APS Diplomat Recorder articles from November 2003

APS Diplomat Recorder archives from November 2003

ARAB AFFAIRS - Oct. 25 - Iraq Urges More Aid.
November 1, 2003... Current Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) President Iyad Allawi, who headed Iraq's delegation to the Oct. 23-24 Madrid donors' conference, expresses disappointment at Arab contributions towards Iraq's reconstruction and calls on the country's...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Oct. 28 - 'Iraq Hid Weapons In Syria'.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... The director of top US spy unit, National Imagery and Mapping Agency, Rtd US air force Lt-Gen. James Clapper Jr., says satellite images showing a heavy flow of traffic from Iraq into Syria just before the American invasion of Iraq on March 20...

ARAB-EUROPEAN RELATIONS - Oct. 26 - EU-Mashrek Conference In Damascus.
November 1, 2003... A 3-day EU-Mashrek business conference in Damascus ends with Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed Naji Otri and EU Ambassador to Syria Frank Hesske saying they expect Syria and the EU to sign a trade association agreement before end-2003. (The EU has...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Oct. 26 - Gaza Buildings Destroyed.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... The Israeli army dynamites 3 empty apartment towers in the Gaza Strip in what it says is retaliation for a deadly Palestinian attack on a nearby Jewish settlement. Troops evacuated more than 2,000 Palestinians from nearby homes before...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Oct. 27 - Sharon Won't Kill Arafat.
November 1, 2003... PM Sharon tells EU parliamentarians visiting Jerusalem he has no plans to kill Arafat. "I don't see any plans to kill him although the man is responsible for deaths of hundreds, of thousands of mostly civilians because his strategy is a...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Oct. 28 - Gen. Yaalon Sees 'No Hope For Palestinians'.
November 1, 2003... Chief of Staff Gen. Moshe Yaaloon is quoted by Yediot Ahronot as telling correspondents from 3 Israeli newspapers: "There is no hope, no expectations for the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip nor in Bethlehem and Jericho. In our tactical...

ARABS-UN - Oct. 31 - Iran Gets List Of Uranium Demands.
November 1, 2003... The IAEA has sent Iran a detailed list of demands aimed at ending its uranium enrichment programme (but diplomats expect only slow progress on the issue despite hopes an agreement will be signed next week to allow intrusive inspections of...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Oct. 26 - Iraq Insurgents Surprising.
November 1, 2003... Secretary of State Powell concedes the Bush administration had not expected armed resistance in Iraq to continue as long as it has at so high a level. The admission comes only hours after what he calls a "brazen" rocket attack on Al Rashid...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Oct. 27 - Suicide Attacks In Iraq.
November 1, 2003... A wave of co-ordinated suicide attacks in Iraq kills almost 40 and leave more than 200 people injured. On Oct. 28 a suicide bomber attacked a police station in Falluja killing himself and at least 4 civilians. Hours after the blast, a British...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Oct. 27 - Saudi Terror Threat.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... The US embassy in Riyadh says it has credible information of a threat of terrorist attacks on aviation and other Western interests in Saudi Arabia. It says Americans should defer non-essential travel to Saudi Arabia. The embassy had earlier...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Oct. 27 - No Iran Regime Change Policy.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage says the US is not pursuing a policy of regime change in Tehran and could renew bilateral contacts with Iran if it resolves the issue of detained Al-Qaeda suspects. In a lengthy testimony before the...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Oct. 27 - Bush Steadfast On Iraq.
November 1, 2003... Responding to increased violence in Iraq, Bush passionately defends his policy and says he sees no need now to send more troops or to change strategy. Speaking at an unexpected Rose Garden news conference, he says forcefully the anti-US attacks...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Oct. 29 - Bush Gets $87 Bn.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... In a victory for Pres. Bush, US congressional negotiators agree all the money for the reconstruction of Iraq will be in the form of grants. A loan proposal was dropped from the compromise $87bn emergency spending bill for Iraq and Afghanistan,...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Oct. 30 - Iraq Dangerous.
November 1, 2003... Defence Secretary Rumsfeld and its Deputy Wolfowitz admit the situation in Iraq remains dangerous (a concession made to try to counter charges that they had previously painted too rosy a picture of the military progress there). Rumsfeld tells a...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Oct. 30 - Muslim Help Needed.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Wolfowitz stresses the importance of enlisting the help of the Muslim world in the "war on terror". (The Pentagon and Pres. Bush are keen to distance themselves from the remarks of Lt. Gen. William Boykin, a senior intelligence official who...

IRAN - Oct. 29 - Won't Share Al-Qaeda Info With US.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Government spokesman Abdollah Ramazanzadeh says Tehran will not share intelligence with the US about Al Qaeda members held in Iran despite repeated requests from Washington for it to do so. "We don't have any relations with American security...

IRAQ - Oct. 27 - Baghdad Blasts Kill Many.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Two large explosions rocks central Baghdad killing at least 12 people just a day after a rocket attack on Al Rashid Hotel where US Deputy Defence Secretary Wolfowitz was staying. An ambulance packed with explosives rammed into the barricades in...

IRAQ - Oct. 27 - Red Cross Review.
November 1, 2003... The Int'l Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says it is reassessing its operations in Iraq after the suicide attack outside its Baghdad HQ. But ICRC spokeswoman Nada Doumani tells reporters: "We believe we have to stay here because we do have an...

ISRAEL - Oct. 29 - New Budget.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... The Finance Ministry presents its 2004 budget of Shk254.7 bn ($56.9 bn) to the Knesset and says it would pass by end-2003.

ISRAEL - Oct. 30 - Police Question Sharon Over Bribery.
November 1, 2003... Police question PM Sharon for 7 hours over a $1.5m loan from Cyril Kern, a South Africa-based businessman. The loan was allegedly used as collateral to repay what judicial authorities found were illegal contributions to his campaign to become...

KAZAKHSTAN - Oct. 29 - No Nuclear Black Market.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... FM Kassymzhomart Tokaev tells the FT controls on the export of nuclear material make it highly unlikely that an extensive "black market" in fissile material exists. Tokaev, visiting London, suggests that secret transfers between states rather...

PALESTINE - Oct. 29 - Militants In Peace Talks.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... PM Qurei says the militant groups welcomed his offer to reopen talks on a ceasefire, which he hopes could turn into a broader truce with Israel and revive the US-backed "road map" to peace. But Qurei, asked by Pres. Arafat to form a permanent...

RUSSIA - Oct. 31 - Kasyanov Concerned Over Yukos.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... PM Kasyanov expresses "grave concern" about the Yukos crisis in a sign of conflict with Pres. Putin after the prosecutors' Oct.30 freeze of 44% of Yukos' shares. (Kasyanov's comments indicate there could yet be further fall-out from the...

SAUDI ARABIA - Oct. 27 - Royal Rule Challenged.
November 1, 2003... The London-based Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia escalates its campaign challenging the royal rule and strongly backs recent demonstrations in Riyadh and elsewhere in the kingdom, with marchers calling for radical reforms. On Oct. 26 in a...

SYRIA - Nov. 1 - US Pressure.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Assad's Baathist regime is coming under increased US pressures to stop helping anti-American forces in Iraq and Lebanon and for its troops to withdraw from Lebanese territories. The pressures increase as Damascus now is busy preparing for a...

SYRIA - Nov. 1 - Seeking EU Help.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... In the face of American pressures, Damascus is speeding up work on a co-operation agreement with the European Union (EU). A business conference held in Damascus by the EU-Mashrek Partenariat was an important part of this effort (see...

TURKEY - Oct. 29 - Question of troops for Iraq closed.
November 1, 2003... Pres. Ahmet Necdet Sezer says he considers as "closed" the controversial question of deploying Turkish troops in Iraq. (It is the first time a Turkish leader has indicated a serious setback in the deployment plan, although the statement...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Nov.2 - Iraq Neighbours Meet In Damascus.
November 8, 2003... FMs from Egypt and the 6 states bordering Iraq - Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Syria & Turkey - end a meeting in Damascus with a call on US-led forces in Iraq to quickly restore security to the country. They condemn attacks in Iraq...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Nov.6 - Concern Over Bush's Democracy Call.
November 8, 2003... Arab leaders express concern about Pres. Bush's Nov. 4 call for democracy in the Middle East. Bush recast the argument for America's intervention in Iraq as part of a "global democratic revolution", announcing a "new policy" which will no...

ARAB-EUROPEAN RELATIONS - Nov. 2 - Opinion Poll Mars Israel Relations.(Brief Article)
November 8, 2003... Relations between the EU and Israel take a sharp turn for the worse after an opinion poll showed most Europeans considered Israel the biggest threat to world peace. The poll, requested by the European Commission, asked more than 7,500 people in...

ARAB-EUROPEAN RELATIONS - Nov. 4 - Italy Defends Israeli Wall.(Brief Article)
November 8, 2003... Italian Deputy PM Gianfranco Fini defends Israel's right to build the security barrier in the West Bank in remarks that put the Italian government at odds with its EU partners. Asked at a news conference whether he agrees with a UN General...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Nov. 2 - Rumsfeld On Iraq.(Brief Article)
November 8, 2003... Defence Secretary Rumsfeld tells ABC's This Week the Nov.2 attack by militants who brought down a helicopter killing 16 US troops near Falluja will not deflect the US from its purpose of stabilising Iraq. He rejects criticism of inadequate...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Nov. 3 - $87 Bn Package Passed.(Brief Article)
November 8, 2003... The Senate passes Bush's emergency spending bill for Iraq and Afghanistan, giving final congressional approval to the $87.5 bn package that will finance Iraq's occupation and reconstruction. (The House of Representatives had passed the bill on...

AFGHANISTAN - Nov. 3 - Draft Constitution.
November 8, 2003... A 160-article document lays out a constitution for an ethnically diverse state in which different religions and languages are accepted, but which is governed by Islamic principles. The draft says post-Taliban Afghanistan will be an Islamic...

IRAN - Nov. 6 - Court Rejects Claim On US Reparations.
November 8, 2003... The International Court of Justice rules the US will not have to pay reparations to Iran for destroying 3 offshore oil production platforms belonging to the National Iranian Oil Co. (NIOC) during the 1980s Iran-Iraq war. But it throws out US...

IRAQ - Nov. 1 - Gen. Petraeus Achievements.
November 8, 2003... On Route 1, the main Mosul-Baghdad road, US army bulldozers are clearing the central reservation of vegetation and debris. They are leaving the trees but everything else is going so traffic is clearly visible. Clearing roadsides is one of a...

IRAQ - Nov. 2 - US Helicopter Downed, 16 Killed.(Brief Article)
November 8, 2003... The US military suffers its bloodiest single attack as a militants' surface-to-air missile brings down a troop-carrying Chinook helicopter, killing 16 soldiers and wounding 21, near Falluja. The helicopter was ferrying troops to Baghdad airport...

IRAQ - Nov. 3 - Blasts Rocks Baghdad.(Brief Article)
November 8, 2003... Several big explosions hit Central Baghdad close to the CPA headquarters. On Nov.4 the same HQ was the target of a bomb attack, with at least four big explosions heard across the city shortly before 8pm as mortar rounds were fired into the...

IRAQ - Nov. 6 - 2 Americans & A Pole Killed.(Brief Article)
November 8, 2003... A US soldier is killed by a land mine by the Iraq-Syria border (where attacks have been far less frequent than in areas like the Sunni Triangle near Baghdad). A US soldier was killed and 2 were wounded on Nov.5 in an ambush of a patrol in...

IRAQ - Nov. 7 - Black Hawk Falls,; 6 Killed.(Brief Article)
November 8, 2003... A US Black Hawk helicopter crashes near Tikrit, killing 6 soldiers. Another soldier died in an attack on a US convoy near Mosul. Elsewhere on Nov.7 a US soldier died and 6 others were wounded when their convoy was hit by a combination of RPG...

RUSSIA - Nov. 3 - Khodorkovsky Steps Down.
November 8, 2003... In a statement passed from a prison cell where he had been detained since Oct.25, Khodorkovsky says he is giving up his CEO role and dedicating himself to philanthropy and building "an open and truly democratic" society. He adds: "Over the next...

RUSSIA - Nov. 5 - Putin Intervenes For Yukos Oilfield Licences.
November 8, 2003... Pres. Putin rebuffs Natural Resources Minister Vitaly Artyukhov who had threatened to strip Yukos of its operating licences (his latest intervention in a dispute that has battered Russia's financial markets). Addressing a press conference in...

RUSSIA - Nov. 6 - Putin On Arrests.(Brief Article)
November 8, 2003... Putin tells a Rome press conference the arrest of Khodorkovsky was part of a law-and-order campaign aimed at rectifying large-scale economic crimes. He adds: "People earned billions, I repeat billions, of dollars in the space of five to six...

SAUDI ARABIA - Nov. 3 - Terror Attack Foiled, Pilgrims Targeted.(Brief Article)
November 8, 2003... Interior Minister Prince Nayef tells Al-Riyadh daily police have foiled a terror attack on pilgrims in Mecca. "These people are targeting the (holy Muslim) month of Ramadan. This is an evil aim. They wanted to make the entire country a place...

SAUDI ARABIA - Nov. 6 - Suspect Dies In Police Raid.(Brief Article)
November 8, 2003... A suspected Wahhabi militant blows himself up in Mecca during raids that leave at least 3 men dead in Mecca and Riyadh. At dawn police raided a suspected hideout in Riyadh, shooting dead one militant. The SPA later quoted an official as saying...

TURKEY - Nov.7 - Plan To Deploy Troops In Iraq Dropped.(Brief Article)
November 8, 2003... Washington and Ankara say they have agreed to drop plans to deploy Turkish troops in Iraq in the face of intense IGC opposition. (The climbdown deals a serious blow to US efforts to garner international support for its own troops, and reflects...

ARABS-UN - Nov. 11 - No Evidence Iran Has Nuclear Arms.
November 15, 2003... The FT quotes IAEA head ElBaradei as saying in his new report Iran repeatedly concealed information and failed to meet its nuclear commitments but insisting there is no evidence so far that Tehran is seeking to develop nuclear weapons. He says...

ARABS-UN - Nov. 12 - US Disbelief.(Brief Article)
November 15, 2003... The US Under-secretary for Arms Control John Bolton says it is "simply impossible to believe" the claim by the IAEA that it found no evidence of a nuclear weapons programme in Iran. He says the IAEA's own findings of Iran's deceptions over 18...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Nov. 9 - Iraqis Pressed To Write Constitution.
November 15, 2003... Iraqi FM Hoshyar Zebari says at a news conference with the Spanish FM Ana Palacio the IGC would meet a Dec. 15 deadline for submitting a timetable to the UN Security Council for drafting a constitution and organising national elections, but it...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Nov. 10 - Aiding Saudis Fight Terrorism.(Brief Article)
November 15, 2003... US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, who arrived in Riyadh on Nov. 9 after a suicide car bombing killed at least 17 people - mostly Lebanese and other Arabs - and injured dozens in the Saudi capital, offers wider support for Saudi...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Nov. 12 - Bremer Wants Big Change In Iraq Plan.(Brief Article)
November 15, 2003... Delivering his bleakest assessment to date of the crisis in Iraq, Bremer recommends in a two-page memo that the process of transferring sovereignty, writing a constitution and holding elections be accelerated and completed within a year. He...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Nov. 13 - US To Speed Handover in Iraq.
November 15, 2003... Pres.Bush says the US is developing a plan to "encourage more Iraqis to assume more responsibility" quickly in governing the country. He says he wants to speed dramatically the political evolution in Iraq towards self-governance, possibly...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Nov. 14 - Bremer Rushes To Washington.(Brief Article)
November 15, 2003... Bremer is rushing to Washington, summoned to two days of hastily convened meetings with Bush and his top security advisers. He is to execute a new plan to accelerate a hand-over of authority and sovereignty to Iraqis by mid-2004.

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Nov. 14 - Finding Saddam & Bin Laden Are Key Goals.(Brief Article)
November 15, 2003... Pres. Bush tells the FT US forces will not pull out of Iraq and Afghanistan until they have found Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden. He says it is "inconceivable" that the US would quit Iraq and Afghanistan. "We are not pulling out until the...

AFGHANISTAN - Nov. 11 - Bomb Blast At UN Office.(Brief Article)
November 15, 2003... A car bomb explodes outside the main UN compound in the southern city of Kandahar shattering windows and crumpling the outer wall of the compound. Gunter Pleuger, Germany's ambassador to the UN and the head of a recent Security Council mission...

IRAQ - Nov. 10 - Oil Official Demoted.(Brief Article)
November 15, 2003... One of the most senior oil officials and CEO of the State Oil Marketing Organisation (SOMO) Mohammed Al-Jibouri is demoted after he opposed giving Glencore, an oil trading firm, the right to buy Iraqi crude oil. The CEO of the oil ministry,...

IRAQ - Nov. 11 - US Infighting Blamed For Failures.(Brief Article)
November 15, 2003... FM Hoshyar Zebari blames "geriatric ambassadors" from the West and "American infighting" for many of the problems and security failures bedevilling the US-led occupation. The comments come as CPA chief Bremer cancels a meeting with visiting...

IRAQ - Nov. 12 - Truck Bomb Kills 19 Italians.
November 15, 2003... A suicide truck bomb attack kills at least 26 people, including 18 Italians in the southern city of Nasiriya, the bloodiest incident in the region since August. (The region is home to Shiites who have so far been broadly neutral or friendly to...

IRAQ - Nov. 14 - Insurgency Was Plotted Before War.
November 15, 2003... Sen. Bob Graham, Democrat of Florida, says US intelligence agencies found increasing evidence that the broad outlines of the guerrilla campaign being waged against US forces in Iraq were laid down before the war by the Iraqi intelligence...

IRAQ - Nov. 15 - 3 Steps To Home Rule.(Brief Article)
November 15, 2003... After his return from Washington, Bremer and IGC members agree on a 3-step timetable for Iraqi self-rule, with US troops to remain in Iraq but their presence to change from an occupation to an invited force. IGC members later outlined this...

IRAQ - Nov. 15 - 2 US 'Copters Fall; 18 Killed.(Brief Article)
November 15, 2003... A mid-air collision of two US Blackhawk helicopters kills 18 US soldiers in Mosul. Witnesses said later one of the helicopters was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade which sent it out of control and caused the collision. The 101st Airborne...

ISRAEL - Nov. 14 - Ex-Spy Chiefs See National Disaster.
November 15, 2003... The 4 former heads of the Shin Bet security service say, in an unprecedented attack carried by the Yedioth Ahronoth daily, Israel is heading for a "catastrophe" unless government policy switches course to reach a peace deal with the...

PALESTINE - Nov. 12 - Arafat Keeps Control Of PA's Security.
November 15, 2003... PM Ahmed Qurei presents a 24-member cabinet to parliament and ends weeks of political stalemate in the PA that froze progress on the US-backed "road map", with PA Pres. Arafat emerging triumphant as he remains in charge of security forces and...

RUSSIA - Nov. 10 - Iran To Have 2nd Nuclear Plant.
November 15, 2003... Moscow reaps significant commercial rewards from a bilateral agreement with Iran, and a hard-fought diplomatic victory, a Pres. Putin receives a top-level Tehran delegation in the Kremlin. The decision of the Iranians to choose Moscow to...

RUSSIA - Nov. 11 - Court Refuses To Bail Ex-Chief Of Yukos.
November 15, 2003... Shares in Yukos closes down nearly 3% as a Moscow court refuses bail to Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who was jailed on Oct. 25 and charged with fraud and tax evasion totalling more than $1 bn. The court rejects an appeal against Khodorkovsky's...

RUSSIA - Nov. 12 - Inquiry Hits At Heart Of Yukos Oil Business.(Brief Article)
November 15, 2003... Russian authorities launch a new investigation into the oil exploration licences at main Yukos production site in Siberia and several of its other subsidiaries. A joint investigation by prosecutors and local officials in the region of...

RUSSIA - Nov. 12 - Yukos Probes Could Widen Over 2 Years.(Brief Article)
November 15, 2003... Deputy Prosecutor Vladimir Kolesnikov tells politicians there could be further charges against Khodorkovsky and he might remain in pre-trial detention for up to two years. The comments come as the Yukos CEO, Simon Kukes, said in an interview...

RUSSIA - Nov. 14 - Putin Tries To Reassure.(Brief Article)
November 15, 2003... As top businessmen begin to distance themselves from Khodorkovsky, Putin reiterates to the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, the main business lobbying group: "Any criminal case involving business prompts concern and alarm,...

SAUDI ARABIA - Nov. 11 - Al-Qaeda Claims Riyadh Blast.(Brief Article)
November 15, 2003... As the authorities round up people for questioning in the Nov. 8 suicide car bombing that killed at least 17 people in Riyadh, the London-based Saudi weekly Al Majalla quotes an e-mail from someone purporting to be a Qaeda operative identified...

SAUDI ARABIA Nov. 15 - Royal Family Will Win The war.(Brief Article)
November 15, 2003... After Crown Prince Abdullah's chief spokesman Adel Jubair told a press conference that the government was engaged in open warfare with Al-Qaeda, a Lebanese expert in the Wahhabi religious affairs says the Saudi royal family will ultimately win...

TURKEY - Nov. 15 - Two Bombs Hit Jewish Synagogues In Istanbul.
November 15, 2003... Two suicide car bombs explode about two minutes and three miles apart, killing 23 people and injuring hundreds of others and shattering the fronts of Istanbul's largest Jewish synagogue, Neve Shalom, and the Beth Israel synagogue in the...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Nov. 17 - Israel Refuses To Lift Boycott Of European Politicians.(Brief Article)
November 22, 2003... Israel on Nov. 17 refuses to lift its blanket boycott of EU politicians who visit PA Pres. Arafat, and instead said it would renew contacts only with the EU's special envoy to the region. Diplomats said the decision was made during a meeting...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Nov. 18 - Two Soldiers Killed By Palestinian.
November 22, 2003... A Palestinian kills two soldiers at an Israeli military checkpoint just south of Jerusalem an automatic rifle hidden inside a rolled-up prayer rug .One of the soldiers was speaking to his mother on a mobile phone at the time, a family member...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Nov. 19 - Plan Could Ease Palestinian Hardships.
November 22, 2003... An official says Israel presented the Bush administration with a plan to alleviate hardships for Palestinians, including building factories on the West Bank that would employ at least 100,000 Palestinian workers. A pullback of Israeli troops...

ARABS-UN - Nov. 21 - Vote On Iran Nuclear Activity Postponed.(Brief Article)
November 22, 2003... IAEA postpones until Dec.3 a vote on its response to evidence of Iran's clandestine nuclear programme. Diplomats said the decision was made in a bid to buy time so as to bridge big differences between the US, and Britain, France and Germany....

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Nov. 16 - Forces Set To Remain In Iraq After Home Rule.
November 22, 2003... The top US administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, says that US forces were likely to remain in the country long after an interim government assumed power in June. "Our presence here will change from an occupation to an invited presence," Bremer...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Nov. 17 - Coalition Gives Pledge On Oil-for-Food Programme.
November 22, 2003... The US-led coalition indicates that it will leave Iraq's public food and aid distribution system largely in place until at least June 2004, and said its transfer from UN to coalition control was progressing smoothly. The comments came amid...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Nov. 19 - Sets Deadline For $19bn In Iraq Contracts.
November 22, 2003... The head of the new Iraq Infrastructure Reconstruction Office ,David Nash lays out an ambitious timetable to rebuild Iraq, saying they planned to award $18.7bn in contracts for reconstruction projects by the beginning of February. Nash said...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Nov. 20 - Success Of Baghdad Operation.
November 22, 2003... The commander of US forces in and around Baghdad, Brigadier General Martin Dempsey, declares an end to the first phase of Operation Iron Hammer - the stepped-up use of force that began almost two weeks ago - saying it had suppressed attacks...

AFGHANISTAN - Nov. 18 - UN To Halt Some Relief Operations.
November 22, 2003... The UN refugee agency announces that it is temporarily pulling 30 foreign staff members out of large areas of southern and eastern Afghanistan and closing refugee reception centers in 4 provinces. Analysts said the closures were a victory for...

IRAQ - Nov. 17 - US Bombings Shake Central Iraq.
November 22, 2003... US troops hits insurgents overnight with air, artillery and mortar bombs around the town of Baquba in central Iraq. "They attacked us during Ramadan when we were willing to give them a chance, so this is our response," says ground commander...

IRAQ - Nov. 17 - Radical Shiite Party May Back Government.
November 22, 2003... Sheikh Abbass al-Ruba'i, a spokesman for radical Shiite theologian Muqtada al-Sadr, says his party would be "100% behind" the new strategy so long as there was significant broadening of representation in the provisional government, laws...

IRAQ - Nov. 18 - Ba'athist Ban Remains Despite Sunni Recruitment.
November 22, 2003... Officials at Iraq's CPA makes clear that a new initiative to draw the country's Sunni Arabs into the political process did not mean they would be relaxing "de-Ba'athification" rules designed to keep members of the former regime out of...

IRAQ - Nov. 19 - IGC Seeks UN Help For Transition.
November 22, 2003... IGC calls for greater UN involvement in the process of building representative Iraqi institutions, ahead of the handover of power by the US-led coalition to a provisional government next June. The 25-member council is due to submit to the UN...