[casi] Inferior News, 28/5-4/6/03 (1)

[Peter Brooke <pbrooke@DELETETHISukonline.co.uk>]

Inferior News, 28/5-4/6/03 (1)

ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS

*  Kirkuk Elects Kurdish Lawyer As Mayor
*  [Self rule] taken away in Al-Basrah
*  Tribal chiefs meet with coalition representatives
*  Iraqi 'Advisers' Stuck in Kuwait
*  Iraq's Food-Rationing System Resumes
*  A new political model for Iraq     
*  Iraqis Say They Will Defy U.S. On Council Plan

INTERNATIONAL PROBLEMS

*  U.S. troops raid Palestinian mission in Baghdad
*  Iran repatriating Iraqi refugees
*  Brazilian appointed UN special representative to Iraq
*  Poland to deploy peacekeepers in July
*  U.S. Judge Says Iran Liable for 1983 Beirut Bombing
*  UN nuclear agency gets little access in Iraq
*  US, Arab leaders agree on need to fight terror, move ahead with peace
roadmap     
*  Prince Hassan wary of Middle East free trade area

CULTURAL PROBLEMS

*  Archeologists gather in Amman to address 'cultural catastrophe' in Iraq

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

*  Entrepreneurs Plan Businesses in Iraq


ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/w-me/2003/may/28/052801816.html

*  KIRKUK ELECTS KURDISH LAWYER AS MAYOR
by Louis Meixler
Las Vegas Sun, 28th May

KIRKUK, Iraq (AP) - A Kurdish lawyer became mayor of Kirkuk on Wednesday as
people in Iraq's main northern oil city warned there would be no peace in
the divided region if the new administration favors one ethnic group over
another.

Abdulrahman Mustafa won an overwhelming majority from the U.S.-backed city
council, prompting Kurds - including police officers in olive uniforms - to
dance in the street outside the municipal building as U.S. Apache attack
helicopters flew low overhead.

"We're all celebrating because the Kurds won," said policeman Nasrat
Abdullah. "It's the first time we've had such freedom, and it's the first
time that the Kurds will be running the city."

Inside the municipal building, local officials issued a warning to the
council.

"You will not succeed unless you work together and put the public interest
before any other interest," Kirkuk Chief Justice Nureddin Zangna said after
presiding over a swearing-in ceremony for Mustafa and his deputies. "Let us
forget the past and heal our wounds."

Arab legislator Wasfi al-Asi was more direct: "If anyone in the council
favors his own group, peace in the city will be lost," he said.

Ethnic Turks and Arabs had threatened to boycott the vote for mayor to
protest what they said was Kurdish domination of the council, but dropped
their threat at the last minute.

The stakes in the election are high. The Kirkuk region produces nearly half
of Iraq's oil and is a key agricultural area.

The city is divided between Arabs, Kurds, ethnic Turks and Christians and
has been the scene of ethnic tensions that exploded into violence earlier
this month, leaving 11 dead.

Neighbors Iran and Turkey closely monitor developments in the city. Both
fear that Kurdish control of the city's oil wealth could stoke the desires
of Kurds to break away from Iraq and form an independent state. That, they
worry, could destabilize the region and encourage Kurds within their borders
to push for autonomy or independence.

U.S. officials have said Kirkuk, with its natural resources and ethnic
diversity, could be a symbol for the rest of Iraq if it prospers and does
not fall victim to its rivalries.

In Wednesday's balloting, Ismail Ahmed Rajab, an Arab, was elected deputy
mayor. The commander of U.S. forces in the region, Maj. Gen. Ray Odierno,
then chose an ethnic Turk as speaker of the council.

"Our objective is to unite the city," Mustafa said as he left the council
chamber after the balloting. "Of course my job will not be an easy one."

The city council is deeply polarized, reflecting the ethnic tensions of the
city.

The United States chose 300 electors who voted for the council on Saturday,
balloting that was divided along ethnic lines.

Electors from each of the four ethnic groups chose six council members from
their own group. Another six council members were chosen by independents,
but when it became clear that five of the independents were Kurds, ethnic
Turks and Arabs protested.

That led Odierno to intervene and delay the swearing in of the independents.
But Odierno approved the election of the independents the next day and
demanded that all groups accept his decision.

Ethnic Turks later threatened to walk out during the vote for mayor but
backed down.

"We didn't boycott the elections because we thought we had a chance to win,"
said Mustafa Kamal Yaycili, a leader of the ethnic Turkish delegation and
candidate for mayor. "We didn't want to waste the chance."


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*  [SELF RULE] TAKEN AWAY IN AL-BASRAH
RFE/RL IRAQ REPORT Vol. 6, No. 24, 30 May 2003

British forces in southern Iraq have disbanded the Al-Basrah city council,
BBC news reported on 26 May. The council will be replaced by an interim
committee, which will address the technical issues related to
reconstruction, and a civic forum, which will focus on establishing
democratic local governance. According to the BBC, the interim committee
will be composed of the heads of Al-Basrah's utilities, as well as British
military and Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance (ORHA)
officials. The city council was disbanded because it was headed by Shaykh
Muzahim Mustafa Kanan al-Tamimi, a tribal leader and Ba'ath Party member
(see "RFE/RL Newsline," 18 May 2003). (Kathleen Ridolfo)


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*  TRIBAL CHIEFS MEET WITH COALITION REPRESENTATIVES
RFE/RL IRAQ REPORT Vol. 6, No. 24, 30 May 2003

Iraqi tribal chiefs from northern and central Iraq, including the al-Jubur
and Shammar tribes, met with British Ambassador to Iraq Christopher Segar,
and the commander of U.S. forces in the Al-Najaf Governorate, Al-Jazeera
reported on 26 May. The tribes represent some 5 million Iraqis. Shaykh Ali
Hatim Bani Hasan from the Bani-Hasan tribes said that the tribes were
"mainly interested in Iraq's security, unity, and independence," adding: "We
are also interested in spelling out our demands forcefully.... The coalition
countries...must listen to our viewpoint." It appears that the tribal
demands were consistent with the coalition viewpoint. U.K. Ambassador Segar
told the congregation in Arabic, "The important thing is the unity,
security, stability, and economic and financial development of the country.
God willing, we will work with our colleagues in Baghdad to achieve these
objectives." (Kathleen Ridolfo)


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*  IRAQI 'ADVISERS' STUCK IN KUWAIT
RFE/RL IRAQ REPORT Vol. 6, No. 24, 30 May 2003

Some 150 Iraqi exiles who served as 'advisers' to the U.S. government in the
weeks and months leading up to Operation Iraqi Freedom remain stuck in the
U.S., while other sit in Kuwait, awaiting U.S. approval to cross the border
into Iraq, the "Los Angeles Times" reported on 27 May.

Pentagon officials have confirmed the holdup, with one official telling the
daily, "Currently, 17 [advisers] are in Iraq." But the official acknowledged
that 31 were held up in Kuwait City, delayed by canceled flights,
sandstorms, and engine trouble. According to the "Los Angeles Times," those
waiting to cross the border include two electric-power experts, who have
waited two weeks for a military flight into Baghdad. Another two experts are
in Washington. Imad Dhia, the director of the team of exiles, told the
newspaper from Baghdad that the delay was related to a lack of space on
aircraft flying into Baghdad International Airport. "Obviously, we are not a
priority," Dhia told the "Los Angeles Times." A Pentagon official familiar
with the U.S.-assembled team said of the group, "We wanted the best people
we could find -- people who were capable of walking into the [Iraqi]
ministries and gaining the respect of the people who worked there," but as
the "Los Angeles Times" noted, most have not been able to do so. The
official said that all of the 150 exiles were expected to be on the ground
in Iraq by 1 June, but conceded that it was unlikely to happen, the daily
reported. (Kathleen Ridolfo)


http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/w-me/2003/jun/01/060108919.html

*  IRAQ'S FOOD-RATIONING SYSTEM RESUMES
by Hamza Hendawi
Las Vegas Sun, 1st June

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP): A massive food-rationing system that fended off
starvation for Iraqis during more than a decade of U.N. sanctions resumed
nationwide Sunday for the first time since the U.S.-led war began.

Once overseen by Saddam Hussein, the program is now run by the U.S.-backed
occupying force.

About 45,000 distribution agents headed to U.S.-guarded food warehouses to
collect their quotas, but many grumbled that rising transportation costs
were eating into their small profits.

"It's not worth the trouble anymore," said Baghdad retailer Kawkab Mohammed
Abbas.

The national distribution of the monthly rations - a food basket that
includes flour, rice, sugar, lentils, milk powder, tea, salt and cooking fat
- will begin Monday and continue until later this year.

It then may be replaced by a program for the "most vulnerable" or by other
mechanisms to ensure food security, according to James T. Morris, head of
the U.N. World Food Program.

The Rome-based WFP is in charge of purchasing, shipping and transporting the
food to Iraq's Trade Ministry, which oversees the five-month, $1.85 billion
program. A total of 2.5 million metric tons of food will be distributed
under the program, of which 440,000 metric tons already are in the country,
the WFP said.

Due to shortages, however, Iraqis will not receive milk powder or salt
during June and their ration of chickpeas will be cut, WFP spokeswoman
Antonia Paradela said.

As many as 80 per cent of Iraqis are known to depend entirely on the
rations.

The food ration system operated sporadically during the past two months, but
its nationwide resumption moves Baghdad a significant step closer to
normalcy after the weeks of chaos and lawlessness that followed the capture
of the city by U.S. forces on April 9.

Already, the partial restoration of water and electricity, the return to
work by hundreds of thousands of people and the recent improvement in
security have given Baghdad much of a business-as-usual feel.

The rationing system was launched in 1990 in response to sweeping U.N.
sanctions imposed on Iraq for invading Kuwait. During its early days, the
government distributed amounts that barely staved off starvation.

The rations steadily increased beginning in late 1996, when Iraq was allowed
to resume oil exports and use the revenues to buy food and medicine under
U.N. supervision.

The U.N. Security Council lifted the sanctions on Iraq last month.

The United States often has criticized the "oil-for-food program" that
funded the rationing system from 1996, arguing that it put money in Saddam's
pocket. Other critics also said the ration system boosted Saddam's standing
at home when his rule was vulnerable after the 1991 Gulf War and the twin
revolts by Kurds and Muslim Shiites the same year.

At al-Rasafa food warehouse, a huge complex serving a third of Baghdad's 5
million residents, heavily armed U.S. soldiers guarded the gate to fend off
looters as forklifts inside ferried food from trucks to storage areas.

Dozens of agents, meanwhile, squabbled with Trade Ministry officials about
the hike in transport costs, which many said would leave them without a
profit.

Abdel-Satar Khalaf, a store owner, said truckers wanted to charge him as
much as $1.10 for every 110 pounds they ferried from the warehouse to his
store, a 20-minute journey across Baghdad.

Truckers charged 25 cents for similar journeys before the war broke out
March 20, Khalaf said, but an acute fuel shortage has led to long lines at
petrol stations, forcing many to buy fuel on the black market at four or
five times the official price.

"Unless they make it worthwhile for us, we shall be forced to charge
ration-card holders more," said Abbas Abdel-Ghafar, another distribution
agent.

Anticipating the war, Saddam's government this year distributed up to four
months of rations in advance, with some families in Baghdad collecting the
October ration during the early stages of the war, which began March 20. A
person's ration costs 20 cents.

The advances meant many in Iraq had enough food to survive until early May
without fresh rations or salaries. But because the rations do not provide a
balanced diet, poor Iraqis often sell some rations to buy fruits, vegetables
and meat.

Shawki Koroumi, a 37-year-old father of four from the poor neighborhood of
Shawakah in central Baghdad, never had a ration card because he deserted the
army in 1990. Asking for one would have exposed him and led to arrest and
imprisonment.

"In my neighborhood, everyone is like family," he said. "Our neighbors
always gave us what we needed. And when the neighborhood boys looted the
government food stores last month, they divided everything."


http://www.jordantimes.com/Mon/opinion/opinion4.htm

*  A NEW POLITICAL MODEL FOR IRAQ
by Gustavo de Aristegui
Jordan Times, 2nd June
      
IN THE growing polemic about the future of Iraq, one must keep in mind the
enormous political, ethnic and religious complexity of the country. The
country is divided into three clearly defined geographical zones: the
predominantly Kurd north, the Sunni Muslim dominated centre and the south,
which is overwhelming Shiite Muslim.

These areas are also home to important minorities, such as Christians ‹
Chaldean, Assyrian, Nestorian ‹ Turkomans in the north and, not so long ago,
Jews. It is a mosaic, a melting pot of ethnicities and communities. For this
reason, any political model which is adopted and does not take into account
these peculiarities is doomed to a dangerous failure.

It must also be added that the Iraqis have lived under the oppression of
successive dictatorships since 1958, each more extreme than its predecessor.

The Iraqi opposition in exile is profoundly fragmented, the most relevant
groups being the Iraqi National Congress, the Iraqi National Alliance, and
the Iraqi National Coalition. There are also groups representing Christians
and Turkomans, not to mention the important Kurdish organisations, such as
the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan.

The future of Iraq cannot reasonably be constructed exclusively based on the
opposition in exile to the detriment of the rest of the Iraqi people.
Although I'm not suggesting the opposition in exile should be ignored or
should lack representation in the new Iraq, it would be imprudent, if not a
grave error, to forget the dissidents who have suffered under the
dictatorship of Saddam Hussein. Nor should the members of civil society,
functionaries, teachers, artists and professionals uncontaminated by the
Baath regime, be forgotten.

To this, one must add the shadowy and unclear personal history of some of
the leaders of the opposition in exile. One example is the leader of the
Iraqi National Congress, Ahmed Chalabi, in exile since he was 13 years old
and with no experience in government. His qualities as a leader, and his
reputation, have been widely called into question within the State
Department and the CIA. This was reinforced by The New York Times in a
report by one of its most respected and prestigious investigative
journalists, Judy Miller. It seems that Chalabi is not the best option to
head a democratic government at this new stage in Iraqi history,
particularly with thepossibility of counting on people of the stature and
experience of Adnan Pachachi. It is good news, indeed, that Chalabi has
announced that he does not aspire to the presidency of the republic.

In designing the new Iraqi constitution, the popular will must be
scrupulously respected, the peculiarities and unique characteristics of the
country and society taken into account and the potential problems of
instability and disintegration addressed. The international community has
always feared the division of Iraq and for this reason has put emphasis on
the need to guarantee and defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity
and the scrupulous respect for its minorities.

Once the distinct phases of the reconstruction of Iraq are under way,
beginning with the distribution of humanitarian aid, it will be necessary to
put into effect a classic peace keeping operation to guarantee public
security. This will permit the initiation of a simultaneous and rapid
process of stabilisation and democratic transition. Those who accuse the
international community of a colonial occupation and political paternalism
would do well to remember the examples of Germany and Japan. These important
and profoundly democratic countries underwent long years of allied
occupation and their constitutions, both the Basic Law of Bonn and the
Japanese Constitution, were imposed. I do not mean to suggest that this
should necessarily be the case with Iraq, but it is no less true that the
orientation and assessment, which notable experts in international law can
offer the Iraqi people, will only be for their benefit and, as a
consequence, benefit the entire Middle East.

There are important examples in the region that could serve as a starting
point and offer experience for a future political model for Iraq. Lebanon,
which suffered twenty long and terrible years of a cruel and tragic civil
war, is a country of only 10,452 km2 and is home to 17 different ethnic and
religious communities. Today, the political system of Lebanon has managed to
restore peace and coexistence among almost everyone, although it has not
always been easy. Its political system is derived from the Constitution of
1926, reformed by the National Pact of 1943, which established a
distribution of the unicameral parliament based on the demographic weight
ofeach community. A demographic change, produced by differing birth-rates,
was one of the principle, though not the only cause, of the civil war. The
1991 Taif Agreement, reached in Saudi Arabia, served as the basis for
reconciliation and demonstrated the need to maintain equilibrium between
Muslims and Christians. By giving greater representation to Christians and
Sunni Muslims, to the detriment of the Shiites, it has preserved the fragile
political and demographic balance of the country.

In Jordan, a bicameral system was established in which the Chechen and
Circassian minorities, on the one hand, and the Christians, on the other,
enjoy a number of reserved parliamentary seats regardless of the electoral
outcome, thus guaranteeing the representation of these minorities in
parliament. The Druze (also present in Lebanon, Syria and Israel) do not
have reserved seats in parliament although they do enjoy an undoubted
prestige and weight in the public administration of Jordan.

Given the enormous complexities in Iraq, the two systems should be combined
in the design of a federal ethnic- and community-based constitution which
respects the mosaic of Iraq. Each autonomous region, north, centre and
south, should have its own autonomous parliament, with seats reserved for
ethnic minorities. In the north, apart from the Kurds, there are significant
Turkoman and Sunni Muslim communities. In the centre, there is an important
Sunni majority and an influential Christian community, while in the south,
there are Sunni Muslims among the Shiite majority.

The autonomous governments could have a presidential, rather than
parliamentary, character, perhaps following the Canadian or American model,
in order to guarantee regional stability.

The federal parliament, while representing the country territorially, will
also have to represent its complex ethnic and religious composition. A
coexistence that is peaceful and as harmonious as possible depends on the
recognition of the importance, prestige and influence of its historical
minorities.

More than a few analysts maintain that the Iraqis have only been able to
live together under coercion and the threat of successive dictatorships.
However, one should not dismiss the fact that it has been this very coercion
and violence that exacerbated tensions between communities.

The United States, Europe, but especially the Arab and Islamic worlds have
much at stake in this bid to make the democratic experiment in Iraq an
unqualified success. Failure will have grave implications for the Iraqi
people, for the Middle East, and for the Arab and Islamic worlds as a whole.
The most radical Islamic movements will present this failure as a
demonstration of the incompatibility of Islam and democracy. Failure in Iraq
could have a devastating effect on the dialogue between civilisations.

The writer, member of parliament for Guipuzcoa, Spain, spokesman for the
Partido Popular, Commission for External Affairs of the Congress of
Deputies, and diplomat, contributed this article to The Jordan Times.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10207
2003Jun3.html?nav=hptop_ts

*  IRAQIS SAY THEY WILL DEFY U.S. ON COUNCIL PLAN
by Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Washington Post, 4th June

BAGHDAD, June 3 -- Iraqi political leaders vowed today to press ahead with
plans to hold a large national conference aimed at selecting a transitional
government despite a decision by the top U.S. civilian administrator here to
call off the assembly and appoint an interim advisory council with limited
authority.

"The U.S. cannot cancel a conference that is led by Iraqis," said Entifadh
Qanbar, a spokesman for the Iraqi National Congress, a coalition of exiles
that had opposed former president Saddam Hussein's government and now is
seeking to shape the country's new political system. "We believe it is very
important for Iraqis to go on with this."

Qanbar said his group and other political parties would organize a national
meeting next month where delegates representing Iraq's varied political,
religious and ethnic groups would decide on the form and membership of a
transitional administration. He said that body then would insist on assuming
authority for many basic governance tasks from the U.S. government.

Such a meeting could prompt a confrontation between the U.S. occupation
authority and several Iraqi political groups, such as the INC, that are
widely regarded as key American allies in postwar Iraq. Should those parties
insist that leaders elected at the meeting be recognized as the country's
legitimate transitional government, it could strain their relations with the
United States, possibly hindering U.S. efforts to work with some of the best
organized and most pro-Western political groups in Iraq.

The head of the U.S. occupation authority, L. Paul Bremer III, has insisted
that a recently passed U.N. Security Council resolution gives the United
States and Britain -- and not an Iraqi-led transitional government -- the
ultimate authority for governing the country until a new constitution is
authored, national elections are held and a new government is installed. As
a consequence, he and other U.S. officials have said that Iraqi leaders will
be limited to largely advisory roles in the postwar administration.

Bremer also contends that an appointed advisory council, as opposed to one
selected in a potentially lengthy series of public meetings, would be the
fastest way to involve Iraqis in the reconstruction of their country.

Qanbar criticized Bremer's decision as a reversal of commitments made to the
INC and other groups by other U.S. officials over the past few months. "We
believe the announcement of Mr. Bremer is a regression of previous promises
and deals with the Iraqi people," he said.

Qanbar, whose organization has close ties to Pentagon officials and was
until recently an exile group based in London, said an appointed council
would "not be useful" and "will not be successful."

Representatives of other political parties said they also oppose Bremer's
plan to appoint members of the council and insist that such decisions should
be made by Iraqis, although they have not yet formally committed to
participating in a national assembly that aims to supplant the interim
council. They said they intend to urge Bremer to give them a role in
selecting council members and would help to convene the conference only if
he rejects that request.

"The most important point for us is to have an Iraqi process to select an
Iraqi authority," said Hamid Bayati, a senior official with the Supreme
Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, which represents many of the
country's majority Shiite Muslims.

Hoshyar Zebari, a senior official with the Kurdistan Democratic Party, said
he and other political leaders still hope they can persuade Bremer to
reverse his decision. "We will try to convince him," he said.

Although Iraqi and U.S. officials said Bremer has assured the country's
seven largest political organizations, whose leaders have formed a coalition
called the Leadership Council, of representation on the interim council,
some of the groups said they would not participate if they were not selected
through an Iraqi-led process. "It will be very difficult for us to be part
of an administration which is appointed by Mr. Bremer," Bayati said.

"It makes a big difference when the Iraqi people see Bremer appoint an
administration and when the Iraqi people pick an administration," he said.
"Our constituents wouldn't like it. This is why we can't be a part of it."

Members of the Leadership Council, which includes the INC, two Kurdish
parties and two parties representing Shiites, want a convention with about
300 delegates. They believe about 250 of them should be selected based on
proportional representation, with each province holding its own assembly and
sending one delegate per 100,000 residents. The seven organizations that
make up the Leadership Council would send 65 delegates who were chosen at a
meeting in northern Iraq before the war.

Iraqi political leaders said they want whatever transitional government is
selected by the delegates to quickly assume responsibility for running
several ministries and other government functions that do not involve
military and security issues. Under Bremer's plan, however, the interim
political council would largely be limited to advising U.S. officials on
policy issues and nominating Iraqis to serve in senior positions in
government ministries.

Some U.S. officials and Iraqis have argued that the assembly would give
disproportionate influence to the seven groups, which has prompted their
stiff resistance to Bremer's decision to appoint between 25 to 30 people to
serve on the interim council. "They are upset because they won't be able to
control the process as they had hoped," one U.S. official involved in the
reconstruction effort said. "But what's important here is to bring in other
Iraqis -- technocrats, for instance -- who are essential to restarting the
government but who might not have been chosen at a convention filled with
aspiring politicians."

Iraqi political leaders said they were told by U.S. officials that concerns
about former members of Hussein's Baath Party trying to participate in the
convention also pushed Bremer toward an appointed council.

The U.S. official acknowledged, however, that the decision to appoint a
council "may be misinterpreted by people" and said Bremer may amend his
decision based on further consultations with Iraqi leaders.

In other developments today, the U.S. Central Command said an American
solider died after being wounded in an attack in a town north of Baghdad.
The soldier died Monday evening after assailants fired small arms and
rocket-propelled grenades on an Army checkpoint near Balad, about 50 miles
north of the capital.

The incident is the latest in a series of attacks on U.S. troops in
predominantly Sunni Muslim areas around Baghdad over the past two weeks.


INTERNATIONAL PROBLEMS

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*  U.S. TROOPS RAID PALESTINIAN MISSION IN BAGHDAD
Associated Press, 29th May

First such action against a foreign mission; Palestinian officials say
building ransacked.

BAGHDAD - U.S. troops raided the Palestinian Authority's mission in Baghdad
on Thursday and arrested 11 members - including its top diplomat - after
ransacking the building, Palestinian officials said Thursday. A top U.S.
general said only eight people had been arrested.

"They even took all of our water bottles and food cans," said Mohamed Abdul
Wahab, a mission official. "They behaved like common thieves." Although U.S.
troops have conducted numerous sweeps against suspected criminals and
loyalists of Saddam Hussein's regime, Wednesday's raid was the first such
action against a foreign diplomatic mission.

Wahab said the soldiers seized three AK-47 automatic rifles that the
embassy's sentries had used to guard the building during the looting that
laid waste to much of the capital after U.S. troops seized the city. The
rifles and a handgun, which was also confiscated, were duly licensed by
Iraq's former government, he said.

He said that on Wednesday morning, dozens of U.S. troops escorted by several
armored vehicles at the building in Baghdad's embassy district. After the
guards opened the gate, they were immediately arrested by soldiers who burst
into the building and detained officials, drivers and gardeners.

The detained men included charge d'affairs Majah Abdul Rahman, who was
running the mission in the ambassador's absence, Wahab said. They were later
taken to a U.S. base in the center of the city, he said.

They remained in custody Thursday afternoon, Wahab said.  Gen. David
McKiernan, commander of U.S. ground forces in Iraq, confirmed Thursday that
troops had entered the diplomatic compound during a search operation in the
area.

"That happened in a part of Baghdad where we lost a soldier," he told
reporters.

McKiernan said seven Palestinians and a Syrian had been detained, adding
that he did not know how many of them had diplomatic status. Troops seized
four AK-47s, four hand grenades, and a .38 caliber pistol, he said.

The embassy was badly damaged during last month's fighting in Baghdad. On
the building's facade, a direct hit had opened a hole about one meter wide
next to a large mural of the Dome of the Rock mosque in Jerusalem.

Staffers said the explosion was caused by a rocket fired from an attack
helicopter. Nobody was injured in the attack. Wahab said the soldiers used
shotguns to blast open office doors, though he said all were unlocked or had
keys in them.

Many of the doors in the building bore the marks of combat boots and several
had their locks shot off. An embassy safe appeared to have been opened after
the door hinges had been broken off, and a number of file cabinets were
standing open with all of their contents removed.

An official photo of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was lying smashed on
the floor.

Wahab said two embassy flags had been taken away by the soldiers. He said
the troops had told staffers that the mission did not have authorization to
possess automatic weapons.

"Every embassy has guns, we used them to ward off looters," Wahab said. He
complained that no system had been set up to license firearms since Saddam's
overthrow.

"To attack a foreign embassy is a criminal act and a breach of diplomatic
immunity," Wahab said.


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*  IRAN REPATRIATING IRAQI REFUGEES
RFE/RL IRAQ REPORT Vol. 6, No. 24, 30 May 2003

Iran has begun repatriating some 200,000 Iraqi refugees under an agreement
with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), a senior Iranian
Interior Ministry official told IRNA on 27 May. Bureau for Aliens and
Foreign Immigrants Affairs head Ahmad Hosseini told IRNA that repatriation
is voluntary, and that refugees returning to Iraq will be transferred by
UN-provided buses across the Shalamcheh border crossing to the southern
Iraqi city of Al-Basrah. "According to negotiations held through the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees, with the British government, guarantees have been
made so that the Geneva Convention's requirements to safeguard the security
of refugees and their access to basic needs are respected," Hosseini said.

On 22 May, UNHCR announced the repatriation of 180 Iranian refugees from
Iraq, UN News Center reported on 23 May (http://www.un.org/News/). The
repatriation was the first in nearly one year. "The returnees had fled their
settlements in eastern Iraq in early April because of insecurity and
tensions with the local host community. They had camped at a makeshift site
at Al-Charani border crossing, hoping they would be allowed home," the UN
reported. The crossing was opened by Iranian authorities on 22 May, UNHCR
spokesman Kris Janowski said. Some refugees wanting to cross with livestock
and farming equipment were not allowed to cross the border, UN News Center
reported. There are over 23,000 Iranian refugees in Iraq, the report noted.
(Kathleen Ridolfo)


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*  BRAZILIAN APPOINTED UN SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE TO IRAQ
RFE/RL IRAQ REPORT Vol. 6, No. 24, 30 May 2003

Brazilian diplomat Sergio Vieira de Mello has been appointed special
representative of the UN secretary-general for Iraq, ITAR-TASS reported on
27 May. De Mello was appointed to the post on 23 May. He has been serving as
UN high commissioner for human rights at UN headquarters in Geneva since
July. He began his career in the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees in 1969. In 1996, he was appointed UN assistant
high commissioner for refugees, according to a 2002 UN press release. De
Mello has worked on humanitarian and peacekeeping operations in Bangladesh,
Sudan, Cyprus, Mozambique, Peru, and Lebanon. He holds two doctorates from
the University of Paris (Pantheon Sorbonne) and reportedly speaks five
languages.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced the four-month appointment in a
letter to the UN General Assembly released on 27 May, the UN News Center
reported (http://www.un.org/News/). In the letter, Annan said he chose de
Mello "in view of his unique experience in serving the United Nations in
post-conflict situations in the past."

Annan said that the UN's mandate in Iraq would be related to assisting
coalition authorities "in a wide range of areas, including humanitarian
relief, reconstruction, infrastructure rehabilitation, legal and judicial
reforms, human rights and return of refugees, and also to assist with
civilian police." De Mello told reporters he felt that respect for human
rights and women's rights would build "a solid foundation for durable peace"
and development. He said that he expected to arrive in Iraq on 2 June.
(Kathleen Ridolfo)


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*  POLAND TO DEPLOY PEACEKEEPERS IN JULY
RFE/RL IRAQ REPORT Vol. 6, No. 24, 30 May 2003

Poland has announced that it will lead a 7,000-member peacekeeping force in
Iraq in July, Reuters reported on 28 May. "The deployment will take place in
July...and it will be fully operational in August," the news agency quoted
Polish Defense Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski as telling public radio. He said
that the deployment would include some 2,000 Polish troops and possibly as
many Ukrainians.

Szmajdzinski would not reveal the other countries slated to join the Polish
contingent, but he did acknowledge that approximately 20 countries
participated in the 23 May Warsaw sponsored "force generation" conference.
But the Polish daily "Rzeczpospolita" reported on 23 May that "sources close
to NATO Headquarters" in Brussels have said that Poland will lead troops
from the Netherlands, Denmark and Norway, Bulgaria, Fiji, and Ukraine.

The Polish news agency PAP reported on 22-23 May that the Polish command
will be in south-central Iraq, between Baghdad and Al-Basrah. Earlier
reports indicated that Polish troops would be deployed in Kurdistan (see
"RFE/RL Iraq Report," 7 May 2003). (Kathleen Ridolfo)


http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=2852985

*  U.S. JUDGE SAYS IRAN LIABLE FOR 1983 BEIRUT BOMBING
by Deborah Charles
Reuters, 30th May

WASHINGTON: A federal judge on Friday ruled that Iran was responsible for
the 1983 truck bombing of a U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut and should pay
damages to relatives of the victims.

U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth, noting that the U.S. government has
designated Iran as a "state sponsor of terrorism" since 1984, said Iran and
its Ministry of Information were liable to the 661 relatives of the victims
who are plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

The bombing on Oct. 23, 1983, killed 241 U.S. military members and wounded
many others. The lawsuit was filed at the end of 2001. Lamberth ruled in
December 2002 that the lawsuit could go forward under a 1996 law used by
U.S. citizens to sue nations found to sponsor terrorism.

Iran never responded to the lawsuit and was not represented in the case. The
country has not responded to other similar lawsuits brought in the past.

The plaintiffs filed claims for wrongful death and common-law claims for
battery, assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress -- all
resulting from an act of state-sponsored terrorism.

Lamberth cited testimony from the trial in March showing that past top
Iranian government officials and some currently in senior roles in the
government knew of and helped plan the bombing, in conjunction with
Lebanon's Hizbollah guerrillas.

"The court finds that MOIS, acting as an agent of the Islamic Republic of
Iran, performed acts on or about October 23, 1983, within the scope of its
agency ... which acts caused the deaths of over 241 peacekeeping servicemen
at the Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon," he wrote.

"The court therefore concludes that MOIS actively participated in the attack
on October 23, 1983, which was carried out by MOIS agents with the
assistance of Hizbollah."

Lamberth ordered the plaintiffs to submit damage claims to "Special Masters"
appointed by the court to calculate damages. The process is expected to last
months and it will be up to Lamberth to set the total amount of damages.

At the two-day trial in March the lawyers did not mention a specific amount
being sought but they have estimated it could end up exceeding $2 billion,
based on other past cases.

It was not clear how much, if any of the damages would ever be collected
even though the U.S. government has frozen certain Iranian assets.

In 1997 a German court ruled Iran's political leadership had ordered the
killings of four Iranian Kurdish dissidents in Berlin's Mykonos restaurant
in 1992.

The court avoided names but said the assassinations were ordered by a secret
special operations committee whose members included Iran's president,
religious leader, intelligence minister and head of foreign policy. Iran
repeatedly denied all responsibility for the killings.


http://www.jordantimes.com/Tue/news/news8.htm

*  UN NUCLEAR AGENCY GETS LITTLE ACCESS IN IRAQ
Jordan Times, 2nd June     
      
VIENNA (R) ‹ The United Nations nuclear watchdog agency said on Monday it
would only have access to a small area outside Iraq's main nuclear site,
which diplomats complained fell far short of the agency's original hopes.

The UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is due to head back to
Baghdad on Friday to probe reports of looting at the Tuwaitha Nuclear
Research Centre, Iraq's biggest nuclear site. But they are not allowed on to
the main plant.

Vienna-based diplomats complained privately that the IAEA only has the task
of counting missing containers of radioactive material and can neither
measure environmental contamination nor look into reports of radiation
sickness among nearby residents.

³The inspection will be confined to `Location C', the nuclear material
storage facility where they will independently identify, verify, repack,
seal and secure nuclear material,² IAEA spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said.

Washington only agreed to let the UN mission into Iraq after repeated
warnings by IAEA chief Mohammad Al Baradei. He said a radiological and
humanitarian emergency was brewing based on eyewitness reports that nearby
residents had dumped uranium on the ground and taken the radioactive
containers home.

³Location C is located near the Tuwaitha Nuclear Research Centre, but is
outside the gate which encloses the main Tuwaitha site,² Fleming said,
adding the job would last around two weeks.

Not only are the inspectors limited to counting what is missing from
Tuwaitha, south of Baghdad, but they have no access to six other nuclear
sites in Iraq that were allegedly looted in the postwar chaos.

There were over 500 tonnes of natural uranium and 1.8 tonnes of low-enriched
uranium stored at Tuwaitha, as well as smaller amounts of highly radioactive
caesium, cobalt and strontium.

Caesium 137 is a highly radioactive powder that would be especially
dangerous if used in a so-called ³dirty bomb.² In 1987, a canister of
caesiumpowder found in a Brazil junkyard exposed 249 people to radiation,
killing four.


http://www.jordantimes.com/Wed/news/news1.htm

*  US, ARAB LEADERS AGREE ON NEED TO FIGHT TERROR, MOVE AHEAD WITH PEACE
ROADMAP
by Dina Al Wakeel
Jordan Times, 3rd June
      
SHARM EL SHEIKH ‹ Arab leaders on Tuesday joined hands with US President
George W. Bush at a landmark Arab-US summit here pledging to do all they can
to fight terrorism and move ahead with implementing the roadmap for Middle
East peace.

The summit issued two statements: One US and another by the Arab states
taking part.

In his closing statement, President Bush vowed to assist Palestinians and
Israelis to reach peace and reiterated the importance of fighting terrorism
as a basis for making progress in establishing the Palestinian state.

Bush said: "America is committed, and I am committed, to helping all the
parties to reach the hard and heroic decisions that will lead to peace."

"All progress toward peace requires the rejection of terror. The leaders
here today have declared their firm rejection of terror, regardless of its
justifications or motives," Bush said at the summit that brought him
together with Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak, His Majesty King Abdullah,
Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah, King Hamad of Bahrain and Palestinian Prime
Minister Mahmoud Abbas.

He added that the leaders were "committed to practical actions to use all
means to cut off assistance, including arms and financing, to any terror
group and to aid the Palestinian Authority in their own fight against
terror."

"Terror threatens my nation, terror threatens Arab states, terror threatens
the state of Israel, terror threatens the emergence of a Palestinian state.
Terror must be opposed and it must be defeated," the US president said.

Mubarak, who read the Arab countries' final statement, stressed the region's
determination to seize the historic chance to advance peace and reiterated
the Arab states' commitment to fight terrorism.

"We give an assurance to continue fighting the horrors of terrorism directed
against humanity and reject the culture of extremism and violence, whatever
the form, source or origin, and whatever the reasons or motives," said
Mubarak.

The Egyptian president added that Arab leaders support the Palestinian
people and all efforts deployed to upgrade their living standards.

"We will also ensure that all our help only goes to the Palestinian
Authority."

Mubarak also called on Israel to fulfil its responsibilities to rebuild
trust and bring Palestinians' life back to normal, as well as implement its
part as stipulated in the Mideast Quartet's roadmap. In addition to the US,
the Quartet includes Russia, the European Union and the United Nations.

President Bush made reference to today's meeting that will be held at
Jordan's Red Sea resort of Aqaba, saying he will discuss with Palestinian
Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and his Israeli counterpart Ariel Sharon their
commitments to carry out their obligations as spelled out in the roadmap and
make steady progress to achieve "Palestinian statehood, a secure Israel and
a just and comprehensive peace."

As for Iraq, Bush, whose country led a war that brought the Arab country
under occupation after toppling Saddam Hussein's regime, said the US is
committed to helping the Iraqi people achieve "freedom and democracy."

"America is fully committed to restoring security to Iraqi cities, and
helping the Iraqi people rebuild their nation after decades of cruel and
corrupt dictatorship."

The US president also urged countries in the region to open their markets
and join the US in creating a US-Middle East free trade area within a
decade.

The Arab statement welcomed the initiative which will create new economic
opportunities for all the region.

Following the summit, Palestinian Information Minister Nabil Amr commended
the summit, saying now the ball is in the Israel's court.

The minister told The Jordan Times that Bush expressed in his statement his
country's commitment to achieve peace.

Israel had 14 "reservations" on the roadmap to Middle East peace, including
its refusal to recognise the Palestinian refugees' right to return home and
the dismantling of settlements built on occupied Palestinian lands.

Amr said the Aqaba peace summit will "reveal" Israel's real stand on the
peace roadmap.

There were reports that the summit was dogged by rifts over Arab
normalisation of ties with Israel.


http://www.jordantimes.com/Wed/homenews/homenews5.htm

*  PRINCE HASSAN WARY OF MIDDLE EAST FREE TRADE AREA
by Mustafa Alrawi
     
AMMAN ‹ Prince Hassan expressed concern Tuesday over US President George W.
Bush's idea to create a free trade area in the Middle East within the next
10 years.

Speaking to a packed house at the El Hassan Ben Talal Awards for Academic
Excellence at the Royal Cultural Centre, the Prince took the opportunity to
address international dignitaries from Britain, South Africa and Canada.

"The other day in the newspaper I saw a headline about the free trade area
and next to it was a picture of a Palestinian boy in Gaza looking through
the rubble of his house."

"I said to myself, and to my American friends ‹ including those in the
administration ‹ what does this boy have to trade with ... other than his
life?"

The Prince underlined the fact that free trade requires the free movement of
goods, capital and in particular skilled labour. For that reason, the future
award's scheme will emphasise vocational training.

Prince Hassan also highlighted the importance of empowering the poor in the
region to distance them from the influence of extremists.

"I would like to suggest that the rehabilitation of the people in this
region requires a humanitarian Versailles Conference. Not a political
Versailles Conference about real estate and political power." He added that
an international Islamic development fund is also necessary to invigorate
the social strata of these societies.

[.....]


CULTURAL PROBLEMS

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*  ARCHEOLOGISTS GATHER IN AMMAN TO ADDRESS 'CULTURAL CATASTROPHE' IN IRAQ
RFE/RL IRAQ REPORT Vol. 6, No. 24, 30 May 2003

A group of Arab archeologists met in the Jordanian capital of Amman on 26
May for a three-day conference to address the "cultural catastrophe" in Iraq
following the looting of museums and archeological sites, "The Jordan Times"
reported on 27 May. The conference, sponsored by the Islamic Education,
Science, and Culture Organization (ISESCO) and the Jordanian General
Archaeology Department, was attended by experts from Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon,
Syria, and Jordan. General Archaeology Department Director Fawaz Khreishah
said that the meeting aimed to discuss the repatriation of stolen goods. He
said his department was in possession of 163 Iraqi antiquities and other
items seized at the Jordanian border by customs officials. (Kathleen
Ridolfo)


BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/w-me/2003/may/30/053006168.html

*  ENTREPRENEURS PLAN BUSINESSES IN IRAQ
by Bruce Stanley and Brad Foss
Las Vegas Sun, from AP, 30th May

Companies specializing in security, construction, energy and
telecommunications will benefit first from the lifting of economic sanctions
against Iraq, where U.S. government contracts offer chances for big profits.

But judging by the brisk business in Baghdad's streets for everything from
satellite dishes to washing machines, there will be lots of other
opportunities for Western companies once some law and order is brought to
Iraq's unruly marketplace.

Hundreds of U.S. businesses are lining up, while some entrepreneurs and
contractors already are moving in, making deals in an environment marked by
violence and shady characters.

With few official channels so far for international commerce, the wheeling
and dealing is taking place in the lobbies of apartment buildings and in
hotel dining rooms. Businessmen mingle with U.S. government officials - and
shoo away unexpected visitors.

It is under these conditions that people like Rubar Sandi, 49, currently
operate. An Iraqi Kurd who left in 1976 and now the chief executive of a
Washington-based investment bank, Sandi is initiating a host of ventures in
the oil-rich country just weeks after end of fighting.

He is investing $20 million to build a Baghdad convention center with a
hotel, tennis courts and pool. He is cobbling together an array of products
and services future wheeler-dealers might need in Iraq: armor-plated SUVs,
security guards, interpreters and market analysts, to name a few.

"Business is so corrupt and everything is bribes," Sandi explained Thursday
in an interview at Baghdad's Hotel Ekal, which was packed with advisers to
the U.S. government and guarded by Iraqis in civilian clothes. "And you get
threatened. Everything is whom you know and what you pay." Sandi professes
to be squeaky clean as far as bribes go.

Contacts in the region are paying off for New Global Initiatives, a
Bethesda, Md.-based company founded by Americans and Iraqi emigres that has
a reconstruction subcontract valued at $2.6 million.

With additional grants from the U.S. government, NGI imported a
prefabricated building from Kuwait to the southern Iraqi port city of Umm
Qasr and helped renovate a firehouse in Kirkuk, an oil-producing city in
northern Iraq.

NGI's chief executive, Bob Adams, said he is motivated by a desire to help
Iraqis. But he also knows his early participation will likely yield
dividends down the line.

"We hope to develop very good relations with whatever government is erected
out of all this," Adams said. He added: "We'll build 10,000 homes if that is
what they want."

The recent lifting of sanctions against Iraq has been a particular boon for
Globalstar, a California-based satellite-phone provider that, while
sanctions were in place, had to block service to customers once they entered
Iraq.

"When we threw the switch and turned on service, we went from no business at
all there, to the highest volume of usage in any country in the world"
served by Globalstar, company spokesman Mac Jeffery said.

Globalstar's customer base in Iraq, which includes U.S. forces and
companies, is on pace to log nearly 1 million minutes of service this month.

As interest in doing business in Iraq grows, a cottage industry is sprouting
up around it.

For example, World Trade Executive, a Concord, Mass.-based publisher,
launched a twice monthly newsletter called Iraq Reconstruction Report, a
partnership with Dow Jones, and Pillsbury Winthrop, a law firm based in San
Francisco, created a team of attorneys dedicated to Iraq-related business.

The U.N. Security Council's recent decision to lift sanctions against Iraq
formally makes the country open for business. But the country is
impenetrable for most Western companies - save for the oil trade and those
tied to the reconstruction effort led by Bechtel, the U.S. firm that was
awarded a U.S. government contract that could be worth $680 million.

There is no passenger airline serving Iraq, no central bank and no justice
system, although these institutions are being developed with the help of
U.S. companies and officials. First, however, is the need to make Iraq safe.

Many U.S. businessmen are scrambling to figure out how they can participate
in the reconstruction and development of Iraq.

"I'd just like to have the opportunity for somebody to see our product,"
said James Williams, chief financial officer of Compact International, a Los
Angeles-based manufacturer of commercial and industrial furniture.

"I don't think that you've got to know somebody," he added, "but it might
help."

Williams hopes to learn more in July, when the U.S.-Iraq Business Council -
of which Sandi is president - holds a seminar in Washington on Iraqi
reconstruction. Representatives of USAID, the United Nations and other
agencies are scheduled to explain how contracts are awarded.

Despite widespread poverty in Iraq, there is demand for TVs, computers,
electrical heaters, car parts and even fresh fruit. Currently, prices are so
high that few people can afford to buy these products.

Abdul Rahman Al-Tahir, a 72-year-old Baghdad resident who has worked as a
construction supervisor and an engineer and is now a hotel clerk, has a bit
of advice for Western businessmen: "If you bring more, prices will drop
down, and people will be able to buy."




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