IRAQ-NEWS - April 10, 2003 1/2
G.Lange
IRAQ-NEWS - April 10, 2003 1/2
DAY 21 OF THE WAR
* Saddam's rule in Baghdad collapses as US forces sweep into
capital to ecstatic welcome and looting; Iraqis dance on
giant statue of Saddam toppled by US troops.
* Rumsfeld says fighting in Iraq will continue for some period,
says Saddam and sons need to be acccounted for, that there is
some intelligence Syria has cooperated in moving Iraqis.
* New firing, possibly from tanks, heard from west of Tigris in
Baghdad.
* Cheney says US, Iraqi officials to meet in southern Iraq on
Saturday to begin planning for interim government.
* US, Kurdish forces dislodge Iraqi army from mountain used to
defend the northern city of Mosul.
* US says holds 7,300 PoWs.
QUOTES
Rumsfeld: "There is no question but that there are difficult and
very dangerous days ahead and that the fighting will continue for
some period."
US General Buford Blount: "There may be more combat in the north
but in Baghdad and the south the end of the combat phase is days
away."
Dinkha Khosina, standing among Iraqis greeting American troop:
"We're ecstatic to get rid of him after all these years of war
and deprivation."
Ayub, a demonstrator: "This is the greatest feeling I've had in my
life, after spending 11 years in military service because of all
the wars Saddam has put us through."
BBC television reporter Rageh Omaar: "There is looting of government
stores, people going out into the streets without - seemingly - any
fear, chanting anti-government slogans."
Russian foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko denying a
claim that Russia was sheltering missing Iraqi President Saddam
Hussein in its embassy in Baghdad: "This type of claim absolutely
does not and cannot correspond with reality."
Chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix, in an interview with the daily
El Pais, speaking of the US and Britain: "There is evidence that
this war was planned well in advance. Sometimes this raises doubts
about their attitude to the (weapons) inspections."
CASUALTIES
* US: 96 dead, 10 missing.
* Britain: 30 dead.
* Iraqi military: More than 2,320, according to US military.
Iraq has given no figures for its military losses.
* Iraqi civilians (Iraqi estimates as of April 3): 1,252
killed, 5,103 injured.
MILITARY ACTION
BAGHDAD: About 20 US tanks, other military vehicles take up
positions near Tahrir Square on the east bank of the Tigris,
considered the heart of the Iraqi capital. Cheering crowds
sack UN headquarters east of centre.
US tanks rumble up to the Palestine Hotel in central Baghdad,
observed by the international media crews who have been based
there. US Marines seize what they described as a headquarters
of the secret police. US troops pull down tall statue of Saddam
as crowd of Iraqis cheers.
SOUTHERN IRAQ: Residents of Basra complain of a power vacuum as
armed men roam streets, looting, pillaging. British officials
say a local sheikh will take over leadership in Basra province.
NORTHERN IRAQ: US, Kurdish forces take Maqloub mountain, some
15km northeast of Mosul.
US planes bomb Iraqi positions in northern oil hub of Kirkuk but
ground forces in north make slow progress.
Jordan Times, Thursday, April 10, 2003
http://www.jordantimes.com/Thu/news/news2.htm
* * *
DAY 20 OF THE WAR
* Jordan Times staff reporter killed in US missile strike
at Al Jazeera Satellite Channel's office in Baghdad; two
cameramen, from Reuters and Spain's Tele 5, killed after
US tank fires on Baghdad hotel housing foreign media.
* US forces tighten grip on Baghdad, blitzing targets in heart
of city after trying to assassinate President Saddam and his
sons; US says it does not know if air raid killed Saddam.
* Bush, Blair endorse "vital" postwar role for the US; Chirac
says up to UN alone to handle reconstruction.
* US warplanes bomb Iraqi positions in Kirkuk, report slow
progress on the ground.
* Syria says coordinating with Turkey, Iran to prevent division
of Iraq.
* Head of IAEA Al Baradei says UN must be asked to verify any
test results indicating existence of WMDs in Iraq.
QUOTES
International Federation of Journalists: "The bombing of hotels
where journalists are staying and targeting of Arab media are
particularly shocking events in a war which is being fought in
the name of democracy."
Reuters editor in chief Geert Linnebank, after the death of
Ukrainian cameraman Taras Protsyuk in Baghdad's Palestine Hotel:
"Advancing US troops... have known all along that this hotel is
the main base for almost all foreign journalists in Baghdad."
French journalist Herve de Ploeg, who filmed a US tank firing at
the Palestine Hotel: "I did not hear any shots in the direction
of the tank... It had been very quiet for a moment. There was no
shooting at all. Then I saw the turret turning in our direction
and the carriage lifting. It faced the target... It was not a case
of instinctive firing."
Committee to Protect Journalists on US attacks on media locations:
"We believe these attacks violate the Geneva Conventions."
Director Kamal Askar at Baghdad's Al Kindi Hospital: "Yesterday
was horrible but today will be even worse, judging by the number
of wounded brought in this morning."
Kevin Parker, 21, a sailor aboard the US aircraft carrier Kitty
Hawk: "Why does our country always have to come over and dictate
to these people how to live their lives, what's right, what's
wrong? That's kinda like what they're tryin' to do here."
Iain Simpson, spokesman for the World Health Organisation: "When
this conflict started we all said there were sufficient supplies in
Baghdad for several weeks at least of normal medical operations...
This is not a normal medical situation."
An editorial in the Turin daily newspaper La Stampa: "Winning the
war is not enough. The problem is to win the peace."
UK spokesman Al Lockwood on Saddam: "We're fairly certain and we
have good source reports saying he has been killed. But we still
don't have substantiation and I think until we get that we can't
definitely say so."
MILITARY ACTION
BAGHDAD: US warplanes, tanks, artillery pound central Baghdad,
target government offices; US troops push into capital from
several directions.
US Marines push into Baghdad from east, say have seized Rashid
military airfield, which Iraqi forces had abandoned.
US military says does not know if air raid on Mansur district of
western Baghdad has killed President Saddam.
CENTRAL IRAQ: US forces advance to northwestern edge of city
of Hilla, use planes, tanks, artillery to attack Iraqis
firing rocket-propelled grenades and automatic rifles. Fighting
sporadic, but intense at times, lasts most of the day.
NORTHERN IRAQ: US pounds Iraqi positions in and around Kirkuk
overnight in one of the heaviest attacks yet in the area, but
report slow progress.
US special forces prevent Iraqi troops moving south towards Tikrit.
US says has seen Iraqi commanders leave their posts or express
willingness to stop fighting, but no defections from ruling Baath
Party.
Jordan Times, Wednesday, April 9, 2003
http://www.jordantimes.com/wed/news/news2.htm
* * *
Thursday 10, April, 2003 / Last Updated:
12:39PM Doha time, 10:39PM GMT
US troops come under fire in west Baghdad
Bands of non-Iraqi Arab fighters are reported to be putting up heavy
resistance to the US military presence in Baghdad with fierce clashes
reported in the western half of the Iraqi capital.
Reuters correspondent Khaled Yacoub Oweis saw several explosions as
US planes swooped over the Mansur district in west Baghdad. He said
Arab fighters were in control of streets in Mansur and other districts
in the west of the city as well as Aadhamiya and Waziriya in the
north. They were manning checkpoints and US troops were nowhere to be
seen.
US warplanes attacked targets on Thursday after marines came under
heavy fire along the northern banks of the Tigris river with machine-
guns and rocket-propelled grenades, with one marine reported killed
and 13 wounded, a US officer said. US marines also entered a mosque
to search for opposition fighters.
Many of western Baghdad's residents, notably in the west, are from the
majority Sunni school of Islam, and unlike the Shia who were oppressed
under Saddam Hussein's Baathist government, have less reason to welcome
US rule.
US forces were also reported to be sweeping through north-eastern
districts of the sprawling capital hunting guerrilla fighters.
http://english.aljazeera.net/topics/
article.asp?cu_no=1&item_no=2293&version=1&template_id=263&parent_
id=258
* * *
Thursday 10, April, 2003 / Last Updated:
12:39PM Doha time, 10:39PM GMT
Continuing fighting threatens to aggravate law and order crisis
Jay Garner, the designated administrator of Iraq for the foreseeable
future, will make his way from Kuwait to Baghdad in the next couple
of weeks to take control of the country.
The retired US general will head to Baghdad as interim administrator
with his team once the shooting stops, Defence Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld said last night.
"They'll move to the Baghdad area at that point that the Baghdad
airport is sufficiently secured to take a number of civilians
who are not in a combat situation ... as the war and the kinetics
decline," Rumsfeld said.
Garner and his team have been preparing for their role in
administering Iraq for some time, but it could still be a
while before the new administration move to the capital.
"There's a lot more fighting that's going to be done. There's more
people are going to be killed," Rumsfeld predicted.
As if to underline his point this morning fresh clashes erupted on
the northern banks of the Tigris in Baghdad claiming the life of
one US marine and injuring 13.
Continued fighting may delay relocation to Baghdad and also set
back attempts to restore law and order. Despite widespread looting
and vigilantism, US and British troops have so far been reluctant
to engage themselves in policing the cities they have captured.
Baghdadis today looted under the watchful eye of US Marines the
luxury homes of senior figures of Saddam Hussein's regime, including
his son Uday, an AFP correspondent reported.
The villas of Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz, Saddam's daughter
Hala, his half-brother Watban, and army generals, where Uday's
villa was totally stripped except for a fixed wrought iron barbecue
in the middle of the garden.
A truck outside Uday's house was laden with a huge oak table and
gold chairs, while a painting of Saddam was left "We also found a
photo album and an address book of names of young women he brought
to his home to satisfy his filthy tastes," one looter said of Uday
who once cruised the city looking for girls.
The street leading to Uday's luxury house, which was closed to
traffic when the Iraqi regime controlled Baghdad's streets, was
clogged with vehicles.
Around midday, a US army unit that had been stationed overnight at
Tareq Aziz's home joked with a group of around 20 soldiers. As soon
as the Americans left, the group rushed in to grab anything that
came to hand.
In Basra local professionals have pleaded in vain with British
marines to meet their commander to discuss the worsening security
situation. Asked by a reporter if he felt safe, one of their
number replied: "Bloody hell, no. Nobody does".
Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Myers said his
forces were working to restore public amenities but sounded much
less assuring about moves to install a new administration.
"It really doesn't matter where general Garner and his group is
because they are, in fact, acting now," he said .
"The restoration of water supplies in several southern towns,
the restoration of electrical power grids, he's the one that
is overseeing that work."
Nevertheless, it will facilitate the new governor of Iraq to be
operating from the heart of the country and that this is likely
to be a few days. Fighting has not yet ceased, according to the
Defence Secretary.
"There is no question but that there are difficult and very
dangerous days ahead and that the fighting will continue for
some period," he told a Pentagon news conference.
It would be a boost for the new administration if they could finally
draw a line under the former Iraqi President. "We still must capture,
account for or otherwise deal with Saddam Hussein, his sons and the
senior Iraqi leadership," Rumsfeld concluded.
http://english.aljazeera.net/topics/
article.asp?cu_no=1&item_no=2274&version=1&template_id=263&parent_
id=258
* * *
Thursday 10, April, 2003 / Last Updated:
12:39PM Doha time, 10:39PM GMT
Anarchy amid the euphoria
K S Dakshina Murthy
The jubilation, looting and lawlessness that has filled the vacuum
caused by the collapse of the Saddam Hussein government looks like
an early indication of what lies ahead for Iraq.
If sections of people in the capital Baghdad and the southern city
Basra indulged in looting, there were others who tried to physically
attack those who were loyal to the administration of Saddam Hussein.
In Basra where 'control' was proclaimed earlier in the week, a
contingent came upon a mob in the process of stoning a man to
death.
"They stopped throwing stones when they saw us, but some of them
still had stones in their hands. One had a broken bottle. They
were beating him with sticks, punching him," a soldier said. "They
shouted 'he broke into our friend's shop'." He was rescued in time.
The looting of banks, hotels and other official or semi-official
buildings is going on unabated, while residents have resorted
to vigilante justice against looters who target private houses
or shops. One estimate says there may have been "about a dozen"
lynchings of thieves in Basra since its capture.
British forces concede they would interfere to save a life, but could
do little to stop the looting. "You get to the Sheraton, and there
are 300-500 people. They took everything," a soldier said. The hotel,
the city's smartest, was ransacked.
The invading troops had been instructed to "win over local people".
At the same time, they had to maintain a semblance of law. As it
turns out, they just watched as people let out their steam by taking
the opportunity to loot and where possible wreaking revenge on
loyalists of the previous government.
The sense of confusion over the next stage in the battle seems to
permeate from the top down. British troops say they have picked an
unnamed "sheikh" to be a future leader for the province. Under whose
direction and orders is not clear. But reports from Basra say they
are a long way from re-establishing a police force that disappeared
along with the rest of Basra's civil administration after the US-led
forces invaded Iraq three weeks ago.
A decision has been taken only on what needs to be done immediately --
the setting up of the Office for Reconstruction and Humanitarian
Assistance (ORHA). The White House has indicated this will be led
by a retired military official, Lt. Gen Jay Garner. Several hundred
bureaucrats, contractors and humanitarian workers would arrive in
Iraq as part of the ORHA to ensure running of essential utilities
including the bare functioning of the government and ensuring food,
water and electricity for the people.
"In many ways we are learning as we go," said Major Jeff Jurgensen
of the Office for Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance (ORHA)
as he arrived in the southern port city of Umm-Qasr. "You have to
earn the trust of local people by talking to them, finding out what
they need and then showing them you can consistently deliver on
those needs."
The military will continue to have a sizeable presence under
Gen. Tommy Franks and will maintain order until an interim
Iraqi government can be set up.
But nothing much beyond this has been finalised. "There's a lot
of strategic big picture decisions that are in the final stages
of being made and those decisions will then flow back down to our
level," he said.
The team will work with Iraqis except for those associated directly
with the deposed Saddam Hussein government or his Baath Party.
But the job does not look easy. Already Garner's role has sparked
off suspicion in the Arab region about Washington's motives and
widespread calls that the United Nations be given the job instead.
The ORHA team has said it wants to hand over to Iraqis quickly, but
how quick is the question. What is causing concern is there are no
plans as yet on longterm issues. Analysts point out that larger
questions have not been answered on issues like how the oil trade
will be controlled and regulated, on ways to reconcile feuding Iraqi
groups and on the character of the government that will eventually
take over office in Baghdad.
In the meantime, the law of the jungle prevails. As a middle-aged
former policeman in Basra says, "No authority now. No law now.
No anything. Thieves everywhere. Everyone is afraid, because no
safety. If there is no authority, there will be revolution."
http://english.aljazeera.net/topics/
article.asp?cu_no=1&item_no=2240&version=1&template_id=263&parent_
id=258
* * *
Thursday 10, April, 2003 / Last Updated:
12:30PM Doha time, 10:30PM GMT
Rumsfeld repeats charges against Syria
US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld reiterated charges that Syria
was sending military aid into Iraq as another senior US official
warned Damascus to take a lesson from what was happening in Baghdad
on Wednesday.
"I have accurately advised that they not provide assistance to
Iraq," said Rumsfeld. "They seem to have made a conscious decision
to ignore that."
Syria earlier dismissed the accusations that it sent night vision
equipment and other military assistance into Iraq.
The US Defense Secretary also accused Damascus of helping family
members and supporters of missing Iraqi President Saddam Hussein
Baghdad into Syria, saying Washington had evidence of such movement.
Air Force General Richard Myers, chairman of the US military's Joint
Chiefs of Staff, said there was evidence pointing that some family
members of Iraqi officials were leaving.
Rumsfeld said he was not talking about "very senior" people fleeing
to Syria.
The secretary said the US government was offering awards to Iraqis
who came forward with information on chemical and biological
weapons and alleged atrocities committed by Hussein's government.
New targets?
Emboldened by the US war in Iraq, conservative hawks are setting
their sights for "regime change" in Iran and Syria.
In Rome, US Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and
International Security John Bolton warned Syria to heed the
lessons of the US-led war in Iraq.
"We are hopeful that a number of regimes will draw the appropriate
lesson from Iraq. That the pursuit of weapons of mass destruction
is not in their interest," he said.
Bolton said this was an "opportunity" for Syria to renounce the
pursuit of weapons of mass destruction.
Syria and Iran are on the US State Department's list of states
that support terrorism. Earlier this week US Secretary of State
Colin Powell denied during a trip to Cairo that Washington planned
to invade Damascus and Tehran.
But in Washington the mood was more hawkish. "It's time to bring
down the other terror masters," wrote Michael Ledeen of the American
Enterprise Institute earlier this week in an article entitled "Syria
and Iran Must Get Their Turn."
"Iran, at least, offers Americans the possibility of a memorable
victory, because the Iranian people loath the regime and will
enthusiastically combat it, if only the United States supports
them in their just struggle," wrote Ledeen.
"Syria cannot stand alone against a successful democratic revolution
that topples tyrannical regimes in Kabul, Tehran and Iraq."
While no one has explicitly called for using force against Syria
and Iran, conservatives in and out of the US administration hope
the Iraq war will signal to Damascus and Tehran that they could
be next.
"I hope we could change the regimes without military force and I
would not contemplate using military force in those places," said
Kenneth Adelman, a former Pentagon aide and early advocate of
toppling Hussein.
One US official played down the idea that the United States was
contemplating using force against Iran or Syria, suggesting
the hawks were simply reflecting the "strategic ambiguity" that
Washington practices with potential adversaries.
"When talking about threats from countries that have really bad
track records and don't wish you well, US policy has been to never
rule anything out," he said. "That doesn't mean you're actively
contemplating an invasion or the use of force."
It was widely believed that Vice President Dick Cheney was referring
to Syria and Iran when he said in a speech that Washington would "do
whatever it takes" to defeat terrorism and must confront nations that
sponsor it.
"In removing the terror regime from Iraq, we send a very clear
message to all groups that operate by means of terror and violence
against the innocent," he said.
--- Al Jazeera with agency inputs
* * *
Thursday 10, April, 2003 / Last Updated:
5:33PM Doha time, 3:33PM GMT
Volunteers resist US troops in Baghdad
Twenty-one Iraqis were killed and one United States Marine was
shot dead in separate firefights in Baghdad, only a day after
invading US-led forces occupied the centre of the capital. Large
numbers of non-Iraqi Arab fighters took to the streets resisting
the US forces in several areas.
The volunteer fighters were in control of several Baghdad streets
in the Adhamiya district, where a mosque is located, and also in
the nearby Waziriya district. Fighters said to be non-Iraqi Arabs
were manning checkpoints and patrolling the area. They were also
out in force on the streets of the Mansur district west of the
Tigris river, close to the Iraqi intelligence service headquarters.
US planes swooped overhead, hitting targets in areas under Arab
control. But the invading troops were nowhere to be seen in Mansur.
There was also no sign of Iraqi forces. Abandoned Iraqi artillery
pieces and missile launchers littered the streets.
Arab fighters appeared to be putting up the main resistance to the
15,000 US troops in the city. Thousands of volunteers from across
the Muslim world are reported to be in Iraq. Ahead of the war, an
audio tape from al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden exhorted Muslims
to fight US forces.
In southwest Baghdad, after a heavy bout of fighting, the bodies of
at least 21 Iraqis were found. The victims seemed a mix of soldiers
and civilians. Eyewitnesses said the deaths were a direct result of
the fighting, and that US soldiers had removed many more bodies.
Meanwhile at a Baghdad mosque where President Saddam Hussein and
other senior leaders were thought to have taken shelter, the invading
forces fought a fierce four-hour battle. Simultaneously, on Thursday,
US warplanes attacked areas of the city still under the control of
Iraqi and Arab fighters.
US military officials said one US Marine was killed and more than
20 wounded in the fighting near the Imam al-Adham Mosque north of
the city centre and near a presidential palace.
"We had information that a group of regime leadership was attempting
to organise a meeting. The fighting in and around the mosque complex
could not be avoided as enemy forces were firing from the area of the
mosque," said Captain Frank Thorp, spokesman at US Central Command
war headquarters in Qatar.
US military officials in Baghdad, reacting to the fighting around the
mosque said they could not confirm whether Saddam Hussein had been in
the area but that the Marines were aiming at targets of "significant
military value". "The mission was successful," they said, adding that
fighting lasted more than four hours, with Marines coming under fire
from rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and AK-47 assault rifles.
The fighting was over but the Marines were "still clearing the mess
up," they said.
In the northeast, US troops swept through the Saddam City district
in the early hours of Thursday, blasting resistance forces with
heavy artillery, mortar and machine-gun fire.
Planes buzzed the area in support of the US units and soldiers
reported seeing Iraqi anti-aircraft fire arching up into the
night sky against the noisy but invisible aircraft.
--- Al Jazeera with agencies
* * *
Thursday 10, April, 2003 / Last Updated:
9:44PM Doha time, 7:44PM GMT
Pro-US Shia religious leader assassinated
Senior Iraqi Shia leader Abdul Majid al-Khoei and an aide were
killed by a mob at a mosque in the Iraqi holy city of Najaf on
Thursday, the Khoei family foundation said.
Majid was the son of the late Grand Ayatollah al-Khoei, spiritual
leader of Iraq's Shia at the time of the 1991 Gulf War. Agencies
quoting Al-Khoei's nephew, Jawad al-Khoei, said Abdul Majid was
stabbed to death at the Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf, one of the
holiest shrines for Shia Muslims.
The murders are expected to increase tensions among Iraq's majority
Shia population.
Both grand Ayatullahs Seestani and Sa'eed Al-Hakeem refused to meet
Majeed Al-Khoei when he returned to Najaf on 3 April - a snub that
may have been intended to underline their disapproval of his close
association with the pro US-led forces.
Najaf, 100 miles south of Baghdad, is one of Iraq's most important
religious centres. The main mosque contains the tomb of Ali bin Abi
Talib, cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad, the first imam
of the Shia.
According to eyewitness accounts, Khoei was at a meeting of leading
clerics held at 10am (local time) in Najaf on modalities to control
the shrine, which has been under the supervision of Haider al Kadar,
widely disliked because of his role as a member of President Saddam
Hussein's Ministry of Religion.
In what was seen as a gesture of reconciliation, al Kadar was
accompanied to the shrine by Abdul Majid Al Khoei .
When the two men appeared at the shrine, members of another faction
loyal to a different cleric, Mohammed Braga al Saddar, verbally
assailed them. Apparently feeling threatened, al Khoei is reported
to have pulled a gun and fired one or two shots. There are
conflicting accounts as to whether he fired the bullets into the
air or into the crowd.
Both men were then accosted by the crowd and hacked to death with
swords and knives. An unknown number of people were injured. "Al
Kadar was an animal," said Adil Adnan al-Moussawi, 25, who witnessed
the confrontation. "The people were shouting they hate him, he
should not be here."
Al-Khoei is among the prominent US-backed exiles who returned to
Iraq as the US-led forces extended their hold over the country.
He had said then that local clerics were attempting to negotiate
a deal whereby Saddam Hussein loyalists would leave the mosque in
return for safe passage out of the city.
Al-Khoei heads a London-based philanthropic group. His father,
Ayatollah Abul-Qassim al-Khoei, was the Shia spiritual leader
at the time of the 1991 Shiite uprising against Saddam and died
while under house arrest.
Abdel Majid Al-Khoei had recently urged his followers in the
Shia cities to stay at home and let the American troops do
their job. He said Saddam's tactics of urban warfare and the
use of paramilitary militias made it highly risky for the
population to revolt.
Strongly pro-US, Sayed Abdul Majid Al-Khoei was a bitter
critic of Saddam Hussein. He temporarily lived in London
waiting for an opportunity to return to Iraq.
--- Al Jazeera with agencies
* * *
Thursday 10, April, 2003 / Last Updated:
9:44PM Doha time, 7:44PM GMT
Bush and Blair launch new 'free' Iraqi TV station
First, they overwhelmed the Iraqis by their brute military strength.
Now, they are out to convert them with their messages.
A day after US-led forces came to occupy central Baghdad, US and
British leaders launched their own television service for Iraq
on Thursday, thrusting news and messages from a US air force plane
flying over head.
"You deserve better than tyranny and corruption and torture
chambers," said US President George Bush in a pre-recorded message
on the newly launched service. "Your nation soon will be free,"
the US president reiterated.
A staunch US ally, British Prime Minister Tony Blair chipped in
with his inaugural message as well. "Saddam Hussein's regime is
collapsing and the years of brutality, oppression and fear are
coming to an end. We did not want this war but in refusing to give
up his weapons of mass destruction Saddam gave us no choice but
to act," the prime minister said in his pre-recorded address.
Called Nahwa Al-Hurrieh, (Towards Freedom), the new Arabic
television service reached few Iraqi homes on the inaugural day
as most of the embattled country remained without power for yet
another day and switching on the television was last in the minds
of the besieged population.
Reaction to the launch was less enthusiastic in the Arab world.
"I haven't seen it. Lets wait till we get to watch it," said Rami
Khoury, the executive editor of the Beirut-based newspaper, The
Daily Star.
But big plans are being drawn up for the new service, jointly
produced by US and the UK.
The content for the new service has been decided with active help
of Iraqi exiles living in London.
Thursday's initial broadcast was reported to have included an
interview with an opposition group, a report on humanitarian
aid and a feature on Iraqi arts. Initially, the service is to
be available in central Iraq including Baghdad. It will then
be extended nationwide.
To publicise the launch, the US air force dropped leaflets besides
advertising on a US-backed radio. The service will continue till a
proper free and open media is established in Iraq, a British foreign
office spokesman said.
At a briefing at the US central command in Doha, Major General
Victor Renuart re-emphasized US keenness to start a new radio
and television operation in Iraq.
"We are working very aggressively to find the contacts within the
country who would like to begin an Iraqi broadcast network to allow
free Iraqis to begin to broadcast their own TV and radio," he said.
Both Bush and Blair sought to use the inaugural broadcast to
woo the the Iraqi people. "We will respect your great religious
traditions, whose principles of equality and compassion are
essential to Iraq's future," the US President said.
Blair also spoke in similar lines. "Our forces are friends and
liberators of the Iraqi people, not your conquerors and they
will not stay in Iraq a day longer than is necessary."
Though the reassurances reached few on the first day, British
officials said the new service will be broadcast for one hour
every day.
--- Al Jazeera with agencies
* * *