Saddam to face new charges

An investigative judge will file new criminal charges against Saddam Hussein in the next few days charging him in the deaths and deportation of thousands of Kurds in the 1980s, a government prosecutor has said.

Chief prosecutor Jaafar al-Moussawi on Sunday said the new charges, which would be announced in the coming days, would involve Saddam's alleged role in "Operation Anfal", which included the 1988 gassing of about 5,000 Kurdish civilians in the village of Halabja.

In all, Kurds maintain that more than 180,000 of their people were killed in Anfal, which began in 1987 and ended a year later. Hundreds of Kurdish villages in northern Iraq were destroyed and thousands were forced to leave their homes.

Al-Moussawi did not specify when the charges would be filed, but the Iraqi court which handles cases against the ousted ruler announced a press conference for Tuesday.

AJ

Fatah defiance

The Israeli army has been pounding the northern Gaza Strip with a massive artillery, air and naval attack for the past 48 hours. Israel has claimed the attacks are meant to stop rocket firing from the Gaza Strip. Israeli artillery hit the northern Gaza Strip with more than 150 shells Saturday.

Meanwhile, dozens of armed Fatah members on Saturday fired into the air, rejecting the Palestinian prime minister's call to end a public display of weapons. Samir Masharawi, a senior figure in Fatah movement, arrived from a trip to Egypt on Saturday, a day after four people were killed in factional fighting.

The violence was sparked by the assassination of a senior commander of the Popular Resistance Committees. His group accused several prominent Fatah figures, including Masharawi, of involvement.

Early Saturday, Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas urged calm and called for an end to public displays of weapons. But Masharawi rejected to the call.

"I will not be able to convince the Palestinian citizens or the sons of Fatah who feel very offended" by the accusations, he said. "When the government starts a correct beginning ... then we will cooperate to end the public display of weapons."

Mahmoud Zahar

Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar told reporters on Sunday that Palestinians do not have a problem with the Jewish religion, but rather, with Israeli occupation carried out by Jews. "There is no place for Israel on this land," Zahar told Xinhua on Sunday.

The FM added that he was certain the goal would be realized, and that he did not rule out the possibility of Jews, Muslims and Christians living together in a future Islamic state of Palestine.

Zahar also reiterated his opposition to peace negotiations with neighboring Israel, stating that Israel had no intention of upholding an agreement with the Palestinians or seeking peace, and that his party could therefore not accept a two-state solution in which a Palestinian state was created alongside an Israeli one.

"Israel doesn't want peace nor does it have any peace project. Therefore, we told our people and tell them that there will be no negotiations," he explained.

British government to hold ”secret” meeting on possible attack on Iran

The British government is set to hold secret talks with defense chiefs Monday to discuss possible military strikes against Iran, the Sunday Telegraph reported. "It is believed that an American-led attack, designed to destroy Iran's ability to develop a nuclear bomb, is inevitable if Teheran's leaders fail to comply with United Nations demands to freeze their uranium enrichment program," the paper wrote.

Monday's meeting will be attended by Gen Sir Michael Walker, the chief of the defense staff, Lt Gen Andrew Ridgway, the chief of defense intelligence and Maj Gen Bill Rollo, the assistant chief of the general staff, together with officials from the Foreign Office and Downing Street.

AB

Zarqawi replaced at head of Iraq resistance

Iraq's resistance has replaced Jordanian-born Abu Mussab Al Zarqawi as political head of the rebels, confining him to a military role, the son of Osama Bin Laden's mentor said on Sunday in Jordan.

"The Iraqi resistance's high command asked Zarqawi to give up his political role and replaced him with an Iraqi, because of several mistakes he made," said Hudayf Azzam, who claims close contacts with the rebels. "Zarqawi's role has been limited to military action," said Azzam, whose late father Abdullah Azzam was the mentor of Bin Laden, the Al Qaeda boss.

"Zarqawi bowed to the orders two weeks ago and was replaced by Iraqi national Abdullah Bin Rashed Al Baghdadi," Azzam said.

Azzam, 35, whose father was known as the "prince of mujahideens", said he regularly receives "credible information on the resistance in Iraq".

He said Zarqawi "made many political mistakes", including "the creation of an independent organization, Al Qaeda in Iraq", adding, "Zarqawi also took the liberty of speaking in the name of the Iraqi people and resistance, a role which belongs only to the Iraqis."

As a result "the resistance command inside and outside Iraq, including imams, criticized him and after long discussions demanded that he be confined to military action", Azzam said. "Zarqawi pledged not to carry out any more attacks against Iraq's neighbors after having been criticized for these operations which are considered a violation of Sharia [Islamic law]," Azzam said.

Zarqawi replaced at head of Iraq resistance

Iraq's resistance has replaced Jordanian-born Abu Mussab Al Zarqawi as political head of the rebels, confining him to a military role, the son of Osama Bin Laden's mentor said on Sunday in Jordan.

"The Iraqi resistance's high command asked Zarqawi to give up his political role and replaced him with an Iraqi, because of several mistakes he made," said Hudayf Azzam, who claims close contacts with the rebels. "Zarqawi's role has been limited to military action," said Azzam, whose late father Abdullah Azzam was the mentor of Bin Laden, the Al Qaeda boss.

"Zarqawi bowed to the orders two weeks ago and was replaced by Iraqi national Abdullah Bin Rashed Al Baghdadi," Azzam said.

Azzam, 35, whose father was known as the "prince of mujahideens", said he regularly receives "credible information on the resistance in Iraq".

He said Zarqawi "made many political mistakes", including "the creation of an independent organization, Al Qaeda in Iraq", adding, "Zarqawi also took the liberty of speaking in the name of the Iraqi people and resistance, a role which belongs only to the Iraqis."

As a result "the resistance command inside and outside Iraq, including imams, criticized him and after long discussions demanded that he be confined to military action", Azzam said. "Zarqawi pledged not to carry out any more attacks against Iraq's neighbors after having been criticized for these operations which are considered a violation of Sharia [Islamic law]," Azzam said.

Hamas vows to end armed chaos

Palestinian interior minister Said Siam vowed on Sunday that his Hamas-led government would put an end to impunity and armed chaos after three people were killed in clashes between rival militants.

"We will ensure that nobody is above the law and demand an end to the instability and armed chaos," Siam said in reference to Friday's clashes in which 36 people were also wounded after the assassination of a militant commander.

"We are giving the security forces all the authority and power to investigate this ugly crime [the assassination of the militant commander] and also the three killings and other casualties that followed," he said, referring to a commission of inquiry set up on Friday night.

Moussaoui trial

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the brains behind the September 11 attacks, was surprised by the scale of destruction wrought by the tragedy, which scuppered his plans to unleash a second wave of strikes.

Declassified summaries of interrogations of the former top Al Qaeda planner, now incarcerated at an undisclosed location by the United States, revealed fascinating details of the 2001 attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people.

Jurors will resume deliberations on Monday over whether Moussaoui is eligible for the death penalty sought by the government which claims his "lies" while in jail in August 2001 allowed the world's worst terror attack to go ahead.

MET

Dozens of bodies discovered

Iraqi police reported the discovery of nearly 40 bodies in several neighborhoods of the Iraqi capital.
The bodies found in Baghdad were all handcuffed and had been shot in the head or chest, said police Maj. Falah al-Mohammedawi. They apparently were victims of revenge killings between Sunni and Shiite Muslims.

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