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Tuesday,
April 1, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Worldwide protests against war
UN aid reaches Iraq IRAQ WAR DIARY Fewer scribes killed, more jailed in 2002 |
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92 new pneumonia cases reported
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Worldwide protests against war Rabat, March 31
In the first major demonstration to be approved by the Moroccan authorities since the start of the war, protesters yesterday accused the USA, UK and Israel of plotting to control Iraq before attacking other Muslim countries in West Asia. In Pakistan around 100,000 demonstrators — mainly supporters of right-wing Islamic parties — turned out in Peshawar. Around 50,000 persons demonstrated at the Bangladeshi town of Cox’s Bazar, while 10,000 South Korean workers vented their feelings in Seoul. In Brazil, thousands gathered on Sunday in the heart of Sao Paulo — South America’s largest city — to rally in protest of the war.
In Spain, thousands marched in heavy rain to the Torrejon airbase, 20 km from Madrid in protest against Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar’s staunch support to the war. In Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, demonstrators shouted “America, America: terrorist, terrorist” as they brought traffic to a complete halt on Jakarta’s main 10-lane avenue. In Beijing, demonstrating foreigners shouted slogans as they marched past the US embassy, but a strong police presence quickly stymied protests by the Chinese. In Lebanon an Iraqi embassy source said earlier this month, more than 20 volunteers had left for Iraq, and hundreds more had applied for visas. Egyptians keen to fight said their government was trying to stop them from going to Iraq by demanding a letter stating the purpose of their visit, but they said they would not be deterred.
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UN aid reaches Iraq Silopi Turkey, March 31 TAIPEI: Taiwan has sent humanitarian aid to Iraqi refugees who have fled Iraq due to the attack, aid organisations said on Monday. Taiwan had pledged $ 4.4 million to assist in Iraq’s post-war rebuilding and the Foreign Ministry was coordinating 12 non-government organisations in sending aid. The Buddhist Tzuchi International Relief Fund sent two containers of blankets and one container of canned food to Iraqi refugee camps in Jordan.
Reuters, DPA |
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IRAQ WAR DIARY Kuwait City, March 31 But a top British official disputed the claims of Iraq President Saddam Hussein that he had provided six months of food and water and warned that most Iraqis had got between 30 and 60 days of food and water. “We have very clear evidence of people being instructed or encouraged to dig wells in Baghdad, but the water they get out of the wells is undrinkable or at least unsafe,” Major-Gen Albert Whitley, the coalition forces’ deputy commander of post-hostility operations, said. He pointed out that the allies had already restored the water supply to Basra. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) claims to have assembled the largest and most well-trained disaster response team in its history. With over $ 100 million donated by the US Government to the Iraqi people, the agency’s physicians, engineers and transport and logistics officers are confident that their system will service every pocket of the Iraqi population. Throughout the region, the USA has pre-positioned emergency supplies for the Iraqi people, including food, blankets, hygiene kits, water jugs, containers and treatment units. Food aid is USAID’s largest export to the region where 130,000 tonnes of nutritional relief has already reached Iraq or its neighbouring countries. * * * An interesting point is being debated here: whether the thumbs-up sign in Iraq is a positive sign or is it derogatory. Wherever the American soldiers pass through in Iraq, locals can be seen showing the thumbs-up sign to them. Both common people and experts seem to be divided over the real intentions of the Iraqis in this regard. While some say that the sign has vulgar connotations and has traditionally meant to be the worst form of disgrace, others opine that it means in modern-day Iraq what it means in the West: a sign of victory and harmony. * * * The US-backed Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq today took control of more territory from withdrawing Iraqi forces. However, their unchallenged advance was slowed by minefields left by Saddam-loyalist forces. Kurds have now moved more than 15 km closer to Kirkuk, Iraq’s number two oil-producing region. Kurds consider it an essential part of their ethnic land. * * * The Gulf War II has not been good for the US dollar. Since November 2002, the greenback has fallen nearly 7 per cent against a basket of other major currencies. The dollar, the global economy’s principal medium of exchange, has been on the slide for over an year and is down by almost 15 per cent since early 2002. |
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Fewer scribes killed, more jailed in 2002
New York, March 31 Nineteen journalists died around the world last year while carrying out their jobs, including three each in Colombia, Russia and the Palestinian West Bank, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists. That was down sharply from 2001 when 37 were killed, including eight in Afghanistan alone, and the lowest number to die as a result of their work since the group began tracking the annual death toll in 1985. Ann Cooper, the group’s executive director, yesterday attributed the decline to the relative quiet in Afghanistan and progress toward peace in Sri Lanka, Angola and elsewhere, reducing the risk faced by journalists covering violent conflicts. However, the West Bank was “a dramatic exception,’’ Mr Cooper said in “Attacks on the Press,’’ the group’s annual report. “Three journalists there were killed by gunfire from Israeli defence forces and several more were wounded,’’ she said. The committee investigates all reports before including them in its report, to ensure that deaths are related to the journalists’ work. It includes editors, publishers and news directors in its count as well as reporters and writers, so long as they cover the news or comment on it in print, photographs, radio, television or on the Web. The watchdog group said 136 journalists were in jail at the end of 2002. That was 15 per cent more than at the end of 2001 and a 68 per cent increase from the 81 imprisoned at the close of 2000. For the fourth consecutive year, China was the world’s leading jailer of journalists, holding 39 in cells as of the end of last year, the group reported. Eritrea was Africa’s biggest jailer of journalists. President Isayas Afewerki banned the entire independent press corps in September 2001, accusing them of “endangering national unity,’’ the group said.
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92 new pneumonia cases reported Hong Kong, March 31 The number of cases from the Amoy Gardens housing estate in Kowloon had risen to 213, Hong Kong Health Secretary Yeoh Eng-kiong said at a news briefing. Yesterday, there were 121 cases at the housing project. JAKARTA: A 17-year-old Indonesian student had reportedly died of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in Singapore, news reports said on Monday. SINGAPORE: Nurses would screen air passengers arriving in Singapore from areas hit by the deadly pneumonia virus from Monday, the government said, as the city state stepped up efforts to stop the spread of infection. HANOI: Authorities in Vietnam were distributing 5,00,000 health declaration forms at all land and air entry points in an attempt to prevent further cases of atypical pneumonia, an official said on Monday. TORONTO: Health officials in Canada’s largest province on Sunday confirmed a fourth victim of the deadly Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
Agencies |
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