with rocks. Uni students marched in Cairo. In South Korea, police & demonstrators exchanged blows. Situation normal. Polity leaders in Greece called for police to control protests there. But blows were exchanged in Athens. Argentinians remembered the coup, but also targeted the war in Iraq. Students in Barcelona also came to blows with police there. In Bangladesh protesters broke through police lines around the US Emb. In Parliament, Opp'n leader Simon Crean asked the govt whether the Iraqi regime will be transferred to a US military protectorate or a UN administration. PM Howard said the US would run Iraq for an unspecified "interim period". The PM said the US/Brit would run the country, but AUS would have a "view", he said. After that, there would be "a clear role for the UN", said the PM. The cost of the Iraq war to AUS is still an open question. The Treas, Peter Costello, told the Parliament today the Budget for this FY is still in surplus. By May he will have a better fix, if any, for the next FY, Mr Costello said. For Min Alex Downer will go to Wash next wk. The PM had been "invited" to Camp David, to attend a meeting between Bush and Blair. In the Senate, Amanda Vanstone pointed to a Labor MP who she said supported the war. Sen Cook, from WA, was told to withdraw some remarks after he objected to being told who and what he supports. The US Army has announced that a US company, a Halliburton subsidiary, will get the contract to put out oilwell fires in S Iraq. Halliburton has been indicted for questionable business practices. VP Dick Cheney was its former CEO. The Brit forces in the region say at least 7 wells are still alight in the S oilfields. Putting them out is reportedly unlikely to increase oil production from the fields. The market is already saturated, says an OPEC rep. Meanwhile, crude oil prices rose for the 2nd day. India has test-fired a nuke-capable missile in the country's E. It has a range of 150 km and is capable of carrying a 1 tonne warhead. It's the 16th test of similar missiles. No-one had expected this latest test. 22.20 In the last few mins, Pakistan is reported to have test-fired a missile in response to an Indian test hrs earlier. CBR. The long-awaited building ind'y report is out. At a cost of $60 mn, critics say it's just a witch hunt. But it recommends 31 indictments for criminal conduct. The ind'y operates on the principle that "might is right", said Abbott. Like the Bush Admin! In Basra, Brit chopper pilots say Iraqi tactics make it hard to spot the bad guys. From the 1991 Basra uprising, there are large areas around the city that are the locations of mass graves. These areas "remind" the local population what happens when they defy Saddam. One example shown by analysts was a large area between 2 main roads in downtown Basra. Following the massacre, large numbers of bodies were reportedly bulldozed into a trench there, and later covered over with bitumen and cement. In a press conf Def Sec Rumsfeld said he didn't want to run around the world and call for people to rise up. He said there was no need to ask Iraqis to rise up, they would rise up themselves, he said. 22.30 Qatar. ABC confirms that some officials are saying there have been 14 civilian casualties in a missile attack on Baghdad today. But the official word from Centcom is the media is not to take the Iraqi claims at face value. They say could be a strike by Saddam against his own people, they warn. But Centcom does confirm there have been about 650 Iraqi casualties in a battle nr Najaf, although Gen Franks has not told the media that at a briefing. It's also not clear how the enemy died or what type of troops they were. Iraqis are presently dug into defensive positions, and are putting up a strong fight. Americans are still moving toward Baghdad and say they are "on plan". Nr Nasiriyah, 3,000 chem weapons suits were found. The spin at Centcom is that Iraqis have been prepared to use chem weapons. At the media centre, they say the suits were found in a hospital from where shots were fired at Coal'n forces. That was in contravention of the Geneva Conventions, say Coal'n officials. There are still sandstorms around Basra. Even in Qatar, there are fierce windstorms. Asked about whether Saddam has ordered the targeting of embedded journalists, the ABC reporter in Qatar said that was what he'd been hearing the past few days. Centcom says the strategy for Saddam is that embeds have knowledge of Coal'n troops, and they will crack more easily than Marines. 1 reporter in N Kuwait is particularly said to be on Saddam's list. The same reports are now coming out of N Iraq. The AUS media, in particular, is being warned to get out of N Iraq. Analysts say the invading Coal'n army must now go into urban areas, following attacks on its supply lines. The Coal'n is now bombing civilian areas in at least 3 cities, giving Saddam a new propaganda tool. It now seems Iraq deliberately allowed Coal'n forces into the country before striking back. There has been a "mis-appreciation of the Iraqi tactics" by Coal'n planners, say analysts. It was expected they would be in Baghdad by now. But instead they have supply lines more than 400 km long -- dangerously strung out. If supply lines come under more sustained attack, it will flow through to the front line. Tonnes of fuel and water are required each day to support front-line fighting. Iraqis want as many fronts as possible. The Coal'n says Iraq is still "fighting dirty". 170 Iraqi irregulars were found nr Nasiriyah in a clearly-marked hosp, along with 200 weapons, military uniforms, 300 chem suits and a tank. Gen Myers said some of biggest losses the Coal'n has seen involved violations of the Geneva Convention. The Coal'n response is expected to be to peal off troops and go after Iraqi irregulars. Meanwhile, cluster bombs have been used by the Coal'n in Nasiriyah, apparently in civilian areas. Analysts say the Coal'n could find itself in another demoralising scenario if other Arab countries allow volunteers to go into Iraq. In what some see as "an ominous sign", some volunteers have gone back to Iraq to fight the invading forces from Jordan. 22.50 Dr Harlan Ullman -- author of "shock and awe"-- was interviewed by ABC TV. He was disappointed that the Baath Party HQ in Basra have not been taken out until now. Dr Ullman also expected there would be 10,000s of POW's by now, but clearly was not the case. He was also amazed the Coal'n had left Republican Guard division intact. Dr Ullman said the whole idea of "shock and awe" was to take out all military targets in a very short time, to completely demoralise the military and political leadership. But he denied he was calling for carpet bombing of Iraqi troops. There is talk that Don Rumsfeld told Gen Franks he didn't need all the men the Gen was asking for to conduct the campaign. Dr Ullman said there should be enough Coal'n troops in Iraq now. In any case, he said, the US 4th Inf div is en route from the Med. He conceded the Iraqi resistance was probably unexpected in some circles. "Iraqis are tough and I don't know why we failed to recognise that", he said. Dr Ullman warned that the war was "far from a cakewalk". And he warned about the sequel to war. "Policing and mopping up will be a far greater effort than I think people are thinking about", he said. Ullman also commented on one possible future for the US Admin. If WMD are not found then the political damage to Bush "will be catastrophic", he said. He warned the Admin could find itself in "exceedingly deep and troubled waters". Even if there were no other problems, Dr Ullman said the up-coming battles will be harder. "It gets worse", he continued. The Sunis are the majority of the Baghdad population, he pointed out, and these are key Coal'n allies -- Egypt and others -- that are predominantly Suni, too. But Dr Ullman didn't want to be too pessimistic now, at this early stage. It was fair to raise concerns, he said, but he urged Coal'n supporters to be patient and to see how it turns out. We should "wait and see before we start worrying excessively", he said. But he concluded: "Clearly, this could get a lot worse." 23.00 Former Israeli PM Ehud Barak is in CBR. He told ABC TV he expects more Coal'n forces to be moved into the country in the coming weeks. There are not enough forces there now to control the 22 mn population, he said. Mr Barak said the present Coal'n strategy is broadly right -- to minimise civil deaths. But he warned the Coal'n can't be "handcuffed" by Saddam's tactics of using civilians and civilian areas as shields. He said the Coal'n tactic now should be to issue warnings to civilians to leave the area, and then target Saddam with precision munitions. He said there are about 1,500 targets of every Republican Guard division, and all of them must be targeted. Some civilians will be killed, he conceded. The operation may take weeks, said Mr Barak, but Saddam will fall. He estimated from 4-8 wks would be needed to win the war. Mr Barak warned there will be more casualties on both sides. He says Coal'n leaders should try now to "prepare the public for the real thing" that is about to start. He suspects Iraq might use chem or bio weapons, or just perhaps the threat of using them, might be used by Saddam as an "exit strategy" from Iraq. 11.10 pm The Iraqi Info Min says the Coal'n forces are still not in control of Uum Qasr. He says Coal'n forces remain as they were initially: on dock number 10 at the port. They are not in the city, he says. The Min says the Coal'n wanted to "deceive home public opinion first". It is a "very shabby situation", he says. The town was small with a few docks. "Now they are in a trap", he says. The Info Min says Iraq will "turn the trap into a full and continuous damage... for the longest time possible". The Coal'n are "stupid" and "villains", he says. The Iraqi strategy was "classical and should be taught", he concluded. ---------------------------------------- Thu, 27 Mar 2003. Continuous war news Markets China mine toll 62 8 kids die in fire 5 children killed by grenade 4 killed in Canadian avalanches NK boosts military spending War crimes Japan to launch spy sat France to assist in Iraq China flu toll rises Bombing War support on the rise War protests haven't affected troop morale Women in black Iraqi aid may start today Bushfire inquiry Water rights Spear sells for 400k Govt orders new torpedos Indon fishermen caught Continuous war news *** CONTINUOUS WAR NEWS *** Midnight. It's DAY SEVEN. There have been more attacks in Chamchamal, in Iraqi-controlled N Iraq. Iraqi troops are on a ridge, facing Kurdish troops. They were bombed this morning for the 2nd day running, preparing for a ground offensive with the Kurds, US special forces, and USAF. The Kurdish guerrillas will do the bulk of the fighting, and the US special forces will co-ordinate the ground and air attacks. Basra is now said to be quiet, after an attempted uprising. Brit troops say 100s of "irregulars" had earlier tried to flee the city. Iraq says about 200 homes have been destroyed in Baghdad. There's a crowd still demonstrating against the Coal'n. In a press conf given after Iraqi TV was restored after it was taken off the air by a Coal'n attack, the Iraqi Info Min said Def Sec Rumsfeld was one of the worst "American rulers". Mr Rumsfeld had said Coal'n forces were "defending themselves inside Iraq". The Info Min congratulated "Mr villain" and said that Iraq would show him what defence means. 0.05 Centcom. Daily briefing [40 mins]. Brig Gen Vince Brooks. 47 countries are now in the Coal'n. Brooks showed new video clips from the last 2 days. Single tanks, vehicles, buildings and missile defences nr Karbala, mostly. Hit with precision weapons. Land forces saw action SE of Najaf over a period of 3-4 hrs. Sustained some damaged vehicles but inflicted "significant damage" to the enemy. Nr Nasiriyah, Coal'n forces got control of a hosp that was in use as an enemy HQ. 200 weapons, Iraqi uniforms, a tank and 3,000 chem suits and nerve agent antidote injectors were found there. Brits destroyed Baath Party HQ in Basra. Port waterway up to Umm Qasr is cleared to allow in humanitarian supplies. Continued to talk with Iraqi people via leaflet and Iraqi military. The Coal'n continued to urge people to stay away from military operations, incl special forces. To illustrate the tactics of the enemy, Brooks showed pic of Iraqi comm equipment nr an historic site. 6 wells in Ramaliah still on fire. 1 put out yesterday by Kuwaiti company. Questions. A dead Iraqi soldier has been found in US military uniform, with explosive strapped to body. Gen Brooks was not surprised by report. "Tells us about the tactics of this regime", said Brooks. "More akin to the behaviour of global terrorists than a nation", he said. Report that 14 civilians killed in missile attack on N Baghdad. Brooks could not confirm the report. Report of an attack on a bridge in W Iraq that killed 5 civilians on Sun. Brooks said that was in area that missiles could be fired on other countries, and was involved destroying an enemy vehicle under the bridge. He did not accept Iraqi civilians were killed by Coal'n bombs around Iraq. They were being killed by Iraqis, he said. A reporter asked for statistics about weapons that go wrong or fail to go off. Brooks said the truth would come out. Several reporters asked for the "big picture" and were disappointed by Centcom briefings. Brooks said security was the main concern, and no details would be forthcoming. He rejected the suggestion that the bombs in N Baghdad today were necessarily Coal'n bombs. The sit'n in Basra was a "very confusing situation". The Coal'n had seen fighting between Iraqis in the city. They also saw a "significant degree of shooting into Basra by paramilitaries" using mortars. UK forces were trying to block off the town, he said. They had seen some paramilitaries to the N of the city. The Coal'n remain committed to the liberation of the city, not it's destruction, said Brooks. Operations continued unaffected by the weather, but it was always taken into account, said Brooks. He was asked whether any Iraqi missiles were of proscribed types. Brooks said at least 10 missiles had been fired by Iraq. He said they were of Al Samoud and "erbabil" types. Some had flown "considerably beyond" beyond 150 km, he said. One flew 190 km and landed in the Gulf, he said. [This was the 1st official admission that none were "Scuds"]. Over 4,000 Iraqi POW's were in custody at the present time. The Coal'n remains convinced that Iraq has WMD and the will to use them. What has been found in hosp re-enforces that view, said Brooks. Gen Brooks was asked about the "scud hunt" in W Iraq. He said the Coal'n had seen "success in limiting the options of the Iraqi regime to threaten its neighbours". Gen Brooks says Iraq TV was targeted because it had "military significance". It was used by the regime to issue instructions to its forces. There are reports of 1000s of Iraqi troops coming out of Baghdad and moving S. Brooks said he had not seen any significant movements as described by the reporter. Gen Brooks refused to announce the number of Coal'n casualties, but said they were "small". The Coal'n has taken 107 POW's when it captured a hospital nr Nasiriyah. Gen Brooks was asked about Basra. No Coal'n operations were designed to be a siege, said Brooks. Coal'n warnings are having some effect in asking people to stay off roads. Brooks said there were only a small number of weapons that used DU, and you have to be close to have any possibility of ingestion, and it wouldn't have any significant effect on the civilian population. This had been shown by many studies, he said. A reporter said Dick Cheney's daughter on way to Baghdad to be a human shield. Brooks said it was ill-advised. He said it didn't matter who was in Baghdad. There may be civilian casualties but the Coal'n would try to minimise them. Brooks refused to say how close Coal'n forces were to Baghdad. He couldn't say how many weapons are missing targets. But if a weapon didn't hit a target they go back again. He indicated that statistics of these misses were actually kept. Regarding the missile attack on the market in Baghdad. Based on the Iraqi tactics they've seen, said Brooks, "what meets the eye is not necessarily what is true". Regarding the N front. The Coal'n wants to "maintain stability in the north", said Brooks. Special forces are doing a good job up there, he said. Books was asked whether there were any pix of unsuccessful attacks, or perhaps there were none. He was reminded that the briefings were meant to be "truth" and not "propaganda". He said he didn't have any pix of unsuccessful attacks, and that wasn't the aim of the briefings. 0.30 Safwan. A "border town". Pics of the 1st aid being given out to about 400-500 Iraqi civilians. It was donated by Kuwait. It's being handed and thrown out of the back of 7 lorries. Officials of Red Crescent couldn't control the crowd after the trucks arrived. Local people fear this is the only aid that will come. The mood of the crowd has been worrying. There are Coal'n troops guarding the trucks, but some people have been chanting pro-Saddam slogans. The uprising in Basra is only in 1 working-class neighbourhood, according to an Iraqi opp'n leader in contact with people in the city. 0.45 Observers say it is not credible that Gen Brooks didn't have info on the missiles that hit a market in N Baghdad. He's playing for time -- and will have 24 hrs grace until tomorrow. It's true he probably isn't in full possession of the facts. His refusal to ack that something had happened put the Coal'n in a bad position. Observers were interested by Brooks' reply about the targeting of the main TV stn. Exactly how they determined what was a military significant target had gone unanswered. Civilian employees killed in the targeting of a TV stn created an uproar in the Kosovo conflict. 0.49 USS Mobile Bay. A huge storm is moving through the Gulf. Whitecaps are visible. The embed says the weather is having a "severe impact on flight operations" from the 3 US a/c nr the cruiser. But the launch of missiles is not affected. A couple of salvos went out o'night and this morning. Flying time to Baghdad is about 1 hr. Others were fired by other ships within 6-8 miles. He understands they were leadership targets and military installations. Programming for the missiles comes over in the last mins before firing from the Pentagon. Push-button warfare. Doctors Without Borders have sent 10 tonnes of surgical supplies from the border with Jordan to Baghdad. It's a dangerous journey of almost 600 km. The group works mainly with Iraqi Red Crescent, which has been designated by the Iraqi govt to work with foreign NGO's. They have a small team of internat'l staff still in Baghdad, working with Iraqi health personnel. Communications with them is difficult, say reps. 1.26 am Missile attack in Baghdad. Local people say the death toll is more like 20 in the market in the N Baghdad suburb of al-Shaab. They were saying 40 or 50 a couple of hrs ago. Official numbers are 14 dead, with 30 injured. 2 large craters are visible in the middle of the wide street. There are shops and homes along the street. Some cars are nearby, blackened and crushed. Eye-witnesses say a mother and young child were in one. People in the area are still angry. A few Iraqi militiamen are there, but reporters can't think of any military installation within 1/4 mi of the market where the missiles struck. [A NY Times reporter later told PBS the craters were smaller than those he's seen made by cruise missiles and 900 kg bombs. He said he wasn't an ordinance expert, so couldn't tell what the diff between craters from bombs and explosives detonated on the road would look like]. School children in HK have been told to wear masks as the mystery flu-like virus continues to claim victims. In Singapore, children have been sent home from school after the 1st death from SARS there. Nasiriyah. Marines are still coming under sniper and mortar fire. A large group of Republican Guards is reportedly moving S to engage with Coal'n forces nr the city. 1.45 am All of Iraq's speedboats are reported missing. There's an alert on US warships to look out for suicide bombers in Iraqi speedboats. Powerful explosions heard in hills over town of Chamchamal, nr Kirkuk. Bombing has been heard since Tue night. 1.50 Kofi Annan is making a statement. UN aid workers world return to Iraq as soon as the war is over. Post-conflict Iraq and the role of the UN will be decided by the Sec Council. The Council will meet this morning to discuss the oil-for-food program. Mr Annan has no doubt a solution will be reached. Urged all parties to respect the Geneva Conventions on POW's. POW's should not be humiliated or made objects of public exhibition. 1.55 Brussels. The EC is debating the sit'n in Iraq. EC Pres Romano Prodi is giving a pep talk about the previous crises that led to useful outcomes. Protesters are outside. Very noisy. Inside, some communist, greens, and socialist MEP's have been holding up placards. They were removed by ushers. Some MEP's are trying to bring a motion that the Iraqi was is "illegal". 2.15 An embed with the US Marines says there is a report that about 1,000 vehicles belonging to the Republican Guard are headed S out of Al Kut. Some reports say it's a division. There is also a report that US forces are headed toward the same town. Meanwhile, other elements of the Rep Guard outside Baghdad have fallen back toward the city, explaining why the sound of Coal'n missile bombardments is heard in the S suburbs of the city. Brit forces say the missiles that landed in a Baghdad marketplace is not one of theirs. 2.20 Reporters now doubt the story there was an uprising in Basra. They say it may have been more what the Coal'n wanted to happen. There are also reports of street-to-street fighting between Coal'n forces and Iraqi irregulars on the outskirts of the city. Brit cmdrs say they will mount "aggressive patrols" and may go into the suburbs. There are also reports of Iraqi "irregulars" fleeing Basra. 2.40 Pres Bush is at the AFB in Tampa, Fla. It's his first public appearance since the start of GWII. A lot of whooping coming from the crowd of military people. We are standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Coal'n to liberate Iraq, a regime that threatens peace and world security. We will prevail. Pres Bush now says there are 48 nations that have joined Operation Iraqi Freedom. [Critics have pointed out 6 of the countries listed in the Coal'n don't have militaries. Iceland hasn't had an army since the 14th C]. He says Coal'n troops are preventing Saddam from using his hidden WMD. The US is in the war for all the right reasons, he argued. The Pres said there had been an attack on a group in N Iraq that had been prepared to attack the US and Europe with chem weapons. He said his ultimate aim was for Iraq to govern itself, with a system they choose. [Other reports said part of Bush's speech, that said the campaign was ahead of schedule, was pulled at the last minute]. Al Jazeera is showing pictures of 2 dead Brit soldiers and 2 Brit POW's. Brit cmdrs say they can't confirm the report. Iraqi TV is showing pictures of a drone they say was shot down over Baghdad. They say it brings to 3 the number of unmanned aircraft they've killed. 3.15 Al Jazeera is b'casting an interview of Colin Powell. He says Coal'n troops are coming to give them liberty and humanitarian aid. Mr Powell said there was no reason for the US to halt the war, and there was no call from the UN to stop it. He says the US has explained the strategy to Arab countries. The war would be finished very soon. 3.20 Russian For Min Igor Ivanov told CNN that Russia was calling for an end to the Iraqi conflict. He said Russia was talking with all members of the Sec Council and the Sec-Gen. There was a possibility of a political settlement of the war, he said. He said Russian had no grounds to suspect a company had supplied equipment to Iraq contrary to UN sanctions. He said if such evidence was found the relevant company would be prosecuted. Ivanov urged the US to work in partnership with Russia to end the war and prevent a humanitarian disaster. Iraq says more than 500 civilians have been injured in the Coal'n attack on Nasiriyah. They say 200 homes in the city were destroyed. The Brits say their focus is switching to providing air support to US troops advancing on Baghdad. Brit forces outside Basra say groups of Iraqi soldiers came out of the city today. Some were prepared to fight, while others were apparently trying to surrender. S of Basra, 6 bombs were delivered to targets in Zubayr. 2 wounded Brit soldiers have been evacuated. 3.33 am Baghdad. In the S of the city about a dozen large explosions have been heard. With the internat'l TV feed now out, networks have to rely on reporters on the scene watching local TV, which is still working. Embed with US 1st Bat, 2nd Marines, Alessio Vinci, nr Nasiriyah. Says helicopters still can't fly in the area. There are also complaints from cmdrs there are too many POW's to deal with. It's very cold and windy. He says his unit can't go from where it is now to the hospital that Iraqi troops were using as a HQ. He pointed out that said something about the Coal'n control of the area -- it controlled patches but not the whole region. The area is not really secure. CNN is still smarting after being ordered out of Baghdad. They say they wish they could confirm the attack on the Baghdad market. UN Sec-Gen Kofi Annan says he's growing "increasingly concerned" over the growing humanitarian crisis in Baghdad. Commenting on the report of an accidental missile attack on a Baghdad suburb, he warned all belligerents in the conflict they were legally responsible for all non-combatants in the areas they were operating in. In Indonesia, there are calls from some Islamic groups to do more than demonstrate in the streets. BBC World News has shown what they say are lines of young men signing up for Jihad in Iraq. Govt reps says it sees the move is "impractical", and they see it as simply an expression of solidarity. They hope to encourage the volunteers to become involved in humanitarian assistance. 30,000 troops from the US 4th Mech Inf are headed for the Gulf. It's seen as one of the most advanced forces in the US military machine. They have been stranded off the coast of Turkey for wks. It might take them wks more to reach Iraq via the Suez. [Although some analysts say the 4th will take at least 2 wks to be ready for battle, some reports indicate their tanks are already unloaded in Kuwait. A group of 12,000 soldiers is said to be flying out from their base in TX. They could be in country within a wk.] Marines are reportedly stuck at Ash Shatrah, about 40 km N of Nasiriyah, due to a combination of sandstorms and continuing guerrilla tactics from irregulars. 4 am Reuters reports US forces have lost several tanks and trucks after an exchange of fire with Iraqi forces nr An Najaf. Iraqis armed with rifles and rocket-propelled grenades ambushed US forces. CNN reports Iraqi forces are using the cover of sandstorms to move S to confront Coal'n forces that are slowly advancing on Baghdad. Pentagon officials say they may have mis-calculated the size of Iraq's paramilitary forces. In Kuwait, volunteers have been flooding hospitals to donate blood for the injured in Iraq. 3.27 A huge column of Iraq armour is apparently leaving Basra, headed SE. Brit rec units were surprised to find the large group. The enemy is being strafed by Coal'n jets. No-one is sure whether it's a break-out or reinforcements. Or it may be an attempt to re-capture territory in the Al Fao peninsula. 4.40 CNN says highs for Baghdad are predicted to be 20 C in the next 24 hrs. Visibility nr the S port cities of Basra and Umm Qasr is about 1 km. The situation around Baghdad is better -- about 7 km. In the NW, visibility is around 10 km. The region of cold high winds is moving off to the NE to bother C Asia. CNN has shown pictures of Coal'n troops delivering humanitarian aid to the citizens of Umm Qasr. The convoy of trucks included water tankers. W Va. In the past wk the US has mobilised 25,000 part-time soldiers. They were police, ambulance drivers and TV repair men. Now they're getting a dose of CS gas and have been told to expect worse from the enemy. 5 am The 7th Cav has scrambled to bring up reinforcements on the news that a large group of Iraqi vehicles are approaching their positions nr Najaf. Because of the sandstorms -- visibility presently 75 m -- they can't tell the configuration of the column. They've been moving S from Baghdad at 30-60 kph, very fast for armour. The embed with the 7th says they expect an attack before dawn. Chopper cover hasn't been flying for 2 days. But they've been hearing bombing in the distance. Some Warthogs have apparently been going up. Charlie company has been taking a pounding, but has repulsed Iraqi forces. 5.30 am The Pentagon says it dropped 7 precision missiles on military targets that had been hidden within 100 m of civilian homes. They are investigating whether the market shown on Iraqi TV corresponds to the attack they launched. All they can confirm is the targets they attacked were in the N subs of Baghdad. Latest opinion polls show only 1/4 of Americans think the war is going well, down from 72% in the first days of the conflict. Anti-war demonstrations in Arab countries appear to be increasing. The pro-W positions of several "A list" regimes go against the majority opinion of their populations. Some Middle E analysts say the Bush Admin strategy may end up pushing those countries in the region that back the US out of power. This is presumably the opposite of what the strategy is intended to achieve. In Amman, only several 100s turned out in a snow storm to call for the ambassadors of Israel, the US and Brit to be expelled. In Syria there were much larger demonstrations. 100s of 1000s called for an end to the Iraqi war. Chamchamal. On the hills about the town Coal'n bombing runs continue. TV pix show a sequence of dark mushroom clouds rising above ridge lines. Reporters say there have been at least 5 bombing runs on cmd bunkers in the hills. They say they've only seen 2 or 3 doz Iraqi soldiers up there, and had been unsure whether they would come under Coal'n attack. That question has now been answered. The positions guard the road to Kirkuk -- the location of Iraq's largest single oilfield. An Iranian warship has intercepted an Iraqi speedboat loaded with explosives. It was reportedly headed for an Aussie warship. It confirms suspicions missing speedboats might be used to launch suicide attacks on Coal'n ships. The Pentagon has denied it targeted a N suburb of Baghdad. An official showed the media a map, with an area outlined in blue which he said was not attacked. The Coal'n does not target civilians, he said. However, other Coal'n officials have said they were trying to hit suspected missile launchers hidden in civilian areas in the N of Baghdad. Reporters in Baghdad say they've seen no sign of destroyed missile launchers in the al-Shaab market area destroyed by the explosions. Or there were no missile launchers there in the first place, as locals say. They've been showing reporters the shrapnel from the blast, that they say broke all the windows in the area. Iraqis are said to now see the Coal'n as making casualties of the people they are claiming that want to liberate. AUS's ambassador to the UN has criticised the Sec Council for failing in its duty to the citizens of the world. He urged the members to unite to present a common position on a post-war Iraq. Kofi Annan has urged a special session of the Sec Council to consider Iraqi reconstruction. The emergency session has been called by Arab nations in an attempt to end the war. Mr Annan called for donor nations to give money toward humanitarian aid and post-war reconstruction. But some diplomats and analysts say many countries don't want to donate funds, seeing aid to Iraq as now primarily the responsibility of the aggressors -- the US and Brit. In Basra, lines of people waiting for water have been shown on Al Jazeera TV. Reporters say they've not seen signs of an uprising. People have also been shown collecting water from puddles in the city. Pix also show them celebrating the downing of a Brit unmanned aircraft, that was brought into a square on the back of a trailer, where a young boy used it as a drum while men danced around it. *** END CONTINUOUS WAR NEWS *** Sydney. MARKETS! The Dow was down 50 pts (0.5%) o'night. The mood was sombre with perceptions the war is intensifying. There were also lacklustre economic reports in Germany and the US. An official with the IMF says if the war drags on it could trigger a global recession. There was also a rumour the US would be set to its highest level of alert -- imminent attack in the US. The AUD is trading around 59.90 at midday. The All Ords is down. Gold is trading around $US330/oz. Beijing. CHINA MINE TOLL 62! Rescuers have found 62 bodies of miners killed at a coal mine in N China. 10 other miners remain missing. The official Xinhua News Agency says 4 miners were rescued from the mine in Xiaoyi. More than 100 rescuers have been working around the clock. China's coal mines are the deadliest in the world, with more than 5,000 deaths reported last y in fires, explosions and flooding. Seoul. 8 KIDS DIE IN FIRE! 8 children have died in a fire in a primary school dorm in S Korea, nr Seoul. 16 other children -- all members of a soccer team -- and their coach are in hospital. Police say many of the dormitory's windows were blocked by furniture, trapping toxic fumes. The blaze comes amid widespread calls for new fire safety standards in SK after a subway fire killed 198 people last m. Guayaquil. 5 CHILDREN KILLED BY GRENADE! The Red Cross says a grenade discovered by a group of children and teens in Ecuador has exploded, killing 5 and injuring at least 6 others. The RC says the youths were playing with the grenade in the town of La Concordia, on the Is of Puna, yesterday when it went off. The grenade was apparently left behind by sailors who recently held training exercises on the island. Naval officials weren't immediately available for comment. Toronto. 4 KILLED IN CANADIAN AVALANCHES! 4 people have been killed in 2 separate avalanches in the mtns of BC, raising the death toll from snow slides for the y to 20 in the W Canadian prov. The RCMP website says a 45 yo man died after being trapped in snow for more than 20 mins nr Velemount, BC, about 75 km W of Jasper, Alberta. The website also says about 450 km N of Velemount, 3 others were killed in an avalanche when riding snowmobiles nr Fernie. Seoul. NK BOOSTS MILITARY SPENDING! N Korea has set aside a greater chunk of its limited resources to beef up its military while a nuclear crisis continues to build. And it has also announced the rare sale of state bonds to fill empty coffers. NK's rubber-stamp Parl has allocated 15.4% of this y's budgeted expenditure to defences, up from 14.9% last y. Fin Min Mun Il-bong says the increase is needed to develop NK's def ind'y and train troops. It has also boosted its overall budgetary expenditure this by by 14.4%. London. WAR CRIMES! Amnesty Internat'l says both sides of the wk-old Iraqi war may already be guilty of war crimes. Claudio Cordone, a rep for the human rights group, says US-led coal'n forces would be guilty for bombing state TV in Baghdad. He says the bombing of a TV stn simply because it's being used to broadcast propaganda is "unacceptable". Also as a civilian facility, it's also protected under international humanitarian law. Tokyo. JAPAN TO LAUNCH SPY SAT! Japan will blast its 1st spy satellite into orbit later this wk, giving Tokyo its first indep look into heavily-armed North Korea. However the launch comes at the risk of provoking its communist neighbour into a missile launch of its own. If some analysts and newspaper reports are right, Pyongyang may use the opportunity to launch its first ballistic missile since 1998. Govt officials shave been playing down the risk to a nervous J population ahead of Fri's launch of an H-2A rocket. Paris. FRANCE TO ASSIST IN IRAQ! French For Min Dominique De Villepin says France will provide assistance to US-led forces in the Gulf if Iraq uses chemical weapons against them, but will not get involved in the fighting. He says that the issue of France's non-involvement in the war is essential. De Villepin says the conditions for a speedy re-establishment of the Iraqis' full sovereignty over their country needs to be established immediately. He says there's a real risk of Iraq using chemical weapons against the US-led invasion forces. HK. CHINA FLU TOLL RISES! China has dramatically raised the death toll from a mystery respiratory virus and reported the first deaths in Beijing. Singapore has closed schools to fight the pneumonia outbreak that's killed more than 50 people world-wide. Singapore has also quarantined 861 people with flu-like symptoms and reported its first 2 deaths from SARS. 11 people have died from the illness in HK since the outbreak began in Feb. Cotabato. BOMBING! 3 people have been wounded in the S Philippines city of Koronadal on the Is of Mindanao. The city's police chief Supt Danilo Posadas says the bomb went off outside the public market after it was discovered by a district official and a village defence militiaman conducting their nightly patrol. Posadas say the official, the militiaman and a bystander were wounded in the explosion. He says the bomb was made of a 60 mm mortar shell and a timer. Sydney. WAR SUPPORT ON THE RISE! A wk into the Iraqi war and polls show support for Aussie involvement has risen. The Morgan poll shows a 4 point rise in support for AUS involvement to 50.5%. 46% of those polled remain opposed to our part in the war, with 3.5% undecided. The poll, conducted on Mon, shows 61% of Aussies believe the UN should have supported the military action against Iraq to depose Saddam Hussein. However 33.5% agree with the UN for not backing the attack. Canberra. WAR PROTESTS HAVEN'T AFFECTED TROOP MORALE! The cmdr of Aussie forces in the Middle E, Brig Maurie McNarn, says the morale of the troops hasn't been damaged by anti-war protests. Brig McN says Aussies are mature enough to deal with differences of opinions without attacking individuals sent to the Persian Gulf by the govt. He's told Ch 9 that AUS learnt from the Vietnam war, when veteran were publicly condemned. He says he doesn't think the community will repeat that mistake. Canberra. WOMEN IN BLACK! The latest reports of deaths in Baghdad has spurred on anti-war protesters. Bob Brown says the govt now has blood on its hands. The group Women in Black lined the road to Parl House this morning, with signs showing peace messages. But the PM didn't see them -- he came in another way. The Def Min, Robert Hill, said the civilian deaths hadn't shaken the govt's resolve to rid Saddam Hussein of WMD. He also confirmed about 30 Aussies are on exchange with Brit and US forces, and are fighting on the front lines. Canberra. IRAQI AID MAY START TODAY! The fed govt says humanitarian aid could start flowing into Iraq later today. Def Min Robert Hill said yesterday AUS navy divers working to clear mines around the strategic S port of Umm Qasr were expected to complete their work by last night. He says as soon as the port is clear, the allies will be able to start delivering 100,000 tonnes of Aussie wheat. PM John Howard says AUS wants the UN to play the lead role in post-war Iraq. Canberra. BUSHFIRE INQUIRY! The fed govt has followed state leads and set up an inquiry into this y's bushfires, in a bid to avoid a repeat of the horror blazes. Territories Min Wilson (iron bar) Tuckey says the committee will deliver its final report by Nov 6, as the next bushfire seasons is getting underway. He says it'll look at land mgt practices and policies in the national parks and state forests. States and territories have their own bushfire inquiries already underway. Canberra. WATER RIGHTS! The fed govt is threatening to withhold $bns in payments to the states if they refuse to reform water property rights. Dept PM John Anderson says the govt won't back down from threats over the competition payments. There's been m of debate between the states and the fed govt over water reform, and the payment of compensation to farms who lose water to help the environment. Mr Anderson's comments come ahead of a meeting of state treasurers tomorrow. London. SPEAR SELLS FOR 400K! The spear used by an Hawaiian islander to kill Capt Jim Cook in 1779 has sold at auction for more than $A400,000. The spear, which has been converted into a walking stick, was expected to fetch $A40,000 but an anonymous London buyer stunned Edinburgh auctioneers Lyon & Turnbull in a telephone bid with an American backer. The buyer said her family was originally from Yorkshire but had no links with Cook, who came from the county. Canberra. GOVT ORDERS NEW TORPEDOS! Def Min Robert Hill has given the green light for a controversial project to equip Australia's troubled Collins class subs with heavyweight torpedos. Sen Hill says the govt's approved the purchase of the US-made torpedos as a cost of $465 mn. Labor last y claimed the weapons were too heavy, too expensive and too outdated for the Collins. Sen Hill says the new weapons will dramatically add to the combat effectiveness of the sub fleet, with the torpedo to be jointly developed by the US and AUS navies. Perth. INDON FISHERMEN CAUGHT! 3 Indonesian fishermen are in detention in Broome after an RAN vessel spotted them allegedly dishing illegally in AUS waters. HMAS Bunbury caught the 3 on Tue as they were fishing SE of Ashmore Is. The Aus Fisheries Mgt Auth'y says the Indon boat began taking water as it was being escorted to the mainland, and the Navy vessel took the crew aboard. Sydney. MARKETS! The local markets were largely lacking direction today, with the All Ords closing down around 4 pts. Shares exposed to the US economy or Iraq fell heavily. These were offset by rises in local companies. In Japan, the Nikkei was only marginally up 17 pts. O'night, the Germany DAX was down more than 2%. The AUD is trading at 60 US cents, even. *** CONTINUOUS WAR NEWS *** 4.30 pm 1,000 US paras have dropped into Kurd-controlled N Iraq and seized a key air base, un-opposed. PM Blair has arrived in Washington for talks with Pres Bush at Camp David. An enemy column incl 100 tanks S of Basra has been broken up by Coal'n air strikes and artillery. An official says initial reports of the o'night battle indicate a lot of the column was repelled and destroyed. The convoy was estimated at between 70 and 120 vehicles. A large enemy column moving S from Baghdad has been confirmed as a Republican Guard division re-position itself. A battle between Marines and Iraqi forces is taking place about 20 km SE of Najaf. 40 enemy are reported killed, and 14 Iraqi vehicles destroyed. Dr Hans Blix says the find of chem weapons suits in C Iraq is no proof the country still possesses chem weapons. He also said in a press conf that no proscribed weapons have yet been found in Iraq. Dr Blix said claims that Scud missiles had been used have been withdrawn. He said weapons inspectors were ready at any time to go back to Iraq, but no-one has been asking. New explosions in N Iraq are thought to be in support of a US para landing at the Bashur air base. Analysts say there aren't enough Coal'n troops in Iraq to take Baghdad. They suggest US cmdrs will delay until Apr, and wait for re-enforcements of 3 divisions before launching what could be a bloody assault. Some predict resistance from the forces in the Iraqi capital could be much greater than Coal'n planners expect. In the meantime, taking Basra and some other towns in other regions would provide a PR coup. The WashPost says some US military planners are saying they expect the war to last for months. The UN has estimated about $1.7 bn in food aid is needed to feed Iraq's 27 mn population. 5 pm Not all the citizens in Uum Qar are happy. While humanitarian aid has been delivered to the township, there are "down with America" signs sprayed on some buildings. Some citizens also told reporters they hope America loses the war. TV pics have also shown ammunition and weapons stored at the local school. School children had led soldiers there. 500 aging hand-grenades and a large number of RPG's were found. N Iraq. In the last few hrs the 101 air assault brigade has landed. It will relieve US special forces who've been holding onto positions for the last wk or more. M1A1 tanks have also been air-dropped. And elements of the "Big Red One" have landed. Until now, the Kurds have not been too willing to declare their hand, and were waiting for the coal'n to give a sign they would come in to attack Iraqi forces. With another promise from Turkey today it is not going to send troops across the border, the Kurds are reportedly turning around. Instead of facing toward the border with Turkey, Kurdish fighters appear to now be looking S, preparing to launch attacks on Iraqi troops. In Kuwait, reporters say the weather is clearing. Centcom says they're expecting "clear blue sky" today. The Apaches can now go up, and are expected to make a move on Republican Guards that have been moving S from Baghdad. 6.30 pm 40 US Marines have been injured in the largest friendly fire incident of the war so far. A cmd post nr Nasiriyah was reportedly attacked by other coal'n forces. It then returned fire. The casualties only include those at the cmd post. It's unknown whether the counter-attack injured any soldiers. An AFP corresp says 6 trucks were also destroyed. Centcom has confirmed "an incident" is being investigated. It came as a sandstorm and determined Iraqi opposition bogged down Coal'n forces. A major Iraqi advance nr Kut has reportedly been stopped by Coal'n forces. Coal'n cmdrs say about 1,000 Iraqi troops have now been killed in fighting around Najaf. In what Aussie cmdrs say is a "good sign", Aussie SAS forces operating behind enemy lines have begun encountering unarmed Iraqi soldiers, still in uniform, returning home. After questioning, the Iraqis have been allowed to continue. 7 pm AUS has formally outlawed Ansar al-Islam, the group believed responsible for a suicide bombing that killed an Aussie reporter in N Iraq last wk. In Tripoli, 40,000 people have demonstrated against the war. Police fired automatic weapons into the air to break up the demonstration. 20 people were arrested when a break-away group tried to mount an assault on an American fast-food restaurant. In Lebanon, Helzollah TV has claimed the real face of American aggression has been exposed, with the bombing of the Baghdad marketplace. 7.05 pm Some Brit reporters in Qatar have been told some of their names have been added to the list by pro-Saddam forces for kidnap and torture to reveal what they know about Coal'n forces. PM Howard has criticised UN Sec-Gen Kofi Annan for putting the Coal'n and Iraq in the same basket when Mr Annan warned all belligerents they were responsible for civilians in their areas. There was a day of protest in MEL today. Lawyers, public servants, nurses, builders, wharfies and others protested against the war in workplaces around the city. An expert on internat'l law told public servants on the steps of Parl House the war was illegal, as there was no right of pre-emptive self-defence. 9 pm Iraq says there were 36 fatalities in the past 24 hrs in Baghdad, with 17 of them in the "marketplace" incident. It says the civilian death toll since the start of the war is around 350 and another 4,000 have been injured. SBS showed pictures of Coal'n tanks firing on Republican Guard nr Najaf. During the shooting, a Coal'n tank is hit, bursting into flames. It's another friendly fire incident. It's just one of many accidents, they say. There has been no official comment. No unofficial details were given on the fate of the tank crew. SBS has shown Coal'n warplanes coming back from Iraq, trying to land on a carrier in conditions of restricted visibility. Sandstorms limited visibility to less than 1 km. Woah! They can have that job! Another Iraqi missile has been shot down coming into Kuwait. Reporters say at least 30 explosions have been heard in the Iraqi capital today. Most targets were far out in the S suburbs, where the Republican Guard is dug in. But some buildings to do with the Admin of the RG were hit on C Baghdad. The police computer centre was also hit. Some US officials say a stray Iraqi SAM was to blame for the explosions in a N Baghdad marketplace. The SMH corresp in Baghdad has been surprised by the attitude of a young doctor in one of the city's hospitals. If anyone would be impressed by the Bush campaign to depose Saddam and liberate the country, it should be an intelligent, well educated middle-class Iraqi, the corresp said. Instead, the doctor says he would like to go out into the countryside and kill invading Americans. 22.40 Russia has tested an ICBM in the country's NW. Doha. Daily press briefing for Brit reporters. Air Marshall Brian Burridge. Reporters have had about enough of the air-brushed press briefings. Brit reporters got tough with the Brit cmdr giving the briefing today. After Burridge opened by offering his condolences for the families of Brit POW's and casualties today, we was asked whether he also extended his sympathies to casualties and their friends and families in Baghdad. The Air Marshall pretended not to know which incident reporters were talking about. When they made it clear, he said the incident in Baghdad -- which clearly was the only one they could have meant -- hadn't been resolved. The reporters didn't ignore the contradiction. Another reporter asked why the briefings continued to present a rosy picture, yet the 100s of embeds interviewing cmdrs in the field presented different views. Burridge went into denial mode. A Coal'n convoy going through As Samawah, about 100 km W of Nasiriyah, was hit heavily by enemy forces using guerilla tactics today. There are no details or information about Coal'n casualties. ABC TV has shown pics of a Coal'n artillery piece exploding. It was said there were no casualties. ---------------------------------------- Fri, 28 Mar 2003. Continuous war news Markets Our way or the highway Objective: Baghdad 11 killed in Colombia Aid worker killed Suspects shot Aussies in action Doctors to get $5 extra Another phone call from Mr Bush AUS locked out Welfare reforms *** CONTINUOUS WAR NEWS *** Midnight. It is DAY EIGHT. Brig Vince Brooks says the "market attack" was either an act of deliberate sabotage on the part of the Iraqi regime, or was an old and unreliable SAM that went "up and down". He down-played suggestions it was a Coal'n attack. But reporters say the Pentagon has not rejected outright the possibility it was a Coal'n attack gone wrong. US troops are still fighting an intense battle at Al Samawah, 250 km S of Baghdad. RAF doctors are fighting for the hears and minds of the local people. They were shown holding their first clinics, treating local children for internal complaints after they drank ditch-water. Treating adults for shrapnel wounds. They're trying to prove to the locals they're the good guys, says Dr Simon Chappell. The un-named town in S Iraq where he's located is an RAF helicopter base. There's a threat from snipers. De-mining teams have also been finding as they remove anti-personnel mines from nr the runway, some are mysteriously replaced within hrs. [When this same story was re-shown on CNN 5 hrs later, it was mentioned the "clinic" was held at a "farmhouse" and not a township, as described by BBC World News]. Very heavy explosions have been heard in Baghdad, some of them too close for comfort. Jet aircraft have been seen low overhead. BBC reporter Rageh Omaar say he's seen at least one SAM heading W from a position nr the city. BBC says some Iraqi opposition members, which has been carefully cultivated by the US as possible successors to Saddam, have started to rally around the Iraqi dictator. Some analysts say the nationalists are starting to stick together, and Saddam may become the hero of Gulf War II. Reporters have been ordered out of Nasiriyah. Embeds suggest the fighting around the town is about to intensify. The key area is an important point on the supply route to the front. Marines have become bogged down there. A ship due to arrive in Umm Qasr with humanitarian aid has been delayed after more mines were found in the shipping channel. 2 mines have already been detonated nr the harbour. Aussie special forces have been sweeping the harbour and shipping channels. They say the water has zero visibility, and the bottom is quite muddy. De-mining operations have been conducted by feel. The Brit military says 3 oilwell fires have been extinguished, but 6 more are still burning. They say they have control of about 600 wells in the Ramaliah fields. The S oilfields will be resuming export within 3 m. It's been reported about $1 bn would need to be spent to get them back into full production. 0.45 Crude oil has continued to gain significantly. The rally accelerated on news another Iraqi missile has been shot down over Kuwait. In other news, clashes in Nigeria have shut down 800,000 bpd from that country. The Iraq has brought another 1.8 mn bpd to and end, at least temporarily. OPEC says it will fill the gap, but its quality not as good as the Nigerian crude. Brent oil has increased $US1/bbl to about $US26.30. EU markets and the FTSE was down about 1% overnight. Analysts note that since the start of the war, no significant gains or losses have been seen on world markets. 1 am BBC World News says with blue sky the Iraqis are burning oil around Baghdad again. Scenes of groups of conscripts on street-corners cleaning their weapons. The Iraqis say 6 mn people have received military training. One soldier is shown clearing the breech of an AK-47. It discharges, shooting wildly into the air. This man could use a bit more training, says the voice-over. A small group of paras from the 173 airborne, based in Italy, have been shown in grassy fields N of Arbil. They will link up with local Kurdish fighters. 1.30 am Brit has doubled its war budget to 3 bn pounds. BBC News says even the moderate Indonesian groups have labelled Pres Bush the "21st century Genghis Khan". The Pentagon has declared there are only 75,000 US forces in Iraq, far fewer than previously declared. UN reps say claims by Brit PM Tony Blair and others that the humanitarian crisis in Iraq was not created by the Coal'n are not correct. They say the food-for-oil program was coping quite well with supplying about 60% of the population with food, under the US-based sanctions program that prevented Iraq from freely trading on world markets. 2 am Baghdad local temp is presently a mild 16 deg C. Winds are picking up. Visibility is around 5 km. More air raid sirens and explosions have been heard in C Baghdad. Reporters say AAA batteries have been opening up intermittently. The Pentagon says more than 600 cruise missiles have been fired since the start of the Operation. The "market attack". Following today's briefing at Doha, NBC says they have a document from a battle damage assessment team. While the Coal'n says they haven't ruled out the possibility a missile that killed civilians in N Baghdad might be a Coal'n weapon, they've checked and found aircrews tasked for missions nearby did hit their intended targets. But they say one aircrew came under attack from SAM's and "took countermeasures", incl "firing back". The assessment suggests it may have been a downed Iraqi SAM that did the damage. NBC says the document also links increasing civilian deaths with Shi'ite areas, indicating that Saddam Hussein and his regime are minority Suni. [Of course it would stand to reason that 65% of the population would have 65% of the casualties, all other things being equal]. A post office in Baghdad has been hit. Iraqi officials say it proves the Coal'n is continuing to hit civilian targets. A tentative list of US administrators for Iraq has been named. Gen Ray is predicted to be the new ruler of Iraq, with Gen Abizaid his deputy. Regional Admin's have also been named, with Whitehouse "friends" nominated for the Suni and Kurdish regions. The plan is said to be flexible, with resident figureheads possibly being controlled by the Generals from the US. 2.45 am 3 American reporters are MIA in Iraq. They have not been heard from for 2-3 days. In the cafes of Germany it's hard to find Coke and Pepsi. But you can find Mecca Cola. High profile US brands are taking the brunt of protests around the world. And just as McD's is launching its new "MacArabia" in the Middle E. But the boycott program, which incl dozens of indep web sites in Germany alone, hasn't yet affected business at the country's fast-food outlets. But with one site, that calls on consumers to dump everything American from branded sportswear to gas-guzzling cars, listing 30,000 signatures of those that have signed up for "the cause", co-ordinators hope the movement will grow and hit America where it hurts -- in the pocketbook. 3 am NBC reports a mass "die in" in central NYc has been a fizzer, with only a couple doz protesters laying down in 5th Ave. They protesters are outnumbers by police, but they haven't yet been moved on. A poly sci prof slash talking head says if protesters come across as selfishly pushing your own agenda -- like Mike Moore at the Oscars -- you do your cause more harm than good. 3.05 Bush and Blair are giving a press conf. Bush said the coal'n was working to free the Iraqi people. Day by day, in steady progress, forces were advancing against the enemy. We offer out prayers to the fallen. We are engaging the dictator's most desperate units. Iraq will be disarmed and the regime ended. We are delivering humanitarian aid. We have asked the UN to re-start the oil-for-food program. This issue must not be politicised. We will provide a representative govt. But the form of govt will be chosen by Iraqis. We will bring hope to the entire Middle E. We will soon release a road-map to have Israel and Palestine live in peace. Brit and the US have fought Nazism and the Cold War. Out purpose will be achieved. Blair said the alliance had never been stronger. Saddam Hussein will be removed from power and disarmed of WMD. We will see it done. Already progress has been made. We have secured the S oilfields and protected the wealth for the Iraqi people. We are within 50 mi of Baghdad. We have paved the way for humanitarian aid. We have wrought real damage on Iraq's command and control. Our bravery and professionalism contrasts with the brutality of the thugs of the Iraqi regime. The release of pictures of the executed Brit prisoners provides more proof of the flagrant breeches of the rules of civilised war by the enemy. We must restart the oil-for-food program. This is urgent. We will work with the UN and donors to seek a resolution to confirm Iraqi territorial integrity and install post-war administration for Iraq. Our priority now is to win the war. Our goals are just. This is a regime that has brutalised their people for 20 y. The vast majority of Iraqis want the future we will bring them. Our aim is to rid Iraq of WMD. We will liberate you. Your day of freedom draws near. [In questions after the statements, neither Bush nor Blair would explain why they each said Brit POW's had been "executed". Apparently one of Tony Blair's "tells" is to smirk continuously when he's telling a lie. Bush just rambles incoherently. Today he was mumbling about "thugs" and people having their tongues cut out, being tied to posts in a town square, and bleeding to death. It was his justification for war. Analysts say the priority on the oil-for-food program is linked with the relatively small budgets announced by the US for post-war reconstruction and humanitarian aid. It will be "easier" for the post-war Iraqi regime to pay for its own food aid by selling oil at fire sale prices]. 3.30 am Reporters at a press conf in Baghdad "reacted" when a missile landed close to the site where they were being briefed. TV cameras have shown 1000s of men and youths streaming out of the city of Basra today. They were reportedly in search of food. 4 am There have been no live reports from embeds in the field today. Apparently they have been shut down. US officials say 8 of the 12 Iraqi missiles fired into Kuwait have been brought down by Patriot batteries. Local reports from Kuwait seem to indicate the Patriots have been largely ineffective. ITV news embed with Brit troops in S Iraq has reported another aid disaster. Brit forces took water and supplies into a town but a near-riot ensued. Troops has almost managed to restore order when ITV had to stop filming. They later said the cmdr had told them local militias had opened up on the crowd, scattering 100s of men and boys. They had to leave the township immediately. 4.05 am Reporters have been taken to a residential suburb in S Baghdad, the site of a bombing. They were told that 8 civilians had died there, with another 44 wounded. Brig Brooks says the sandstorms yesterday had confused the US's high-tech precision sensors. A convoy that was reputed to be 1,000 vehicles that left Baghdad, headed S, turned out to be a lot smaller than advertised and was dealt with. [Either that, or it broke up along the way and the rest are hiding. :-)] 4.30 am In N Iraq, Iraqi govt forces have pulled back 20 km toward Kirkuk, allowing Kurdish forces to move forward and occupy the govt troops' previous position on a ridge, W of Chamchamal. BBC says about 80 Iraqi soldiers also surrendered, indicating their force is weak. Some local roads have been found to be mined. [DW-TV later said "villagers" had moved forward to the abandoned positions, with Kurdish fighters trying to prevent them from moving further into Iraq. The villagers have reportedly moved about 15 km inside the border of Iraqi-controlled Iraq. Reporters say other Kurdish fighters have remained inside the Kurdish area]. Brit soldiers have been searching through the rubble of abandoned enemy positions for Iraqi army boots. Their own boots are reportedly disintegrating in the heat. They say the Iraqi footwear is lighter, cooler and better wearing than MOD issue. 5 am Brit forces in the S Iraqi oilfields say they've discovered chem weapons suits. Together with suits found in a C Iraqi hosp, Coal'n officials say it may indicate Iraq's intentions to use chem weapons. Al Arabia has reported that 3 of their reporters have been missing since Sat. Their staff is embedded with Coal'n forces. Reporters have been shown the remains of a govt road works company on the outskirts of Baghdad that Iraq says was hit by Coal'n cluster bombs. Brit Air Marshall Burridge has demanded Al Jazeera stop showing pictures of dead Brit troops. Burridge described it as "disgraceful" and said it was a violation of the Geneva Conventions. Al Jazeera has defended its right to report the war in Iraq in any way it sees fit. It was not a part of the Coal'n nor the Iraqi regime, said a reporter. The network has subsequently continued to show pictures of the dead soldiers. Other reps say Western networks have also shown pictures of dead Iraqi soldiers. In a press conf in Washington, Brit PM Blair said the pictures showed that Brit POW's had been "executed" by the Evil Regime of Saddam Hussein. 5.15 am CNN has interviewed a happy tank cmdr from the 7th Cav that has been re-enforced by the 3rd Inf. Sgt Paul Wheatley said he'd been under almost continuous fire for about 72 hrs and had become "fearful" last night, when he'd heard radio chatter that 1,000 vehicles were headed toward his position, where only 3 tanks and APC's were located. 5.20 BBC says bombing continues around Kirkuk. Within the past few minutes 2 big flashes have been spotted nr the city. US troops are digging into the Bashur airstrip. Troops and armour are expected to start coming in tomorrow. Another jet is coming in, quite low. 5.30 CNN is investigating Al Jazeera. One commentator criticised the network for using the rhetoric of the govt's it was covering. A rep for Jordan TV said the Western concept of embedding saw reporters using the same terminology as the US & Brit generals. CNN asked what term the Arab media used for the "Coalition". The Jordan rep said some media used "invaders" while others used "US and Brit". They eschewed "Coalition" because that incorrectly indicated some kind of broad consensus. CNN questioned whether Arab media should show pictures of dead Americans or Brits. The Jordan rep said war was ugly, and Al Jazeera showed dead bodies on all sides, while the W media sanitised the coverage. 6 am Al Jazeera has shown footage of what Iraq is claiming is another Apache helicopter that it's shot down. Again, the footage shows a chopper -- apparently intact -- in a grassy field. An Iraqi soldier is pointing to what may be AA damage on the aircraft. No pilots are in evidence. It's believed to be between the Nasiriyah and Najaf areas. The US has refused to comment. The Coal'n says it's conducted 600 bombing raids today. It was the heaviest day of bombing since the start of the war. In C Baghdad the Info Min, the Planning Min, and the Foreign Min were hit. The Dow is down about 47 pts. The Nasdaq is down 9 pts. But the indexes are bouncing back after their worst levels of the session, after fears the war will last longer than prev expected. Gold is trading higher, around $US329/oz. Oil is on the rise, and back to $US29.68/bbl. Brit says 2 men captured by Iraq were contractors delivering supplies to Iraqi POW's. [Hence blowing a hole in Mr Blair's Geneva Convention complaints]. 10 am 100,000 reservists have been called up in the US and will be beading to Iraq next m. 1000s of civilians have been seen leaving Najaf and Nasiriyah. As Marines prepare to take more serious action in Nasiriyah women and children were told to leave town, and 1000s headed S. Centcom says they are not missing any Apaches, and suspect vision shown on Al Jazeera are the same aircraft seen before. Salvos of cruise missiles have reportedly stuck Baghdad overnight. Kurdish fighters are advancing on Kirkuk. US officials say Baghdad will be encircled within the next 5 days. A US military officials says elements of the Iraqi regime have been forcing men to the battle-front by threatening their children. 11 am Press briefing, CBR. Brig Mike Hannan. There have been no AUS casualties in the past 24 hrs. Or the whole war. There have been 2 cases of chicken pox amongst Aussie seamen. Some problem with a desalination plant. 2 "possible mines" were exploded in the harbour nr Umm Qasr as de-mining operations continue. Aussie F/A-18's have attacked targets nr Baghdad. The Coal'n says a total of 42 war fighters have died in the first 8 days of the Operation. Coal'n forces have clashed with elite Republican Guard units S of Baghdad. DW-TV says 1000s of US troops have been reported in the SE of the country. American aircraft have been seen taken off and landing. It's suspected that embed reports from "a country nr Iraq" have been taking place from Jordan. Opinion polls in Germany remain against the war. A recent poll found 83% of Germans are against what they see as a US action, with just 12% saying the war is justified. 61% say Germany should play a role in post-war reconstruction. 36% are against involvement after the war. Iraqi TV has been reduced from 3 down to 1 channel. It's also presently in B&W and "blurred", according to journalists on the scene. 4 pm Enemy forces have tried to break out of Basra for the 3rd time. Brit forces say Iraqi soldiers have been using civilian disguise to flee the city. Iraqi TV has been showing the downing of another unmanned drone. It was shown descending on a blue & green parachute, perhaps explaining some of the reports in prev days of parachutes seen over C Baghdad. *** END CONTINUOUS WAR NEWS *** Sydney. MARKETS! The local market was directionless after a lack-lustre session on Wall St o'night. The All Ords was 5 pts higher at 10.15 am. The Dow closed down 9 pts and the Nasdaq was even after fighting back from significant lows just before the end of the session The AUD is trading higher at 60.13 US cents. Qantas shares are down 11%. With airlines world-wide cutting jobs and predicting a very tough y with war and flu fears, Qantas is also signalling it may not meet its profit forecasts. Sydney. 163 YEARS! Australia's oldest stockbroking firm has agreed to merge with American banking giant Goldman Sachs, bringing 163 y of indep to an end. The deal will see GS meld its Aussie business with JBW to create a leading local investment banking and securities company. GS will own 45% of the new entity, to be called "Goldman Sachs JBWere", with about 100 partners and employees of the company owning the rest. GS has been operating in AUS since 1987. NY. OUR WAY OR THE HIGHWAY! The US amb to the UN has walked out of a debate after Iraq's amb accused the US of trying to exterminate the Iraqi people. US amb John Negroponte said he sat through most of the debate, but had heard enough. Iraq's UN envoy Mohammed al-Douri was accusing the US of arranging contracts to rebuild Iraq in 1997, 6 y before the US-led war was officially declared last wk. Negroponte got up and walked out as al-Douri continued to speak. Nr Karbala. OBJECTIVE: BAGHDAD! Coal'n warplanes have flown more than 600 bombing missions as skies clear over Iraq, blasting enemy light armour as US-led troops resume their advance on the Iraqi capital. In the Kurd-controlled N, about 1,000 US troops have parachuted into an AFB to open a new front against Saddam Evil. To the S, Brit forces have destroyed 14 Iraqi vintage tanks trying to break out of Basra. Bogota. 11 KILLED IN COLOMBIA! The Colombian army says 11 soldiers were killed when they walked into a minefield planted by leftist rebels nr the rural birthplace of Novel-winning writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The troops were hunting for guerrillas when they stumbled into the trap nr Aracataca, 700 km N of the capital. 8 other soldiers were wounded. Colombia is gripped by a 4-decade old war pitting leftist rebels against RW paramilitary outlaws and state security forces that kills 1000s of people each y. Geneva. AID WORKER KILLED! An aid worker with the ICRC has been killed in C Afghanistan. The 39 yo Salvadoran nat'l died when unknown assailants attacked a vehicle he was sharing with Afghan colleagues. The group was working on improving water supplies in the town of Tirin Kot in Druzgan prov, the statement said. Belgrade. SUSPECTS SHOT! Serbian police have shot dead 2 men described as "top suspects" in the assassination of the former PM. The Serbian govt says the pair were killed late today during a gunfight as they were resisting arrest. The Interior Min'y says they were allegedly leaders of the Zemun Clan, a crime gang that has been accused of masterminding the Mar 12 assassination of Zoran Djindjic. Canberra. AUSSIES IN ACTION! Def Force Chief Gen Pater Cosgrove says Australia's F/A-18 Hornets have been on more bombing missions over Iraq in the last 24 hrs. He told Sky News they warplanes are clearing the way for ground troops to enter the Iraqi capital. Some Hornets were also involved in escort duties, protecting air-to-air re-fuellers and early warning aircraft. [Zzzzzzz...]. Gen Cosgrove refused to comment on reports SAS troops are hunting down Iraqi leadership figures such as Pres Saddam. Sydney. DOCTORS TO GET $5 EXTRA! PM John Howard is reportedly planning to give doctors as much as $5 extra to provide free treatment to pensioners and low income earners. The Daily Telegraph says Mr Howard will also allow patients to get their Medicare rebate without visiting an office, instead using a swipe card at a doctor's surgery. The paper says the govt has been testing electronic billing in surgeries around the country, and will extend it nation-wide. Canberra. ANOTHER PHONE CALL FROM MR BUSH! PM John Howard held a lengthy discussion late last night with US Pres Bush and PM Tony Blair on the war in Iraq. The Coal'n had just announced a push to re-introduce the oil-for-food program. Mr Howard's rep says Polish Pres Aleksander Kwasniewski also joined in a 4-way 20 min conference call. Mr Bush and Mr Blair, both at Camp David, said they were pleased with the progress of the conflict and thanked AUS for its contribution. There are presently 4 countries providing troops to GWII. Poland has sent 200 soldiers to the conflict. Canberra. AUS LOCKED OUT! Aussie companies have been locked out of lucrative US aid contracts to reconstruct Iraq. Labor says AUS firms are being blocked from bidding for contracts to help re-build Iraq although the govt led internat'l support for the war. Def Min Robert Hill says he is not aware of any AUS companies obtaining US contracts for Iraq. He says AUS companies have solid experience in tackling the reconstruction needs for Iraq after the war. Canberra. WELFARE REFORMS! Controversial reforms to AUS's welfare system have become law almost 2 y after being flagged by the fed govt. A deal struck between the govt and the AUS Democrats means the $900 mn bill has passed the Senate with relatively minor amendments. It also avoids another double dissolution trigger. Under the new laws, unemployed people in casual or part-time work can build $48 weekly credits up to a maximum of $1,000. ======================================== (*) 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. *** I thought I left that marketplace around here somewhere?! ***