The US, UN & Iraq III

Earlier, to get to the talks, North Korea abandoned its insistence on a purely bilateral discussion with the U.S., while the U.S. gave up its demand for purely multilateral discussions. It also stopped insisting that North Korea dismantle its nuclear program before any talks.

The Bush administration spun this so artfully that it was widely portrayed as North Korea's backing down in fear after the Iraq war. In fact, Washington caved at least as much as Pyongyang.

Anthrax kills sailor
April 30, 2003
US detectives were yesterday examining the death from anthrax of an Egyptian seaman who may have been carrying the deadly bug as part of a terrorist plot.
Ibrahim Ibrahim died in Porto Trombetas in Brazil before his freighter left for Canada. He told shipmates he felt sick after opening a suitcase he had been asked to take to Canada. He died that night, April 11, vomiting blood.
Brazilian authorities' initial theory is that anthrax killed him - and they believe his curiosity may have unwittingly foiled terrorists.
Yesterday the ship - which was bound for Quebec -- and crew of 30 were i quarantine off Halifax as local health officials conducted tests.
Anthrax Kills Sailor

London's Sunday Telegraph focused on exposing secrets, particularly those found in documents discovered in Iraqi intelligence headquarters. The documents allegedly prove that Saddam's regime had ties with al-Qaida since they describe the March 1998 visit to Baghdad of an envoy of Osama Bin Laden's. The paper affirmed that "the purpose of the meeting was to establish a relationship between Baghdad and al-Qa'eda based on their mutual hatred of America and Saudi Arabia." The get-togethers ended with discussion of a possible Bin Laden visit to Baghdad. While the documents contradicted Iraqi denials of an al-Qaida connection, they may be less significant than they seem: The meetings took place five months before the bombings of two U.S. Embassies in East Africa, which is before the Clinton administration placed Bin Laden at the top of its most-wanted list. It was also peculiar that the documents were found "inside a folder lying in the rubble of one of the rooms of the destroyed intelligence HQ," after Iraqi agents "attempted to mask out all references to bin Laden, using white correcting fluid." If the Iraqis feared exposure and knew their time was up, outright destruction of the documents would have been more likely. (This is the second time in a week that British journalists have claimed to find hot docs lying in Iraqi rubble.)

War crime ..... MOI???

Report: Tommy Franks could face war crimes charges
28/04/2003 - 9:17:51 am

Iraqi civilians are preparing to take Allied commander Gen Tommy Franks to court in Belgium, accusing him and other US military officials of war crimes in Iraq, it was reported today.


A senior US official warned that "there will be diplomatic consequences for Belgium" if the complaint is taken up by a court there and Belgian authorities issue indictments against Gen Franks and other US officials.