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Friday, April 09, 2004

Iraq War News
Thailand Reconsiders: "From the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said on Friday Thailand was reconsidering its military deployment to Iraq and would order the troops home if it remained too dangerous to carry out their humanitarian mission.
" The Thai military will remain in Iraq as long as they can carry out their humanitarian mission, but if they cannot then they will return ," Thaksin told reporters.
A contingent of 451 troops including engineers, medics and a surveillance platoon was sent to the central city of Karbala last September, as Thailand joined the US -led coalition after remaining neutral during the invasion of Iraq.
"

In Command Post: Irak



Australian Senator's Trip Cancelled: "Updating a previous post , from the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :
An international delegation including Australian Greens Senator Kerry Nettle, set up to investigate the political situation in Iraq, has cancelled its trip.
Senator Nettle left Australia earlier today, but she will be intercepted when she reaches Bangkok to be told of the decision.
Senator Nettle's spokesman Jon Edwards says the escalating violence has left organisers with no other choice.
" The people whom Senator Nettle, together with international parliamentarians from around the world, was scheduled to meet will no longer be able to travel around Baghdad ," he said.
" The NG Os (non-government organisations) themselves, who were organising these meetings, are now trying to leave Baghdad because of the grave security situation ."

So much her party's claim that it was the "occupying force" that was being targetted, not reconstruction agencies.
"

In Command Post: Irak



British Hostage Freed: "From the BBC via the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :
A British journalist has been released after being taken hostage in Iraq by two separate groups.
Stephen Farrell, the correspondent for the Times newspaper, says he was threatened with death after being abducted near Fallujah.
But he says he was freed when he managed to convince his captors that he was a genuine journalist.
" The first group who sees this very clearly appeared to be outlaws, bandits, robbers, thieves, who claimed to be part of the resistance, the fighters against the Americans ," he said.
" But half an hour later we ran into the people who called themselves the Mujahideen, clearly a very different group. Disciplined, organised, a chain of command and they took us away from our original captors, so we were abducted twice if you like ."
"

In Command Post: Irak



Governing Council Reshuffle: "From Reuters via the ABC (Australian broadcasting Corporation) :
United States governor of Iraq Paul Bremer appointed a new Iraqi interior minister on Friday and appointed a Governing Council member to the new position of national security adviser.
Mr Bremer said Samir Sumaidy, a Sunni Muslim political independent on the Governing Council, had been appointed interior minister, replacing Nouri Badran, a Shiite, who resigned on Thursday.
Mr Bremer also said that Mowaffaq al-Rubaie, a Shiite independent on the Governing Council, would take on the newly created national security adviser role.
"

In Command Post: Irak



Palestinians call on Iraqis to rise up against US: " JERUSALEM POST : Palestinians call on Iraqis to rise up against US
Thousands of Palestinians staged pro-Iraq rallies Friday to mark the first anniversary of the fall of Baghdad, calling on Iraqis to rise up against the United States in a holy war.
Following Friday prayers, thousands of protesters in the West Bank and Gaza Strip burned Israeli and US flags and chanted slogans against US President George W. Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
In Gaza City, about 2,000 Islamic Jihad supporters, including children holding the militant group's black flags, chanted "Death to America," and burned effigies of Bush and Sharon.
"Our message to the world, to our brothers in Iraq, we are fighting against the same enemies, the same occupation, we are fighting in the same battle," Mohammed al-Hindi, an Islamic Jihad leader, told reporters. "Our people in Palestine and our brothers in Iraq are slaughtered by the knife, the knife of Bush and Sharon."
"

In Command Post: Irak



Blasts heard in Bagdad: "From Reuters via the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :
An explosion echoed over north-east Baghdad on Friday and a plume of smoke rose from the area, but there was no immediate sign that it had been caused by a bomb, a Reuters witness said.
Some residents suggested that a rocket-propelled grenade fired in the air had caused the blast, near the Um al-Qura mosque where worshippers were gathered for Friday prayers.

BBC and CNN reporters some time after the event stated that the city remained unconcerned about it.
"

In Command Post: Irak



British Soldier Reported Killed: "From the AFP via the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :
Shiite Muslim militiamen have killed a British soldier after shooting down a drone over the southern Iraqi town of Amara, Iraqi police said on Friday.
Warrant officer Mohammad Attiya Obeid, who witnessed the incident, said: "At 10:15pm (local time), rebels opened fire on a pilotless aircraft and shot it down over a public park in the Hay al-Hussein area of Amara."
The rebels rushed to pick up pieces of the downed drone and took them as a trophy to the local headquarters of Shiite radical leader Moqtada al-Sadr, Mr Obeid told AFP.
Shortly afterwards, a unit of about 20 British soldiers arrived on the scene of the crash and the rebels opened fire "killing one British soldier and wounding two others," the police officer said.
"

In Command Post: Irak



Canniobalism Threat Supressed: "According to Reuters , the threat against the Japanese Hostages was :
We tell you that three of your children have fallen prisoner in our hands and we give you two options - withdraw your forces from our country and go home or we will burn them alive and feed them to the fighters

Most Media reports merely state the hostages will be "killed". A minority report they will be "burned alive". But very few indeed report the threat of cannibalism.
"

In Command Post: Irak



Residents Evacuating Fallujah: "From the AFP via the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :
Residents started to flee the besieged Iraqi city of Fallujah on Friday on the fifth day of ferocious street fighting between United States forces and Sunni Muslim insurgents in the western town, an AFP correspondent witnessed.
Men, women and children were fleeing on foot through backstreets and paths that cut through fields, carrying small bags, food and medicines.
Most were seen heading toward the nearby village of Naimiyah
"

In Command Post: Irak



Arafat seeks release of E. Jerusalem men held in Iraq: " HAARETZ : Arafat seeks release of E. Jerusalem men held in Iraq
Palestinian Authority chairman Yasser Arafat personally intervened on Friday to seek the release of two Palestinians kidnapped by insurgents in Iraq, his office said.

"President Arafat has contacted our brothers in Iraq and other international bodies and friends today to help in releasing the two kidnapped Palestinians, Nabil George Razouk and Ahmed Yassin Tikati, both held in Iraq," a statement said.
According to a Foreign Ministry official in Jerusalem, the United States is handling the case of the two Arab residents of East Jerusalem, who were kidnapped Thursday by a previously unknown group in Iraq.
"

In Command Post: Irak



U.S. Orders Halt to Falluja Operations, but Situation Unclear: "A halt to Marine operations in the city was announced, but the situation on the ground was far from clear."

In New York Times: World Special



Why Falluja Remains a Crossroads for Collision: "Many Iraqis have neither accepted their defeat nor the U.S. plans for a new, more pro-Western country."

In New York Times: World Special



Despair and anger in Japan as troops stay in Iraq despite kidnap drama: "The families of three Japanese hostages in Iraq voiced anger and despair as the government refused to pull its troops from the country as the deadline for their threatened execution drew nearer. (AFP)"

In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq



UK's Straw Says Iraq Situation 'Most Serious' Faced: "Britain's Foreign Secretary Jack Strawsaid on Friday the situation in Iraq is the most serious yetfaced by U.S.-led forces that toppled Saddam Hussein a yearago. (Reuters)"

In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq



U.N. Official Pushes to End Iraqi Violence: "U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan called on all parties in Iraq Thursday to intensify efforts to end an escalating crisis and protect civilians caught in fighting in the Sunni Triangle city of Fallujah and several other cities. (AP)"

In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq



US marines resume Iraq offensive: "US marines have resumed their offensive against the Iraqi rebel stronghold of Fallujah following a brief suspension of operations."

In Ananova: War In Iraq



Japan PM denounces terror threat: "Japan's prime minister Junichiro Koizumi has denounced terrorist threats to burn alive three hostages as "cowardly"."

In Ananova: War In Iraq



Missile fault 'caused jet crash': "Faults in a hi-tech US missile system may have been responsible for the shooting down of an RAF Tornado aircraft with the loss of two crewmen during the Iraq war, it has been claimed."

In Ananova: War In Iraq



New talks on Northern Ireland: "Intensive new talks on Northern Ireland's future are expected to be held in London's Lancaster House later this month."

In Ananova: War In Iraq



Bush 'understood terror threat': "George Bush's national security adviser insisted that the US president fully understood the threat of terrorism before September 11, 2001, but no intelligence foretold the deadliest attack on American soil."

In Ananova: War In Iraq



NOT a Ceasefire: "They are calling it a unilateral suspension of fighting. It is still in effect.
The stoppage of fighting is to allow humanitarian aid into the city and, hopefully, to conduct negotiations with the Mahdi army in Fallujah.
"

In Command Post: Irak



Not Liking the Looks of Today: "As a very wise space traveler once (or maybe four times) said - I have a very bad feeling about this.
Today is the anniversary of the fall of Baghdad.
The morning of April 9, 2003 :
U.S. tanks rumbled up to the Palestine Hotel in central Baghdad on Wednesday, observed by the international media crews who have been based there.
Anniversary dates are notoriously important to "militants" like the al Mahdi army. There was already an attack on a convoy today which killed nine Americans soldiers. There's word that a truck has been fired on. An attempt at negotiations are not working.
One year ago, the statue of Saddam was pulled down . Zeyad at Healing Iraq is worried, and with good reason:
Everyone is apprehensive, there is some talk that April 9th and 10th are going to be bloody days. Most people haven't gone to work the last few days, although it seems that the rest of Baghdad is ?normal' (if you can define what normal is). There are rumours about preparations by slum dwellers for another looting spree against banks, governmental and public property similar to the one that took place last April, and I have already overheard youngsters in my neighbourhood joking about it and saying things like "This time we will be the first to loot, we didn't get anything the last time".

Today would be the day to keep your eyes and ears on Baghdad.
Peace to the citizens of that city today.
"

In Command Post: Irak



Brief Stop to Fighting in Fallujah [Updated]: "The U.S called off its Fallujah offensive and tried to negotiate with a city representative.
The negotiations fell through after only ninety minutes and there are now reports that the U.S. offensive will move on.
Lt. Col. Brennan Byrne , commander of the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, said his forces were given the go-ahead to resume offensive operations.
The halt was called at noon to allow a delegation from the city to meet with U.S. commanders, let humanitarian aid into the city and give city residents a chance to tend to their dead.
Byrne did not know why the suspension was called off but believed the negotiations with the delegation never took place. It was not immediately known if offensive operations had actually resumed

Update : There are conflicting reports on whether the ceasefire is still in effect or not. Checking sources now.
"

In Command Post: Irak



The empty room (9 Apr 04) in Radio Free USA



U.S. suspends offensive in Fallujah in CNN: War in Iraq



Signs That Shiites and Sunnis Are Joining to Battle Americans: "Officials fear that the growing uprising against the occupation in Iraq is forging a new level of cooperation between Shiite and Sunni Muslims."

In New York Times: World Special



US attack belies Bremer's Falluja 'truce' (9 Apr 04) in Radio Free USA



US commander will not take blame for unrest (9 Apr 04) in Radio Free USA



A war that was founded on lies and illusions has one simple truth: Iraqis do not want us (9 Apr 04) in Radio Free USA



Blindfolded and facing death in Iraq (9 Apr 04) in Radio Free USA



Arafat Seeks Release of Palestinians Held in Iraq: "Palestinian PresidentYasser Arafat personally intervened on Friday to seek therelease of two Palestinians kidnapped by insurgents in Iraq,his office said. (Reuters)"

In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq



US resumes Fallujah assault after brief stop: "Chaos spread in Iraq on the first anniversary of Saddam Hussein's ouster as US forces resumed their offensive in the besieged town of Fallujah after a brief suspension while insurgents seized foreign hostages as bargaining chips. (AFP)"

In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq



Al-Sadr denies link to Iraq kidnapping: "A senior aide to radical Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr denied on Friday that the religious leader's militia was involved in the kidnapping of three Japanese and threats to burn them alive."

In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq



U.S. Moves Against Iraq Militants: "On the first anniversary of the fall of Baghdad, fierce fighting continues on several fronts in Iraq. An effort to negotiate an end to hostilities in Fallujah failed. GIs regained control of Kut. Rebels are holding at least six foreign hostages."

In CBS News: Iraq Crisis



US marines resume Iraq offensive: "US marines have resumed their offensive against the Iraqi rebel stronghold of Fallujah following a brief suspension of operations."

In Ananova: War In Iraq



Missile fault 'caused jet crash': "Faults in a hi-tech US missile system may have been responsible for the shooting down of an RAF Tornado aircraft with the loss of two crewmen during the Iraq war, it has been claimed."

In Ananova: War In Iraq


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