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> Mon., Apr. 21, 2003
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
Iraqi’s Caught in the Middle
Iraq’s Neighbors Meet
Palestinian Prime Minister Walks Out
Nigerian Presidential Elections
Lockheed Martin Strike
India-Pakistan Tensions
Nina Simone Dies
Iraqi’s Caught in the Middle
Retired General Jay Garner arrived in Baghdad today where
he begins his job of running Iraq, as Iraqi cries for an end
to the US occupation of their land grow louder. This as Mohammed
Mohsen al-Zubaidi, a recently returned exile, declared yesterday
that he is Baghdad's new mayor and that he had formed a municipal
government. The US coordinator for central Iraq who is traveling
with Gen Garner said the US does not recognize al-Zubaidi
as Baghdad's new mayor. Deepa Fernandes spoke with our correspondent
in Baghdad, Urban Hamid.
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Iraq’s Neighbors Meet
Over the weekend Arabic media has been rife with speculations
that a "safqa" -- Arabic for a secret deal -- was
arranged between the United States and the Baath regime to
hand over Baghdad. Evidence cited is based on the fact that
the lives of many American and British forces as well as most
senior Baath officials were spared, that Baghdad itself did
not turn into the bloodbath widely anticipated by military
experts and that the war was shortened dramatically, saving
the region -- especially Saudi Arabia -- from catastrophic
consequences. Again, this coming out of Arab press. Meanwhile
increasingly defiant over America's aggressive new posture
in the Middle East, and increasingly worried about the security
of their own countries Iraq's neighbors said at the weekend
in Saudi Arabia that they would not accept a long-term US
role in Iraq. The eight countries, including Turkey, Iran,
Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt and Bahrain, also threw
their collective weight behind Syria - the eighth nation in
the group - in its mounting confrontation with the US. Oula
Farawati reports.
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Palestinian Prime Minister Walks Out
Over the weekend, a 45 year old Palestinian cameraman for
the Associated Press, became the fourth journalist shot and
killed by the Israeli Military during the past year. Nazeh
Darwazeh, was filming outside of the Israeli military’s
line of fire as the IDF was shooting at Palestinian youths
throwing rocks in the old city of Nablus. Darwazeh’s
death comes 3 weeks after the Israeli Military shot a British
peace activist in the head while protecting children in the
impoverished southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah. On Saturday,
thirty Israeli tanks rolled into Rafah, backed by Apache helicopters,
killing 5 Palestinians, one as young as 14, and an Israeli
military "combat" photographer. This as the newly
appointed Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, walked
out of the Palestinian cabinet this weekend, accusing Yassar
Arafat of blocking cabinet nominees: Awad Duaibes has more
from Ramallah.
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Nigerian Presidential Elections
After Saturday’s presidential elections in Nigeria,
with just over 60% of the votes tallied, it appears that incumbent
President Obasanjo will be Nigeria’s leader for another
term. Opposition parties charge widespread fraud, especially
in the country’s Niger Delta Region. And as Dena Montague
reports, since Obasanjo’s first term his relationship
with the US has grown tighter, something many Nigerians feel
is due to the country’s oil wealth.
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Lockheed Martin Strike
Workers who assemble F-16 jet fighters at Lockheed Martin’s
Forth Worth Texas facility have been on strike for more than
a week. Lockheed Martin, the nation's number one Pentagon
contractor, was recently awarded the biggest defense contract
in history to produce the Joint Strike Fighter. Stefan Wray
reports.
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India-Pakistan Tensions
While a weekend trip to Kashmir by Indian Prime Minister
Atal Behari Vajpayee was hailed by some as a mission of peace
with Vajpayee calling for talks with Pakistan over the issue
of Kashmir, the comments come on the heels of a call by the
Indian foreign minister late last week for "pre-emptive
strikes on Pakistan". Stepping up the rhetoric, Pakistan
Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali said Thursday that
Pakistan would go to "any extent" if attacked by
India under the doctrine of pre-emption. Tension between the
two nuclear powers resulted in a million plus army personnel
facing each other at the border in the last summer. Our correspondent,
Vinod K. Jose has more.
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Nina Simone Dies
As we go to air, we learned that legendary jazz and blues
singer Nina Simone died at the age of 70 at her home in southern
France. Simone, born in 1933 in the US state of North Carolina.
We will have more tomorrow.
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