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Monday,
April 14, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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First anti-US protest after Saddam’s fall Anti-war rallies in USA, Australia
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G-7 for UN resolution on Iraq
Chalabi wants swift ‘de-Baathification’ |
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Iraqi vendors do roaring trade with US Marines US threats
against Syria ‘inflammatory’ SARS virus code broken
Nepal Govt panel on talks with Maoists 4 bombers die in blast |
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First anti-US protest after Saddam’s fall Baghdad, April 13 The US forces began the herculean task of restoring normalcy to the country devastated by years of war and sanctions, setting up an operations centre to screen Iraqi workers in the heart of the battered capital. But near the recruitment desk in Palestine Hotel, demonstrators lifted a banner, “Bush-Saddam.” They chanted: “There is only one God and America is the enemy of God!” and “We will sacrifice our souls and our blood for Iraq!” One protester said the demonstration was meant “to tell the Americans that they’re the ones who put Saddam in power and now they’re going to try to force on us other rulers we don’t want.” Only state-organised demonstrations were allowed during Saddam’s 24 years of iron-fisted rule, during which he made Baghdad known as a world bastion of anti-Americanism. But near the site of the small protest, hundreds of locals queued up for their first jobs in the post-Saddam area, triggering massive traffic jams in central Baghdad. They flocked to a recruitment desk in Palestine Hotel where a marines’ spokeswoman said they were seeking to put Iraqis back at work in key sectors, starting with the police and electrical power departments.
AFP |
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Anti-war rallies in USA, Australia Washington, April 13 The demonstrators, wearing T-shirts like one that read “I see all the dead Iraqi children. Boy, do I feel safe,” and carrying signs saying “Fight the new colonialism!” also condemned the way US media covers the war. Yesterday’s march at first appeared peaceful, but the demonstrators were led through the streets near the White House by scores of policemen and a police helicopter hovered overhead. The police at one point used their batons to hit several protesters who pushed and shoved back. Three persons were arrested, two for assaulting police officers, D.C. Police Sgt. Joe Gentile said, adding that the scuffles began after some demonstrators threw stones at police officers. Earlier, thousands others had gathered blocks away for the “Rally for America” near the US Capitol to support US troops deployed in the West Asia. The flag-waving group listened to speakers and country music and brought supplies to be donated to the US military. There was the occasional confrontation between the two groups, including between one anti-war protester carrying a sign which said: “What would Jesus Say?” To which Eugene Clarke, a Marine, retorted, “Jesus is happy Iraq is free.” In San Francisco, more than 1,000 demonstrators huddled peacefully under umbrellas in a steady rain in front of City Hall to protest a US “occupation” of Iraq, then marched to a nearby park for another anti-war rally. In Washington, demonstrators also focused on the mass media, saying they weren’t truthfully depicting the war to the American public. One protester, wearing a T-shirt that read “Faux News,” joined the thousands who stopped outside The Washington Post to chant “Washington Post! Tell the Truth!” The march targeted News Corp.’s Fox News, The Washington Post and The New York Times. “It’s not about reporting the news anymore, it’s about being patriotic,” said Peter Sullivan, an Ohio college student who came to Washington for the rally. SYDNEY: About 10,000 anti-war protesters marched through central Sydney today calling for peace in Iraq and the immediate withdrawal of Australian troops from the conflict. Religious leaders from the Christian, Hindu, Buddhist and Jewish faiths led the crowd in prayers for peace at the rally to mark Palm Sunday. The protesters then marched through the city centre chanting “Bring the troops back home” and “US out of Iraq”.
Reuters/AFP |
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G-7 for UN resolution on Iraq Washington, April 13 Finance ministers and central bank chiefs yesterday sought to allay fears that the split on Iraq would spill over to the economy. The war’s aftermath overwhelmed dry economic debate at meetings of the Group of Seven industrialised powers, and the 184-member International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. “We support a further UN Security Council resolution,” IMF policymakers said. “The present situation in Iraq poses significant challenges with an urgent need to restore security, relieve human suffering and promote economic growth and poverty reduction.” G-7 powers — Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the USA — set the scene by agreeing to a UN resolution hours before the IMF gathering. British Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, chairman of the IMF’s International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC), said the entire organisation was united on the need for a UN resolution. “This was an enormously positive step forward,” he said. Among the key issues a UN resolution would need to tackle were: — Countries around the world have locked up Iraqi assets, which can only be freed with a UN resolution. — Sanctions against Iraq also must be lifted by the UN. — The role of the IMF and the World Bank in resolving contentious issues, Mr Brown said. IMF members referred Iraq’s debt to the Paris Club of sovereign creditor nations. “It is important to address the debt issue and we look forward to early engagement of the Paris Club,” the IMFC statement said. Iraq’s debts amount to up to $ 127 billion, according to some estimates. Total Iraqi liabilities, including Gulf War claims, may exceed $ 380 billion. IMF Managing Director Horst Koehler said it may be soon to pursue debt forgiveness for Iraq. “Debt forgiveness for Iraq — for me this is a bit premature to judge,” he told a news conference. First, Koehler said, it was important to find out how much debt Iraq had. Fissures remained over Washington’s informal push for debt forgiveness for a new Baghdad administration.
AFP |
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Chalabi wants swift ‘de-Baathification’ London, April 13 “I think, very importantly, we must proceed with great speed and determination with the de-Baathification. We must uproot the Baath Party from the fabric of Iraqi society,” said Mr Chalabi on the BBC television’s “Breakfast with Frost” programme. “This does not mean killing or humiliating or torturing or in any way demeaning individual Baathists,” he said. “But they must come forward, say what they have, deliver what they have of government property, but it means also the destruction completely of the Baath Party organisation.” Mr Chalabi also said that anti-Saddam guerrillas would be going into the Iraqi capital Baghdad and other areas “very soon” to help restore civil order in the wake of President Saddam’s fall. On US plans for an interim authority for Iraq, Mr Chalabi, perceived as the Pentagon’s favorite to head a post-Saddam government, said Iraqi opposition groups must be given “an important role.”
AFP |
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Iraqi vendors do roaring trade with US Marines Baghdad, April 13 ‘’Whiskey’’
he asked, pointing to a cheaply printed label that claimed the
contents was 12 years old and ‘’Bottled in Scotland’’. ‘’Twenty
dollars,’’ he said. Kassim (30) and other Iraqis like him are making a quick buck selling items like bottles of dubious whiskey, cigarettes and even fruit to Marines fresh from the invasion trail. Many of the Marines have long since run out of nicotine and none of them are supposed to drink while on combat operations, leaving them happy to hand over their dollars. Wearing
a conspiratorial grin, Kassim revealed a bottle of 1986 Chateau
Varennes Beaujolais Villages and a 1979 Torres Coronas Dry Red Wine
along side the ‘’De Luxe Scotch Whiskey’’. ‘’This
from house of Saddam Hussein,’’ said a fellow vendor, Leon (27),
although the contraband’s precise origin was unclear. While Marines have squirreled the odd bottle away in their rucksacks, cigarettes are the most popular buy. ‘’It’s
been over two weeks since we’ve seen a Marlboro,’’ said
Lance-Corporal Shane Wiley (21), relaxing at a temporary Marine camp
set up near Baghdad’s Martyrs’ Monument. ‘’It was definitely a
relief to see people up here selling these.’’ Marines have
snapped up cartons of Iraqi-made Sumer King Size cigarettes, along
with Caesar, Dorchester and Kithara brands offered by young men
hawking them from plastic bags. ‘’I bought about three
packets for four dollars,’’ said Lance-Corporal Jason Herring
(21), gesturing at a green-and-white packet of 20 Business Club
Executive Blend cigarettes. The trade is done strictly in
dollars — vendors have little time for Iraqi’s dinar currency. ‘’Even
the people out here, they’ll see dinars, they’ll spit on it,’’
said Herring. ‘’They were like chewing it up and spitting it out.’’ Some Marines said they suspected they may have created a unique business opportunity for the hawkers. Their goods appear to have been looted during the chaos caused by the invasion in the past few days, then sold to the invaders. Marines said one man was offering them apples and oranges at $1 a piece, a welcome sight for troops who have lived off pre-packaged rations since the war began. Some Iraqis have even sold their money, trading Iraqi notes for a few dollars to Marines hunting souvenirs. ‘’We
don’t see this money back home, it’s unique,’’ said Miroslav
Spacek (22), a naval hospital man working with U.S. Marines. ‘’This
type of money’s not going to be printed any more,’’ he said,
examining a pair of 250 dinar notes. Saddam Hussein’s portrait
stared from the freshly minted bills.
Reuters |
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US threats
against Syria ‘inflammatory’
Cairo, April 13 He told the media in Cairo that the threats, which he said were "incomprehensible", would only "increase the gravity of the situation" in West Asia. He was responding to comments by US Secretary of State Colin Powell on the British television warning that Syria must not provide a safe haven to deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein or members of his regime.
DPA |
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SARS virus code broken Vancouver, April 13 Currently, doctors worldwide diagnose SARS patients by a combination of unusual symptoms, including very high fever, difficulty in breathing, a dry cough and contact with someone else suspected of having SARS. Because of the lack of a definitive test, the SARS diagnosis is currently labeled by doctors as either “probable” or “suspect.” The genetic code is the raw material needed by scientists trying to develop a diagnostic test, said Dr Marco Marra, Director, Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre, which is part of the British Columbia Cancer Agency. “One could use these portions of the viral genome to test patients for infection by the virus,” said Marra. HONG KONG: Malaysia said its recently imposed travel restrictions on residents of Hong Kong and two other countries hit by a deadly virus had been lifted for the time being. Besides Hong Kong, restrictions on Vietnam and Canada also had been suspended. But China, did not appear in the Malaysian government revised list. BEIJING:
In a move that could deal a severe blow to the economy of the booming communist nation, the World Health Organisation has put the Chinese government on notice by adding Beijing, to the list of cities affected by SARS. The addition of Beijing as a SARS-affected city came as a blow to the Chinese government which has been claiming that the outbreak of the killer disease that has claimed nearly 120 lives world-wide has been effectively been contained on the Chinese mainland.
Agencies |
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Sikh pilgrims reach Hasan Abdal Hasan Abdal (Pakistan),
April 13 Sikh devotees have come in from India, USA, Australia, Germany, Russia, Afghanistan and Canada for a 10-day trip and are at present in Hasan Abdal, where a gurdwara marks the birthplace of Guru Nanak. They will also visit another gurdwara in Nankana Sahib near Lahore. Nearly 100 Indian Sikhs had been given special permission to cross into Pakistan through the Wagah border to celebrate the festival. Pakistan has deployed adequate security to ensure the safety of the pilgrims in the Hasan Abdal gurdwara managers said.
PTI |
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Nepal Govt panel on talks with Maoists Kathmandu, April 13 The team will be formed within a week to forward peace talks with the Maoists and a directive committee will also be formed under the convenership of the Prime Minister to give directives to the team, Minister for Information and Communication Rameshnath Pandey said. Major political parties represented in the dissolved House of Parliament, including the Nepali Congress, the CPN, the UML, two small left parties and a faction of the Nepal Sadbhavana Party led by Anandi Devi Singh did not attend the meeting called by the Prime Minister. The political parties have said that they would not attend the meeting called by “an unconstitutionally formed government.’’ Yet, the Nepal Government will try to involve major political parties in the peace process despite their boycott of the all-party meeting, minister Pandey said.
UNI |
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4 bombers die in blast Kabul, April 13 An Afghan, two Pakistanis and a Yemeni were unloading explosives from a car at 2300 GMT when the blast occurred, Gen Khial Baz Khan, Khost military commander and a spokesman for provincial Governor Hakeem Tanewal, said. “As soon as they entered their garage and started to unload the car, it exploded, killing him and three foreigners.”
AFP |
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