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News Reports

Current Operations

• Transcript: Secretary Rumsfeld Joint Media Availability with British Secretary of State for Defence 02 May 2003 -- Joint media availability with Geoffrey Hoon, secretary of state for defence, United Kingdom

• Bush Says War Not Over, Perhaps To Continue Interrogation Of POWs RFE/L 02 May 2003 -- To most observers, the war in Iraq is over, and the responsibilities of American and British troops there are shifting from combat to peacekeeping. But last night, U.S. President George W. Bush, in an address to the American people, would not say that hostilities have ended. Some say this is because an official declaration that the war is over would require U.S. forces to release Iraqi prisoners of war, who may still have information integral in the search for weapons of mass destruction or the country's deposed president, Saddam Hussein, and other government officials.
• Bush Declares Major Combat Over RFE/L 02 May 2003 -- U.S. President George W. Bush says the major combat operation in Iraq is over and the U.S. and its allies have prevailed.
• Three More 'Most Wanted' In Coalition Custody RFE/L 02 May 2003 -- The U.S. military said today it has detained three more Iraqi officials on a list of 55 most-wanted figures from Saddam Hussein's former regime.
• U.S. Forces Capture Three Top Officials in Saddam Hussein's Regime Washington File 02 May 2003 -- U.S. forces have captured three top leaders in the defunct regime of Saddam Hussein, including two Revolutionary Command Council officials and the director of Iraq's weapons development program, the U.S. Central Command says.
• COALITION FORCES CONTINUE TO FACE THREATS IN IRAQ CENTCOM 02 May 2003 -- One Coalition soldier was killed and several were injured during separate incidents that have taken place since yesterday morning.
• TWO MEMBERS OF 'IRAQI TOP 55' IN COALITION CUSTODY CENTCOM 02 May 2003 -- Abd al Tawab Mullah Huwaysh, Office of Military Industrialization Director, is now in Coalition custody. (...) Taha Muhyl al Din Maruf, Vice President and Revolutionary Command Council member, is also in Coalition custody.
• IRAQ / FALLUJA VOA 02 May 2003 -- The Iraqi town of Falluja appeared to be calm on Friday after clashes earlier in the week between American soldiers and demonstrators. More than a dozen Iraqis were killed in two shooting incidents and seven U-S soldiers were injured in a grenade attack.
• Rumsfeld: We Can't Know How Many Troops Needed In Iraq AFPS 02 May 2003 -- The number of American and British forces needed to secure Iraq in the long and short term is "not knowable," Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said in London today.
• Soldiers plant seeds of first municipal election in Iraq Army News 02 May 2003 -- After the first municipal election in Iraq, the new city council of this Baghdad suburb met with Air Defense soldiers April 23 to discuss restoring services and order to the town.
• Army engineers build bridges linking northern Iraq Army News 02 May 2003 -- Near the stone-age village of Mulayfaht, where cuneiform symbols were in use as many as 7,000 years ago, a pair of modern military bridges have begun making life easier for the Iraqi people.
• Former Mosul Security Chief Captured in Tikrit ARCENT CFLCC 02 May 2003
• Threats to Coalition Forces Continue ARCENT CJTF-7 02 May 2003

• Ceremony closes Operation Northern Watch USAFE 02 May 2003 -- The Combined Task Force Operation Northern Watch guidon was encased May 1, in a ceremony signifying the successful end to its mission of enforcing U.N. Security Council Resolutions above the 36th parallel.

Deployments

• USS Grasp Returns to Little Creek Navy NewStand 02 May 2003 -- The Little Creek,Va.-based Rescue and Salvage ship USS Grasp (ARS 51) returned home May 2 after a six-month deployment to the Mediterranean.
• NAS Pensacola Salutes the Returning Home Team of VF-31 Navy NewStand 02 May 2003 -- Ten F-14D Tomcats, from Navy Fighter Squadron (VF) 31 Tomcatters, landed aboard Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola May 1, just minutes after the U.S. President George W. Bush landed aboard USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), to declare an end to major military operations in Iraq.
• Home again -- 86th CRG returns to Ramstein USAFE 02 May 2003 -- The 86th Contingency Response Group returned to Ramstein with fanfare, flags and cheering crowds of loved ones April 27, after its deployment to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
• 401st AEW vital to Operation Iraqi Freedom USAFE 02 May 2003 -- The flight line is busy once again after being quiet for several days, but this time it's a different kind of 'busy'. This time it's busy with maintenance crews getting aircraft, cargo and passengers ready to fly home.
• Groton-Based Submarines Return to SUBASE After Deployments, Combat Navy NewStand 02 May 2003 -- Less than two weeks after USS Toledo (SSN 769) returned to SUBASE (Naval Submarine Base) from a rapid response wartime patrol, USS San Juan (SSN 751) and USS Pittsburgh (SSN 720) returned home from extended deployments to the accolades and embraces of their loved ones.
• Jamming squadron accomplishes mission, heads home ACCNS 02 May 2003 -- After more than 220 sorties, almost 2000 combat flying hours and more than 6000 jammed enemy signals in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the airmen of the 41st Expeditionary Electronic Combat Squadron can call it a day.
• Army completes Team Ellsworth ACCNS 02 May 2003 -- For the past two and a half months, Army National Guard soldiers from the 665th Maintenance Company have worked side by side with the 28th Security Forces Squadron, and according to the Guard's top enlisted man and Ellsworth's "top cop," the venture has been successful.

US Policy

• STATEMENT BY SECRETARY OF DEFENSE RUMSFELD 02 May 2003 -- Jay Garner is doing a truly outstanding job for the nation.
• Larson Says U.S. Helping Iraqis "Reclaim Their Future" Washington File 02 May 2003 -- The United States is working closely with the Iraqi people, the United Nations and other donor nations to help Iraqis "reclaim their future and rebuild their country" says Under Secretary of State for Economic, Business and Agricultural Affairs Alan Larson.
• "Relax, Celebrate Victory," by Richard Perle Washington File 02 May 2003 -- This byliner by Richard Perle, a member of the Defense Policy Board, first appeared in USA Today May 2 and is in the public domain
• Iraq Still "Dangerous" Place, Rumsfeld Warns Washington File 02 May 2003 -- Major military combat activity in Iraq is over, but that does not mean the war is over, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told reporters during a press availability with British Defense Minister Geoffrey Hoon at Heathrow Airport outside London May 2.
• War on Terror Moving Forward, Bush Says Washington File 02 May 2003 -- President Bush, in remarks May 2 to employees at United Defense Industries in Santa Clara, California, said the war on terror is moving forward as a result of the allied success in removing from power the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein.
• EDITORIAL: IRAQ'S BRIGHT FUTURE VOA 02 May 2003 -- The U.S.-led coalition is now working with the people of Iraq to plant the seeds of democracy -- seeds that Iraqis hope will thrive in the rubble of Saddam Hussein's reign of terror.
• EDITORIAL: THE U.S. MISSION IN IRAQ VOA 02 May 2003 -- Just over a month ago, Saddam Hussein ruled Iraq. Torture and fear marked his dictatorial rule. The Iraqi regime was allied with terrorists, and armed with weapons of mass destruction. "Today," as President George W. Bush said, "that regime is no more"
• EDITORIAL: SAVING IRAQI ANTIQUITIES VOA 02 May 2003 -- The world values the archeological and cultural heritage of Iraq, which goes back more than ten-thousand years. The U.S.-led coalition has issued instructions to protect Iraq's antiquities. The order came after looters ransacked museums in Baghdad and Mosul. As U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said, "Such looting causes irretrievable loss to the understanding of history and the efforts of Iraqi and international scholars to study and gain new insight into our past."
• EDITORIAL: IRAQI WOMEN HAVE ROLE TO PLAY VOA 02 May 2003 -- Women constitute over half the population of Iraq, and they deserve a voice in a post-Saddam Hussein government. As Rend Rahim Francke, executive director of the Iraq Foundation, said, "The question of women in political life in Iraq is regarded as a luxury by some," but "they are wrong."
• EDITORIAL: NO OUTSIDE INFLUENCE IN IRAQ VOA 02 May 2003 -- The United States-led coalition wants to help the people of Iraq create a government that is democratic and multiethnic, that maintains Iraq's territorial integrity and has no weapons of mass destruction and that is at peace with its neighbors. But Iran is trying to use elements of Iraq's Shia community to replace Saddam Hussein's regime with an Iranian-style Islamic dictatorship.

United Nations

• Security Council schedules four meetings on Iraq for May UN News Centre 02 May 2003 -- The United Nations Security Council has scheduled four meetings this month on Iraq to discuss humanitarian issues and the Oil-for-Food programme which provided the sole source of food for 60 per cent of the population of the sanctions-bound country, the Council's President for the month of May said today.
• UNESCO Seeks Active Role In Recovery Of Artifacts RFE/L 02 May 2003 -- The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is negotiating with the United States on sending an assessment mission to Iraq next week as part of its efforts to recover the antiquities looted from museums in Baghdad and other cities. The agency plans to send an eight-member team to create a database of looted cultural artifacts in order to help prevent them from disappearing onto the international art market. But history suggests that few of the stolen items will ever return to the museums from which they were taken.

Reconstruction Issues

• U.S., Australia to Help Rebuild Iraq's Farm Sector Washington File 02 May 2003 -- The United States and Australia will jointly help rebuild agricultural production, the food delivery system and the agriculture ministry in Iraq, says J.B. Penn, U.S. under secretary of agriculture for farm and foreign services.
• Doctors Say Health-Care System In Bad Shape RFE/L 02 May 2003 -- The president of Doctors Without Borders said today there is not one hospital in Baghdad that is fully functional.
• Thousands of Iraqi children will die unless they are made top priority - UNICEF UN News Centre 02 May 2003 -- Thousands of Iraqi youngsters will die and hundreds of thousands more will be injured, fall prey to disease, suffer abuse and exploitation or fall behind in school, unless all involved in shaping the post-war future make the battle to protect children the number one priority, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned today.
• Minorities Discuss Representation In Post-Hussein Government RFE/L 02 May 2003 -- A group of Iraqi activists met in Washington recently to discuss the makeup of a future government in Baghdad. The participants say a viable Iraqi government must allow the participation of all segments of society.
• Three Weeks After Fall Of Baghdad, Capital's 'Arab Kitchens' Serving Up Anger, Frustration RFE/L 02 May 2003 -- The U.S. invaded Iraq with a promise to liberate the people from Saddam Hussein's cruel rule and provide them with the opportunity to build a better life for themselves in a democratic state. Three weeks have passed since the capital, Baghdad, fell to U.S. troops amid cheering throngs of Iraqis. Saddam is gone, but today only about half of the city has electricity or water, and large-scale aid shipments have yet to arrive. The expectations of ordinary Iraqis have had to be dramatically reduced.
• Iraq's Future in Hands of Its Own People, U.S. Officials Say AFPS 02 May 2003 -- Three senior U.S. government officials agreed that humanitarian efforts to renew and restore Iraq have gone well so far, and movement will continue to return Iraq to the Iraqi people.
• IRAQ AND IRAN VOA 02 May 2003 -- Some three-hundred Iraqis representing the country's various ethnic, religious and political factions met in Baghdad to lay the groundwork for a transitional Iraqi government. The U-S organized the meeting, which will be followed in a month by a conference in which Iraqis will choose leaders to run their interim government. There has been concern that some Shiite leaders backed by the clerical rulers of Iran would try to undermine these steps toward democracy in Iraq.
• RUMSFELD / BRITAIN VOA 02 May 2003 -- On the home stretch of a week-long trip that took him to Iraq and Afghanistan, U-S Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld made a brief stop in Britain to discuss stabilization and reconstruction in Iraq.

Foreign Reactions

• Tensions With U.S. Worsen Over Iraq, Though Efforts Made To Ease Pressure RFE/L 02 May 2003 -- Differences over Iraq are heightening tensions between the United States and Iran. Washington is warning Tehran not to encourage anti-American feelings among some Iraqi Shi'a groups as the U.S. begins the difficult task of administering Iraq. And Tehran is urging Washington to leave Iraq at once and let Iraqis decide their own future.

News Reports

• RFE/RL Iraq Report, Volume 6, Number 20 02 May 2003 -- SADDAM HUSSEIN ISSUES LETTER, HINTS AT COMEBACK / SELF-APPOINTED 'MAYOR' DETAINED BY COALITION FORCES... / AS MONARCHY MOVEMENT HEAD CONDEMNS DETENTION / MORE HUSSEIN-REGIME MEMBERS SURRENDER / AMMUNITION CACHE EXPLODES IN BAGHDAD NEIGHBORHOOD / IRAQI OPPOSITION LEADER SAYS NO TO CLERIC-LED GOVERNMENT IN IRAQ / U.S. SOLDIERS REPORTEDLY CLASH WITH CIVILIANS IN AL-FALLUJAH / ANTIQUITIES RECOVERED... / ...AS MESOPOTAMIA ART EXPERTS MEET / SADRIYUN ADMINISTERING EASTERN BAGHDAD / POSSIBLE LINKAGES BETWEEN SADRIYUN AND TEHRAN / IRAQI FARMER RECANTS CLAIM OF SHOOTING DOWN APACHE / IRAQ'S NEIGHBORS SENDING AID / IRAN CURBS PILGRIMAGES TO SHRINES IN IRAQ / GREAT BRITAIN SAYS IRAN NOT MEDDLING IN IRAQ / UN REPORTS ON ASSISTANCE TO IRAQI PEOPLE / RUMSFELD ADDRESSES IRAQI PEOPLE FROM BAGHDAD / PUTIN AGAIN CRITICIZES THE U.S.-LED COALITION OVER IRAQ... / ...WHILE CALLING FOR A RETURN OF UN WEAPONS INSPECTORS / MILITARY OFFICERS ASSEMBLE IN LONDON TO DISCUSS SECURITY FORCE FOR IRAQ / U.K. PAPER CLAIMS DOCUMENTS LINK HUSSEIN REGIME TO BIN LADEN / MISSING U.S. SOLDIER'S REMAINS IDENTIFIED / CENTCOM ADDS UP FOUND MONEY / U.S. SPONSORS BAGHDAD MEETING TO DISCUSS POST-HUSSEIN IRAQ BUT NOT EVERYONE HAPPY
• Al-Fallujah Dispatch -- Sheikh Fawzi Calls For Patience As Tension Mounts RFE/L 02 May 2003 -- Today's day of prayers in the Iraqi city of Al-Fallujah were markedly tense following a week of violence between U.S. troops and Iraqi civilians.
• KASSMAN Q&A VOA 02 May 2003 -- The Iraqi town of Falluja was quiet after mid-day prayers Friday. At least 15 Iraqis have been killed, and seven U-S soldiers injured, in a series of clashes in the town this week. VOA's Laurie Kassman was there on Friday, and she described the scene
• IRAQ: Fuel shortage hits hard IRIN 02 May 2003 -- At Shahid Adnan Hospital in Baghdad, war-wounded are queuing up to see the plastic surgeon, Dr Kamal Husayn. But on the other side of the city, Kamal is himself queuing up - for petrol to get to work. So far, he has been waiting over an hour in a line four deep and stretching back more than 400 metres down the road from the Al-Khalisah petrol station.