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[casi] Two weekend articles Iraq- [CNN, Islamonline]



1.

Rym Brahimi: '12 attacks daily' on U.S. convoys
Sunday, August 24, 2003 Posted: 9:49 AM EDT (1349 GMT)

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Violent attacks on U.S. and British forces in Iraq
persist, while deadly ethnic clashes have erupted in the north.

At the same time, the investigation into the bombing of the United Nations
headquarters in Baghdad continues, following the deaths of at least 22
people in the attack.

CNN correspondent Rym Brahimi reported Sunday from Baghdad on the latest
developments in Iraq.

BRAHIMI: We were just briefed by the spokesman of the coalition authority,
and they are saying that to this day there are about 12 attacks daily
against U.S. military convoys.

In this case, a convoy was using a bridge on the western highway, basically
the road to Amman, in neighboring Jordan. Eyewitnesses say that they heard a
bang and then saw the Humvee, which was the last vehicle in the convoy,
apparently -- they saw it on fire.

U.S. military ran to the scene, cordoned off the area and evacuated the
vehicle and some people who seemed to be slightly injured in that vehicle,
according to eyewitnesses.

Meanwhile in the north, there seem to be ethnic clashes between Turkmen and
Kurds -- clashes that actually turned very violent and led to the deaths of
two Turkmen and the wounding of two others.

And that's not all. After those ethnic clashes in the north that have been
going on for two days, in the south British military officials are still
investigating an incident where three British military servicemen were
killed when their vehicle was ambushed.

So not a very stable picture for the time being, although coalition
authorities insist that there are also a lot of good projects going on. They
made a list of all the projects involving water irrigation that have been
continuing despite these attacks.

At the United Nations, meanwhile, the investigation goes on, as well.

But relatives of the local victims that died in that tragic bombing are
increasingly worried and angry because they haven't been able to get access
to the bodies of their loved ones, and they are very concerned about that.
It's been six days and local tradition here has it that bodies should be
buried as soon as possible after the death.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/08/24/otsc.brahimi/index.html

2.

Anah, Iraqi Town With No Occupation Forces
By Aws Al-Sharqy, IOL Correspondent

ANAH, Iraq, August 24 (IslamOnline.net) -

Although not far away from the flashpoint town of Fallujah, a part of the
so-called Sunni triangle where many U.S. forces come under growing attacks,
this western Baghdad town was surprisingly untouched by scenes of chaos and
anarchy afflicting most other areas of the war-torn country.

All basic services are still in operation in Anah, and life continued in
normalcy after the U.S. and British forces rolled into Baghdad on April 9.
Inhabitants are well aware of reasons behind this.

"With the first days of the U.S.-British offensive, the local inhabitants -
mostly acting in unison - formed a delegation to meet commanders of the
forces that would seize the country, threatening to kill any one of them
stepping into," Helal Al-Ani, a lawyer, told IslamOnline.net.

"The delegation told the commanders that people here would not allow any
American soldier in to desecrate their town which is full of mosques," he
said.

Facing a tough unified stance, the American forces bowed to the demands and
stayed on the periphery of the city.

"Here is the town with no American soldiers inside, thank God," said Al-Ani.
This contradicts U.S. military provocations in nearby Fallujah - which left
15 protestors dead in one shooting spree occasion in April - and lack of
basic services in most of Iraq.

"Many Jews of an Iraqi origin tried to sneak into the city to buy some
houses, but we stood toughly up to these attempts, and we will never make
any stranger walk about in our town until after we know him quite well,"
said Mohamed Al-Jamili, a broker.

Some 450 kilometers away from Baghdad, Anah received many of the capital
inhabitants flowing in large numbers to escape from cascading shelling on
war days.

"But citizens of this ancient town vowed to speak in one voice, especially
to drive any occupier or invader out," said Karam Mustafa, a doctor.

"People of Fallujah themselves managed to eject the occupiers to outside of
the city," said Mustafa, but only after regular house-to-house searches and
massive detention of its locals, they could get in.

"If all Iraqis acted in solidarity and insisted of forcing the occupiers
out, they would do so, but through resistance, he said.

Residents of Anah suffered greatly under the former regime of former Iraqi
President Saddam Hussein, but they are still loathe to be under occupation.

In 1985, the former regime decided to build a dam on the Euphrates River,
leaving the whole town's houses and streets flooded with water.

But the government stopped building the dam suddenly and for unknown
reasons, and decided instead to build a tourist resort. The project was
carried out by a French company which paid inhabitants compensation for
their houses damaged and inundated with water.

No Parties

Noticeably in Anah, there are no headquarters of signs of political,
religious organizations - unlike many areas of Iraq where there are more
than 100 parties.

"Some people had tried to control a number of buildings in the town to use
them as party headquarters, but tribe chiefs and locals agreed not to allow
any such steps," said Sheikh Abdel-Ghafour Al-Rawy.

"They also found the common ground that Islam is the main denominator
unifying all noble ideas and principles in the town," said Al-Rawy.

Unlike Baghdad and its suburbs whose inhabitants could not get out to
streets by night for fears of being killed, local inhabitants in Anah could
move freely until late hours.

http://www.islamonline.net




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