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Friday, September 24, 2004

Iraq War News
IRAQ: Community based organisations give villagers power: "SULAYMANIYAH, 24 Sep 2004 (IRIN) - Working mainly with funds from the UK-based Department for International and Development (DFID), the local Kurdish NGO REACH has completed 114 projects in northern Iraq in the last two years."

In IRIN: Iraq Crisis



US may send more troops to Iraq: "Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says more US soldiers will be sent to Iraq if they are needed."

In BBC: Conflict with Iraq (UK Edition)



Two Egyptians seized in Baghdad: "Armed men abduct two Egyptians from their office in the latest kidnapping of foreigners in the Iraqi capital."

In BBC: Conflict with Iraq (UK Edition)



Palestinians shell Gaza settlement; 1 dead: "Palestinian militants shelled the Gaza Strip settlement of Neve Dekalim Friday, killing a woman and wounding another, the army said."

In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq



Mortars explode near Italy embassy in Iraq: "Mortars exploded near the Italian Embassy in Baghdad on Friday, slightly wounding three Iraqis, the Foreign Ministry in Rome said."

In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq



Nepal in mourning as protests spread over hostage murder in Iraq: "Nepal observed a day of mourning for 12 workers murdered in Iraq as protests spread to the west of the Hindu kingdom following two deaths during riots in the capital. (AFP)"

In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq



Allawi Effectiveness Hinges on Credibility: "WASHINGTON -- Interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi has emerged as an impassioned witness for the defense in America's presidential election, unambiguously echoing President Bush's key arguments about Iraq and forcing Sen. John F. Kerry into the unusual position of tangling with a foreign head of state during the campaign. (Los Angeles Times)"

In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq



Hostage's mother collapses after appeal: "The unbearable heartache of witnessing her son's torment at the hands of his Iraqi captors proved too much for Lil Bigley."

In Ananova: War In Iraq



Iraqi Nuclear Scientists Tells All in New Book: "

From The Australian :

An Iraqi scientist-turned-author says the most significant pieces of his countryâ??s dormant nuclear program were buried under a lotus tree in his backyard, untouched for more than a decade before the US -led invasion in 2003.

But their existence, Mahdi Obeidi writes in a new book, is evidence that the international community should remain vigilant as other countries try to replicate Iraqâ??s successes before the 1991 Gulf war to develop components necessary for a nuclear weapon.

In The Bomb in my Garden, Obeidi details fallen Iraqi leader Saddam Husseinâ??s furious, and then abandoned, quest for a nuclear bomb.

" Although Saddam never had nuclear weapons at his disposal, the story of how close Iraq came to developing them should serve as a red flag to the international community ," Obeidi writes with his co-author Kurt Pitzer.

The Associated Press obtained an advance copy of the book, to be released Sunday.
[â?¦]
While only the former president knows fully why he didnâ??t restart his nuclear program, Obeidi believes Saddam may have realised the scope of the massive undertaking.

United Nations inspectors had dismantled the program, removed the enriched uranium stockpiles and exposed Iraqâ??s international network of suppliers. And Saddam was making a mint off the UN â??s oil-for-food program, while increasing his control over a population reliant on him for basics such as flour, Obeidi says. To get caught importing components needed to produce a nuclear weapon, the scientist says, would have ended the program.

Yet Saddam kept his Iraq Atomic Energy Commission running, apparently without weapons programs, as late as 2003.
[â?¦]
Obeidi, 60, was the creator of Iraqâ??s centrifuge, a key component in one method of enriching bomb-grade uranium. He considers it the most dangerous piece of nuclear technology because related advances make it possible to conceal uranium enrichment programs inside one warehouse.
[â?¦]
By the late 1980s, Iraq was making breakthroughs. However, the international help dried up as Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990. The UN arrived after Saddamâ??s 1991 defeat, intent on taking apart his weapons programs.

To hide signs of uranium enrichment then, Obeidi describes a massive demolition and reconstruction program he led to remove everything from the top soil to the coffee makers at his former centrifuge lab.

After the 2003 invasion, Obeidi attempted to take the nuclear secrets buried in his garden to US authorities. He describes disorganisation as the CIA and military intelligence wound up fighting over him.

Only after extensive negotiations involving former UN weapons inspector David Albright, who was in Washington, did Obeidi turn over all of his information.
[â?¦]
Looking back, Obeidi struggles to find words to describe how he could arm Saddam, whose government at one point kept him from his family for six months so he could work and left them fearing the walls had ears.

He says it was a matter of national pride and scientific pursuit, but more than anything, it was fear: " The idea of dozens of nuclear bombs in Saddamâ??s hands is horrifying in retrospect ."

"

In Command Post: Irak



Russia proposes that U-N Security Council create new terror blacklist in Katu.com: Iraq & Terror



Gunmen stormed office in kidnapping in Katu.com: Iraq & Terror



Tribunal director says politics causing rushed Saddam trial in Katu.com: Iraq & Terror


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