July 22, 2003
Liberian Situation Remains Volatile (3:31)
After a five day sustained military attack on the Liberian capital of Monrovia, approximately 4500 American troops are headed towards the region. However, America, and indeed the rest of the world, have been reluctant to send troops to enforce a ceasefire. As Brendan Sweeney reports, despite a slight break in hostilities, the situation remains volatile.
AIDS cause concern in Baghdad (4:21)
US Central command in Iraq confirmed this afternoon that Saddam Hussein’s son’s Oday and Qusay, are among four Iraqi’s killed in a raid on a home in the Northern City of Mosul. Meanwhile, US forces came under further attack today. One soldier was killed and another wounded in an ambush north of Baghdad. The number of US troops killed in Action since President Bush declared major combat over on May 1 now stands at 39. The rising cost of the military occupation in lives and dollars is prompting efforts by the Bush Administration to internationalize the occupation, but other countries are insisting on progress toward Iraqi self-rule. This as HIV and AIDS a well-kept secret in Iraq during the Hussein is now of concern to the international community. Many of the former patients who were under specialized hospital care are now scattered across the Iraqi population. Authorities now fear the spread of the pandemic. Fariba Nawa reports from Baghdad.
Released Guantanamo Prisoner Sues (4:08)
A Pakistani prisoner, Mohammed Sagheer, who was released last November, has demanded $10.4 million compensation from the US government departments for illegally detaining him at Guantanamo Bay for 10 months. His lawyer, Mohammed Ikram Chowdry who sent a legal notice to the Defense, State and Justice departments through the US embassy in Islamabad on July 9 says he is going to wait for a response until August 15 after which he will file a law suit against the US government either in Pakistan or the United States. Another batch of eleven Guantanamo Bay prisoners, who arrived on July 17, have been jailed by the Pakistan authorities for 90 days. Legal experts in Islamabad today claimed their detention was absolutely illegal Masror Hussain reports from Islamabad.
Islamists Strike in Kashmir (4:04)
Today 3 Islamic fighters struck in a suicide attack on an Indian Military Garrison in Kashmir, killing at least 8, including a brigadier and injuring among others the general in command of the Indian Presence in Kashmir, a territory whose ownership is disputed by the Nuclear neighbors of Indian and Pakistan. For Kashmiri’s commemorating Martyr’s day this week, various initiatives towards peace launched earlier this year has seen little change with the continued disappearance of their sons. From Srinigar, Kashmir, Miranda Kennedy reports.
War Resistors League Holds 80th Annual Conference (4:00)
Over the weekend the war resisters league held its 80th annual conference in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The WRL was founded in 1923 by people who had opposed World War I, many of whom had been jailed for refusing military service. About two hundred people traveled from all around the country to learn about the WRL’s tradition of conscientious objection and non-violent resistance to war. The theme of the conference was the globalization of militarism. Daniel Costello reports from Colorado Springs.
