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Operations
Deployments
US Policy
United Nations
Reconstruction Issues
Foreign Reactions
News Reports

Current Operations

• $100M, 90M EUROS RECOVERED CENTCOM 29 Apr 2003 -- One hundred million U.S. dollars, and almost 90 million Euro's, have been recovered from Baghdad in the area secured by the 4/64 Armour, 2nd Bde, 3rd Infantry Division.
• RECONSTRUCTION EFFORT UNDERWAY IN IRAQ CENTCOM 29 Apr 2003 -- Various military units, federal agencies, non-governmental and volunteer organizations are descending upon major areas of southern Iraq in a far-reaching humanitarian and reconstruction effort.
• U.S. Says Soldiers Fired On First In Incident RFE/L 29 Apr 2003 -- U.S. military officials say U.S. forces were fired on first by Iraqis during an incident yesterday in which 13 Iraqis were reportedly killed west of Baghdad.
• PENTAGON/SHOOTINGS VOA 29 Apr 2003 -- Irate U-S military officials have denounced news reports charging American soldiers fired unprovoked into a crowd of protesters in a town west of Baghdad. Reports say 13 people may have been killed and scores more wounded.
• U.S. Paratroopers Fired upon During Protest in Iraq Washington File 29 Apr 2003 -- U.S. Army paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division were fired upon during the night of April 28 by approximately 25 armed civilians who were interspersed among and on rooftops above approximately 200 protesters. The incident took place outside a compound the paratroopers had occupied in the city of Fallujah, the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement April 29.
• CIVIL AFFAIRS SOLDIER INJURED IN BAGHDAD CENTCOM 29 Apr 2003 -- A U.S. soldier assigned to the Coalition Land Forces Component Command Headquarters was shot and wounded by an unknown assailant while traveling in downtown Baghdad at approximately 1 p.m. (6 a.m. EDT) today.
• PARATROOPERS FIRED UPON DURING PROTEST CENTCOM 29 Apr 2003 -- Paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division were fired upon last night by approximately 25 armed civilians mixed within an estimated crowd of 200 protesters outside a compound they were occupying in the city of Fallujah.
• COALITION REPORTS INCIDENTS AGAINST FRIENDLY FORCES CENTCOM 29 Apr 2003 -- Coalition efforts to defeat regime pockets of resistance in Iraq are proving successful, but incidents directed against Coalition forces are evidence that despite the significant decrease in active military operations, dangers are still evident.
• Ex-Oil Minister Detained; U.S. To Deploy Police Troops RFE/L 29 Apr 2003 -- The U.S. military says it has detained a former Iraqi oil minister who also served as Saddam Hussein's point man on weapons delivery systems.
• 'Red Tail Express' delivers in Iraq AFPN 29 Apr 2003 -- Taking a page from the annals of Air Force history, members of the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing are doing whatever it takes to get the job done.
• 101st bringing trains back on track in Iraq Army News 29 Apr 2003 -- With a bit of Iraqi industriousness and some help from the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), the trains should begin rolling again in northern Iraq.
• Coalition hiring Iraqis for cleanup, other services Army News 29 Apr 2003 -- Coalition forces have been hiring local Iraqis in temporary jobs to provide support to the troops, to clean up the country, and fix damage done to buildings during the war.
• IRAQ / SHOOTING VOA 29 Apr 2003 -- The U-S military confirms a shooting incident in which at least 13 people were killed and more than 70 injured late Monday in an Iraqi town west of Baghdad. The U-S military and local residents have different versions of the incident.
• SOLDIERS COME UNDER FIRE IN FALLUJAH CENTCOM 29 Apr 2003 -- Media reports from the Arab-language news network Al Jazeera and other media reporting US soldiers fired unprovoked into a crowd at Fallujah, Iraq April 28 are not accurate.
• "Gators" Take to The Air During Operation Iraqi Freedom Navy NewStand 29 Apr 2003 -- Northern Australians will tell you that river crocodiles may not be known for flying, but they'll surprise you by how far they can jump from the water into the air if they want something bad enough.
• Rumsfeld Praises Airmen for Contributions to Iraqi Freedom AFPS 29 Apr 2003 -- Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told airmen here that what they accomplished for the Iraqi people, for the region and for the world is truly remarkable.

Deployments

US Policy

• SAUDI/RUMSFELD VOA 29 Apr 2003 -- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld confirms that U-S forces are leaving Saudi Arabia. Mr. Rumsfeld met with Saudi officials in Riyadh.

United Nations

• Annan hopes for 'effective' UN role in establishing new Iraqi government UN News Centre 29 Apr 2003 -- United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today he hoped the world body would play an "effective role" in the process of establishing a new Iraqi Government.
• UN opens new food corridor into Iraq but dirty water threatens 'potential calamity' UN News Centre 29 Apr 2003 -- United Nations relief agencies today reported the opening of a fifth food corridor into Iraq, the imminent return of more international staff and the dispatch of emergency medical supplies, but warned that rapidly dwindling chlorine supplies in the south could leave water untreated within weeks, with "potentially calamitous" results.

Reconstruction Issues

• U.S. Contributes $2 Million to Protect and Restore Iraqi Antiquities Washington File 29 Apr 2003 -- The United States is contributing $2 million to help protect and restore Iraqi museums and archaeological sites, announced State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher.
• U.S. to Implement Three-Year Mine Action Program in Iraq Washington File 29 Apr 2003 -- The United States is implementing a three-year, $25 million humanitarian mine action program for Iraq, the State Department announced in a media note April 29. The program will include mine risk education and the deployment of a quick reaction demining force.
• Iraqi Town Receives Three Additional U.S. Grants Washington File 29 Apr 2003 -- The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has awarded three grants to the Iraqi town of Umm Qasr for a total of $76,000 that will establish interim offices for the town council, create a telephone and Internet center, and increase sports and recreational activities for the town's youth.
• Iraqis Moving Toward Free, Inclusive Government AFPS 29 Apr 2003 -- More than 300 delegates representing a cross-section of Iraqi society yesterday hashed out plans for the formation of an interim government at an all-day meeting in Baghdad.
• Anatomy Of A Looting -- The Sacking Of Saddam Hussein's Sister's House RFE/L 29 Apr 2003 -- Looting is still a problem in many Iraqi cities following the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime three weeks ago.
• IRAQ: Baghdad hospitals still under stress IRIN 29 Apr 2003 -- From his hospital bed overlooking the Tigris river, 27-year-old Muhammad speaks with a softness that belies how his life has been tragically changed in the weeks of war in Baghdad.
• IRAQ: One-third of cereal crop intact IRIN 29 Apr 2003 -- At least one-third of Iraq's cereal crop, upon which the country's staple of wheat bread heavily depends, appears to have emerged unscathed from the war, a UN Food and Agriculture Organisaton spokesman, Barry Came, told IRIN on Monday.

Foreign Reactions

• NATO Candidates Support Alliance Operations, Iraq Coalition Washington File 29 Apr 2003 -- A State Department official says the seven countries invited to join NATO -- Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia -- "are continuing to behave as de facto allies" by contributing to the war against terrorism, to NATO operations in the Balkans and Afghanistan, and more recently to coalition efforts to disarm Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
• Blair, Putin Meet For Discussions On Postwar Period RFE/L 29 Apr 2003 -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair is in Moscow today to discuss the future of Iraq. The fence-mending visit comes as Washington is pushing a United Nations Security Council resolution backing the U.S.-led military coalition now running Iraq and ending UN control over the country's oil revenues. Russia is helping lead opposition to the measure, saying the UN must play the central role in Iraq and retain control over oil sales.
• RUSSIA / BRITAIN / IRAQ VOA 29 Apr 2003 -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair traveled to Russia Tuesday, in the hopes of persuading President Vladimir Putin to support a quick end to United Nations sanctions on Iraq. But after two hours of talks outside Moscow, the Russian president appeared unmoved.
• HUNGARY / BRITAIN / IRAQ VOA 29 Apr 2003 -- In a visit to Budapest, British Defense Secretary Geoffrey Hoon expressed the hope that Hungarian peacekeepers would soon be sent to Iraq. He spoke one day after the Hungarian parliament refused to debate
• RUSSIA / BRITAIN / IRAQ VOA 29 Apr 2003 -- Russian President Vladimir Putin is to discuss the post-war reconstruction of Iraq with British Prime Minister Tony Blair in Moscow. The U-N role in the rebuilding process is expected to be high on the agenda.

News Reports

• BRITISH LESSONS IN IRAQ VOA 29 Apr 2003 -- Today is not the first time that western powers have taken control of Iraq. At the end of the First World War, the British and French carved up the territory of the defeated the Turkish Ottoman Empire, an ally of vanquished Germany. The British created the state of Iraq from the ancient land of Mesopotamia and maintained influence there until 1958.
• IRAQ / PRISONS, PT. 1 VOA 29 Apr 2003 -- A volunteer committee of former Iraqi prisoners has been poring over hundreds of thousands of documents that detail arrests and executions under Saddam Hussein. They are trying to help families learn what happened to relatives who disappeared without a trace. The committee is being assisted by a former Iraqi prisoner who described to her the tortures he endured in Saddam Hussein's prisons.
• IRAQ / UNICEF /RED CROSS VOA 29 Apr 2003 -- The U-N children's agency and the International Committee of the Red Cross are raising concerns about living conditions in southern Iraq. The agencies say unclean water and unexploded bombs and other devices pose the biggest threats.
• KAY-IRAQ VOA 29 Apr 2003 -- And now joining us, former U.N. weapons inspector David Kay, now with the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies.
• IRAQ: ICRC keeps communications open IRIN 29 Apr 2003 -- With most communications between Iraq and the outside world still nearly impossible, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has started new programmes to keep families in touch. In the capital, Baghdad, on Saturday, it revived a free satellite telephone service for Iraqis to contact their loved ones overseas.