October, 2005

• 3 October

  ‘Iraq guilt’ mars morale, recruitment at British army — top general

  LONDON (AFP) — Army morale and recruitment are suffering because troops are seen as “guilty by association” with Prime Minister Tony’s Blair’s decision to invade Iraq, Britain’s top soldier claimed in comments published here Sunday. General Sir Michael Walker, chief of the defence of staff, also said, in an interview …

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• 3 October

  Commander says training of Iraqi forces on schedule

  WASHINGTON (AFP) — The top US commander in Iraq said on Sunday that training of Iraqi security forces was “on track” playing down earlier comments that only one Iraqi battalion was able to operate independently. “The development of the Iraqi security forces is very much on track,” General George Casey, …

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• 3 October

  Bush to crank up message machine on dangers of Iraq withdrawal

  WASHINGTON (AFP) — President George W. Bush will this week attempt to rally Americans wavering on Iraq, as senior aides warn a quick exit for US troops could sow a deadly harvest of future terror attacks on US soil. Officials say Bush will give a “significant” speech on Thursday, the …

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September, 2005

• 29 September

  Woman suicide bomber kills 6 in Iraq

  BAGHDAD (AP) — A woman, disguised in a man’s robes and headdress, slipped into a line of army recruits and detonated explosives strapped to her body Wednesday, killing at least six recruits and wounding 35 near the border with Syria — the first known suicide attack by a woman in …

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• 29 September

  Lynndie England jail term ‘travesty’

  BAGHDAD (Reuters) — Iraqis expressed fury on Wednesday over the three-year jail sentence for Lynndie England, the US soldier notorious for holding a naked inmate by a leash in Abu Ghraib prison, saying it exposed American hypocrisy. They said the sentence would have been more harsh had she been convicted …

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• 29 September

  Egypt proposes nuclear-free zone in Mideast

  VIENNA (AFP) — Egypt Wednesday proposed the creation of a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East and blasted Israel for standing in the way, at a meeting in Vienna of the UN atomic watchdog. Israel, believed to be the only state in the region with nuclear weapons, said it was …

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• 29 September

  Sinai town resents state, fears radicalism

  EL ARISH — Farhan Adel Farhan says he was electrocuted, blindfolded and suspended by the wrists when Egyptian police questioned him over bombings in the Sinai Peninsula last October. “Under torture, you can say things that never happened,” said Farhan, 33, who was among hundreds rounded up in the north …

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• 29 September

  New phase of conflict in Mideast

  OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — It is a moot point whether the Palestinian uprising is over. A new phase of conflict is already taking shape in the Middle East. Fighting still centres on the Gaza Strip following Israel’s withdrawal from the territory after 38 years of occupation, but both sides concur that …

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• 29 September

  Gaza pounded despite truce pledge

  OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel shut down charities with ties to Hamas across the West Bank and fired artillery into the Gaza Strip for the first time, as it widened a five-day offensive against Palestinian fighters, despite their pledges to stop firing rockets at Israel. A senior army officer said …

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• 23 September

  Shalom reiterates vote threat

  OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (AFP) — Israel reiterated threats Wednesday to hamper January’s Palestinian election if the Islamist movement Hamas stands despite being urged by Washington to cooperate in organising the polls. “We will not allow Hamas to take part in the elections” on January 25, said Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom in …

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