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War hightlihgts 3/30/03
Unexploded ordnance kills two US Marines, third killed in bulldozer accident SOUTHERN IRAQ (AFP) — Two US Marines were killed after stepping on unexploded US cluster bombs in southern Iraq, while another was accidentally hit by a bulldozer as he slept, officers told AFP on Saturday. Two Marines were killed in separate incidents Thursday night and Friday after treading on cluster bombs, fired from Howitzers, that failed to explode due to the soft desert sands, the officers said, on condition of anonymity. Since Thursday, bomb disposal teams have been marking and detonating the bombs, which are hard to locate and look like tiny bottles scattered around the desert. In a separate incident on Thursday, a Marine was killed and another injured when a bulldozer accidentally ran them over as they slept outdoors, the officers said. The injured Marine lost one of his legs. US soldiers in Iraq asked to pray for Bush IN THE IRAQI DESERT (AFP) — They may be the ones facing danger on the battlefield, but US soldiers in Iraq are being asked to pray for President George W. Bush. Thousands of Marines have been given a pamphlet called "A Christian's Duty," a mini prayer book which includes a tear-out section to be mailed to the White House pledging that the soldier who sends it in has been praying for Bush. "I have committed to pray for you, your family, your staff and our troops during this time of uncertainty and tumult. May God's peace be your guide," says the pledge, according to a journalist embedded with coalition forces. The pamphlet, produced by a group called In Touch Ministries, offers a daily prayer to be made for the US president, a born-again Christian who likes to invoke his God in speeches. Sunday's is "Pray that the president and his advisers will seek God and his wisdom daily and not rely on their own understanding." Monday's reads: "Pray that the president and his advisers will be strong and courageous to do what is right regardless of critics." Iraq says thousands of Arabs flooding in to fight BAGHDAD (AFP) — Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan said Saturday that thousands of Arab volunteers were flowing into the country to help Baghdad fight the war against the US and Britain. "Thousands of volunteers and fedayeen (martyrdom fighters) are coming into Iraq and major contingents of these volunteers will be seen in the coming days," Ramadan told a news conference. He urged more to come. "I call on the Arab people to be at the highest reaches of this battle, by confronting not only the aggressors in military garb but also those who help them," he said. Ramadan said the Arab volunteers had come to fight "after losing hope of seeing their governments take positions" against the US-led aggression. "Iraq welcomes these volunteers and will offer them the chance to join the battle," he said. Jazeera says missing cameraman back in Basra DUBAI (R) — Arabic television station Al Jazeera said on Saturday it had regained contact with one of its cameramen who it said had gone missing during a British artillery attack on the southern Iraqi city of Basra. Mohammad Abdullah, the Qatar-based station's correspondent in Basra, said the cameraman had rejoined the news team and that he was in good health. The channel said on Friday it had lost contact with the cameraman while he was filming a British tank attack on food warehouses in the city. The channel did not name the cameraman, give his nationality or give further details of his disappearance. Jazeera is one of a few international networks with correspondents inside Iraq's second largest city, which is under attack from US and British forces waging a war to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. 'CIA trying to assassinate Saddam's allies' WASHINGTON (R) — Special CIA and US military units are operating in Iraqi cities, trying to assassinate members of President Saddam Hussein's inner circle, the Washington Post reported on Saturday. Those targeted include Baath Party officials and Special Republican Guard commanders, the newspaper quoted US and other knowledgeable officials as saying. Snipers and experts trained to plant house and car bombs are among those on the covert teams from the CIA's paramilitary division and the special operations group of the US military, the newspaper said. It quoted one source as suggesting that at least some of the explosions seen and heard in Baghdad were not the result of aerial bombs and missiles but rather caused by bombs planted by the teams. It said CIA officials declined to comment. The Post also said that CIA units and special operations teams are trying to organise tribal groups to fight the Iraqi government from the north. A 22-year-old US policy bars political killings but the newspaper notes that since Sept. 11 the Bush administration has concluded that it does not prevent the president from "lawfully" singling out a "terrorist" for death by covert action. Germany to double its aid to Iraq — Schroeder BERLIN (AFP) — Germany is to double its humanitarian aid to Iraq, taking it from 40 to 80 million euros ($43 to $86 million), Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said in an interview with the ARD television channel on Saturday. "We cannot behave as though it doesn't concern us," Schroeder told viewers, referring to the bloody war unfolding in Iraq. "We are going to double our financial possibilities from 40 to 80 million euros. We preside over the UN Sanctions Committee (for Iraq) which also coordinates such aid," he noted. Referring to the situation once the current war is over, he said: "The country's resources should benefit the Iraqi people, and nobody else. The United Nations must play the central role" in Iraq's reconstruction, he added. "As for the details (of such reconstruction), they will have to be worked out at the appropriate time." Turks protest US experts after missile lands in Turkey ANKARA (AFP) — Villagers in southeastern Turkey on Saturday threw eggs and stones at a team of US experts as they arrived in the region to collect a US missile accidentally misfired on Turkey, the Anatolia news agency reported. The missile, which landed half a kilometre from the small village of Buyukmurdes in the province of Sanliurfa on Friday, was the third US cruise missile to have crashed in the region in less than a week. Angry Buyukmurdes residents broke the windows of the four vehicles carrying the experts and chanted anti-war slogans before Turkish paramilitary gendarmerie troops stepped in to move them away, the agency said. The experts were then able to begin their investigation on the missile which landed in a grain field in four pieces. Turkey has opened its airspace to US warplanes to launch bombing raids in Iraq. Former US ambassador to Iraq calls war a mistake ORANGE, California (AP) — A former US ambassador to Iraq condemned the war there as a huge mistake that will further alienate the Middle East and increase the threat of terrorism in the United States. "The only thing that matters in diplomacy is perception," said Edward L. Peck during a lecture at Chapman University Friday. "And the US is not perceived as the bringer of peace, fairness and the rule of law." Peck served as ambassador to Iraq during the administration of US President Ronald Reagan. "We have succeeded in making Saddam Hussein a hero, keeping out the invader," Peck said. "He is a symbol in the rest of the world for having stood up to Uncle Sam. We are not respected out there anymore, folks. We are feared and we are hated." Peck, who spent 32 years as a diplomat, also is a former deputy director of the Reagan administration's terrorism task force. He lived in Iraq from 1977 to 1980. If the US wants to reduce terrorism and bring peace in the Middle East, it should work for peace between Israel and the Palestinians, Peck said.
Opinions expressed in various sections are the sole responsibility of their authors and they may not represent Al-Jazeerah's.
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