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Letters to the editor, April 12, 2003 This website is not related to Al-Jazeera TV More letters will be posted throughout the day The Editor of Al-Jazeerah apologizes for not responding to all of the readers' letters because of shutting down of aljazeerah.info. He hopes to resume that next week when it migrates into a new server. Today's messages were received on April 10-11.
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Human Price of the Israeli Occupation of Palestine Israeli daily aggression on the Palestinian people Mission and meaning of Al-Jazeerah Cities, localities, and tourist attractions
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After Iraq: The Ongoing Crisis by Dr. George Friedman
Israeli
hate group comes to UC Berkeley
Woman Spits on Palestinian Supporter A woman dressed as a suicide bomber spat on a Pro-Palestinian student at a rally on Sproul Plaza Wednesday, police said. Susanna Klien was cited on suspicion of battery of UC Berkeley student Mustafa Sheikh and told to leave campus for the day, said UC police Capt. Bill Cooper. The annual Students for Justice in Palestine-sponsored rally marked the anniversary of the killing of Palestinians at Deir Yassin 55 years ago. The incident began when Klien, who was wearing a Muslim head scarf and had mock dynamite attached to her body, walked through a group of Pro-Palestinian students participating in a die-in on Sproul. She was chanting "Free Palestine" in a mocking way, Cooper said. She is a member of the Pro-Israel student group DAFKA. As Klien walked through the group, Sheikh put his arms out by his side to stop Klien from going through the group, Cooper said. Sheikh, a member of SJP, told police he was trying to keep people from stepping on the students lying on the ground. He claims she took exception to that and spat in his face, Cooper said. Klien told police Wednesday she spat on Sheikh because she felt threatened by Sheikh because he prevented her from passing. Police are investigating whether the incident is a hate crime. Klien also filed a complaint yesterday claiming she was a victim of battery and felt threatened because she was not allowed to move freely through Sproul. She also charged that another student had pulled off her head scarf at the rally, Cooper said. Police are investigating both claims.
After Iraq: Perpetual War
and a Nuclear World
John Bolton is at it again. Just in case the Arabs were worried that the attack on Iraq is just the beginning of an American crusade, the Assistant Secretary of State for Disarmament Affairs rushed to confirm their worst fears. http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=15601
WHEN I heard the story Saddam may have been bombed I knew it had to be wrong intelligence. It had to be rubbish. Clearly if he was hurt, or had been buried, there would have been security all over the place and no one would have got near it. http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/page.cfm?objectid=12825322&method=full&siteid=50143
Limbless Iraqi boy offered help
An Iraqi boy who had both arms blown off and was orphaned
when a missile hit his Baghdad home has been offered help from
around the world.
A former Indian royal Maharani Gayatri Devi from Jaipur said she would pay for a pair of artificial limbs for Ali Ismail Abbas, aged 12. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2930813.stm Editors blast Rumsfeld over 'reckless' US strike Ciar
Byrne http://media.guardian.co.uk/iraqandthemedia/story/0,12823,933242,00.html Al-Jazeera's Basra hotel bombed Jason
Deans
A hotel in Basra being used as a base by al-Jazeera's team of
correspondents in the city was shelled this morning, the Arabic TV
news channel has claimed.
The
American people are not being shown the horrific devastation
that the massive tons of bombs and missiles are causing to Iraqi
civilians including its children. La
Voz de Aztlan has collected many of the following
pictures from the International media to show the horrible
slaughter of Iraqi civilians.
Poor pay with their lives
in cratered suburbia
Yesterday's strike took out two homes of an extended family of
about a dozen. Tuesday's raid destroyed the local school, and
on Monday a poor baklava seller, pitied by the entire
neighbourhood, lost his wife, mother, sister, nephew, and two
sons to American missiles.
Here in Sueb, 22 miles from the centre of Baghdad and just beyond the ring of burning crude oil that marks the outer reaches of the Iraqi capital, where urban sprawl ends and desert begins, a battle that has gone largely unseen has been raging for days.
Three killed as maternity
hospital is hit by bombs
A maternity hospital operated by the Red Crescent in Baghdad
was severely damaged yesterday when a trade centre on the
opposite side of the street was struck during bombing raids.
The clinic, which had largely been evacuated, was hit by flying glass and debris. Windows were blown in and the roof torn open. Three passers-by in the street were killed and 25 people injured, according to reports sent to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Geneva. http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,928501,00.html Amid Allied jubilation, a child lies in agony, clothes soaked in blood By Robert Fisk in Baghdad 08 April 2003 They lay in lines, the car salesman who'd just lost his eye but whose feet were still dribbling blood, the motorcyclist who was shot by American troops near the Rashid Hotel, the 50-year-old female civil servant, her long dark hair spread over the towel she was lying on, her face, breasts, thighs, arms and feet pock-marked with shrapnel from an American cluster bomb. For the civilians of Baghdad, this is the real, immoral face of war, the direct result of America's clever little "probing missions" into Baghdad. http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=395117 Syria
now top US target for 'regime change' One of the main subjects on the agenda of the Belfast summit yesterday was Syria, the Pentagon's next likely target for "regime change" amid suspicions it allowed Saddam Hussein to transfer weapons of mass destruction within its borders. Although President George W Bush did not include Syria in his "axis of evil" of Iran, Iraq and North Korea in January 2001, since then American officials say they have seen growing evidence of support for terrorism by Damascus. American officials stress, however, that regime change can be achieved without military action. There are strong hopes in Washington for a popular revolution in Iran by democratic opposition groups inspired by what has happened in Iraq. President Bashar Assad, Syria's leader, has led Arab opposition to the Iraq war, stating that he hoped Saddam would remain in power. Donald Rumsfeld, the US Defence Secretary, recently accused Syria of providing military equipment to Saddam. Some US officials are also convinced that Mr Assad has actively collaborated with Saddam and agreed to take weapons, including Scud missiles, from him so they would not be discovered in Iraq by United Nations inspectors. Descent into a charnel-house hospital hell April 10 2003 A searing visit to a trauma ward has Paul McGeough questioning the very essence of humanity. There's a man who goes up to his roof terrace every time the fighting starts. Often in his underwear, he watches with his hands spread nonchalantly on the parapet wall. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/04/09/1049567748685.html
CNN's Aaron Brown on the network's coverage
of the anti-war movement, the media's sanitization of the invasion
of Iraq and why he believes this is an inappropriate time for
reporters to ask questions about war. http://www.democracynow.org/aaronbrown.htm
Why the Iraqis May Resist the Peace
Seven reasons why Iraqis didn't
welcome the troops at first--and why they'll be halting partners
in a new Iraq
As the invasion of Iraq reaches its climax with the sieges of
Baghdad and Basra, some have been surprised that Iraqi civilians
have not welcomed our troops as liberators. American officials
blame the restrained reaction on fear of the regime. But there are
other factors as well, not discussed by the military pundits, that
contribute to Iraqi ambivalence and may matter even more during
the long occupation than during the short war.
Experts say U.S. `discovery' of nuclear materials in Iraq was breach of U.N.-monitored site
By William J. Kole, Associated Press, 4/10/2003 19:43
VIENNA, Austria (AP) American troops who suggested they
uncovered evidence of an active nuclear weapons program in Iraq
unwittingly may have stumbled across known stocks of low-grade
uranium, officials said Thursday. They said the U.S. troops may
have broken U.N. seals meant to keep control of the radioactive
material.
WAR PROFITEERS Haliburton could make $7 billion from former boss' war STEPHEN GLAIN, BOSTON GLOBE - A subsidiary of oil giant Halliburton Co., the company formerly chaired by Vice President Dick Cheney, won a contract that could run as high as $7 billion to put out oil-well fires in Iraq, according to a Pentagon official. The potential payout is 10 times what it cost to douse the inferno of burning Kuwaiti wells at the end of the Gulf War. In a letter to Representative Henry A. Waxman, a US Army Corp of Engineers officer said the Halliburton subsidiary, Kellogg Brown & Root Services of Houston, was awarded the two-year contract to extinguish oil-well fires and to evaluate the state of Iraq's petroleum fields. . . So far, the conflict in Iraq has produced minimal harm to the country's oil wells. By contrast, it took engineers nine months and about $700 million to put out the petroleum fires in Kuwait torched by retreating Iraqi forces at the end of Operation Desert Storm in 1991. "There's gotta be something more to this than putting out a few wells," said Ed Porter, a senior researcher at the American Petroleum Institute. "I've never seen a contract [summary] like this. There's really not much information there.". . . In a March 26 letter to Flowers, Waxman singled out the contract to Kellogg Brown & Root for having "no set time limit and no dollar limit and is apparently structured in such a way as to encourage the contract to increase its costs and, consequently, the costs to the taxpayer." Flowers wrote that the $7 billion ceiling reflected the difficulty in predicting the extent of the damage to Iraqi wells and stressed that the actual value of the deal will depend on the cost of the orders placed under it. Awarding the contract, he wrote, "was justified and approved under laws providing exceptions to full and open competition." http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/101/nation/Halliburton_unit_could_make_7b+.shtml
Bush's Propaganda Mill Is at It again
with the Cheering Iraqis: U.S. Citizens Have Been Hoodwinked and
Bushwhacked by the Neoconservatives' Lies
I thought I had heard it all. U.S.
President George W. Bush told us that the International Atomic Energy
Commission had issued a report several years back that said Iraq was
months away from developing a nuclear bomb. U.S. President
George W. Bush told us that Saddam Hussein had chemical weapons.
Bush said that Saddam Hussein had gassed his own people before.
Iraq has violated over 14 United Nations resolutions. And there
were those mean Iraqi soldiers who were dressing up as civilians--how
could they? Lately, we have seen images of Iraqis giving U.S.
troops flowers and cheering as Saddam Hussein's statue was toppled.
It seemed that all of these were valid reasons for the war; it turns
out that they were all lies or invalid reasons at best.
First, we heard about the report issued by
the International Atomic Energy Commission (IAEC). It later
turned out that the IAEC issued no such report about Iraq being months
away from developing an atomic bomb. The head of this agency
said that it had never said anything like that, and that it could not
be predicted how far or close a country was to developing an atomic
bomb.
U.S. President George W. Bush said that
Hussein had gassed his own people. Now, it turns out that there
is a report that showed these people were actually gassed by Iran.
Accordingly, there were some Iraqis who were caught in the crossfire
between Iraq and Iran. Iraq was using mustard gas, whereas Iran
was using a cyanide gas. Later, scientists reportedly determined
that the people who lived in Iraq died as a result of the cyanide gas
that Iran had used against Iraq, not the mustard gas that Iraq had
been using.
We were also told that Hussein had weapons
of mass destruction, which he was not currently using nor making
threats to use. Never mind that Israel has weapons of mass
destruction and has threatened to use nuclear weapons against European
countries, even the sprawling city Rome. Never mind that Israel
has used internationally banned napalm on American soldiers before
(for example, the U.S.S. Liberty's crew, 34 of whom were murdered by
the Israelis, which was done deliberately according to the former
heads of the CIA and NSA). Never mind that Israel has used
banned weapons against Palestinians in the Occupied Territories.
Amid the accusations against Iraq's
alleged weapons of mass destruction, Hussein allowed internationally
recognized inspectors. Nothing was found. Amid
accusations, Hussein destroyed several dozen missiles that were said
to have gone too far (something like 3 miles over the limit, which was
questionable because the missiles were tested without the normal
equipment that was used to direct them). Why couldn't the
weapons inspectors have continued? Certainly, if Hussein had
such weapons, they would have found them. The war has been going
on for about a month, and the only thing I've heard that was
discovered for certain may very well be bug spray (which was carted
away ever-so conveniently to be examined by the U.S. government).
Hussein has not used one chemical weapon thus far, which demonstrates
that even if he has such weapons he has used remarkable restraint
during a war. Meanwhile, we're still patiently waiting for this
"smoking gun."
We were told that Iraq had violated over a
dozen United Nations resolutions. This is true. It has.
But we in the U.S. have violated international laws too. When
reporters here paraded captured war prisoners from Afghanistan on TV,
it was a violation of the Geneva Convention. And we started the
war in Iraq, knowing full well that if a vote had been allowed, there
is no way that the resolution would have been passed, even if Russian
and France had not vetoed it. This is why the U.S. government
started the war without the United Nation's approval: because it would
have been given advance disapproval, which is much worse than no
organized disapproval. Rather than allow this, Bush and his
Zionist cohorts decided to do their own thing.
One might argue that the U.S. has not
violated over a dozen UN resolutions. This might be because we have
veto status too. More importantly, others have violated more
than this. For instance, Israel has violated approximately 600
percent as many UN resolutions since it was formed as Iraq has, yet no
consideration is given to Zionist War Crimes (because George W. Bush
is on the "take" from the Zionists, having unethically
received much financial election campaign support from the bandit
state of Israel). If George W. Bush stands before an
international tribunal some day for war crimes, he will only have
himself and his Zionist comrades to blame. (If you're curious
about who these "Zionist comrades" are, please see one of my
previous articles, mentioned at the end of this article.)
Most recently, many of us have seen the
images of Iraqis giving flowers and greeting American troops.
There are some Iraqis who joyously give Americans the peace sign
(which, oddly enough, is viewed in most of Europe as something
pornographic, similar to "flipping the bird" here). I
saw pictures of Iraqis giving these flowers myself. I saw the
Iraqis breaking up the statue of Hussein with a sledgehammer.
And I have to admit, after seeing these pictures, I thought to myself,
"Well, I guess I was wrong about how some people felt in
Iraq." I even mentioned it in my previous article about how
I was in "shock" (and awe, too) over this.
I just couldn't figure it out.
Something just didn't seem right. Sure, I realize that not all
Iraqis may like Hussein. Some may even hate him. I
understand that he ruled the land with an iron grip.
Nevertheless, I thought to myself, before seeing these pictures, the
Iraqis probably like us less. After all, we're invading their
land. We've been bombing Iraq for the past decade on a regular
basis when ever something comes up (like Clinton's Lewinsky-scandal,
for example, which momentarily distracted our attention). It's
been noted by others that over 500,000 children--maybe as many as 1
million--have died as a result of U.S.-promoted sanctions against
Iraq. Water purification is something that has been forgotten
due to the inability to buy parts for them as a result of sanctions.
Hubcaps, beads, ashtrays, candles, combs, dolls, forks, glue, jackets,
gowns, pens, toothpicks, tissue paper, and wax--these are just a few
of the items that have been banned from Iraq due to U.N. sanctions.
And now, we're telling the Iraqis who they can have as President.
(Yes, Hussein was the overwhelmingly elected leader of Iraq.
Now, some may find fault with that. However, I have to wonder,
having been fed so many lies as it is, if I can believe the comments
I've been told about the voting process there being corrupt. And
what if we bring a "democracy" there, and he is re-elected?)
When the invasion of Iraq initially
started--given the noble sobriquet, "Operation Iraqi
Freedom" or something to that effect--I was not surprised like
the U.S. troops who were sent over there. The troops here had
been deceived: They thought that the Iraqis would be greeting U.S.
troops with flowers (as we saw the other day) and that the Iraqis
would be joining in the campaign to liberate themselves (as we saw the
other day with the statue). On the other hand, I thought that
the Iraqis, while technologically outmatched, would be taking pot
shots with AK-47s every chance they got. I was told that Iraqi
soldiers were dressing up as civilians; I thought that it was probably
"real" Iraqi civilians who were not too happy with the fact
that they were being "liberated." As time progressed,
my version initially appeared true. Consequently, our leaders
here told us that Iraqis were not being helpful because they were too
fearful of Hussein at the time; that these Iraqis would be cooperating
more with American troops as time progressed. Call me the
skeptic; but, again, I just didn't buy it.
It turns out that we've been hoodwinked
and bushwhacked. If you've seen the pictures circulating around,
one of which was sent to me, you know what I mean.
That Iraqi who was giving our troops the
peace sign--a sign that isn't typically used over there just like
Europe--it turns out that he was not living in Iraq at the time.
He had emigrated to the U.S. some time back and was now a U.S.
citizen.
The Bush administration seems to be behind
the whole affair. Apparently concerned that the media campaign
was not going over very well, despite the incessant propaganda given
by the Jewish Media Barons (see my article on this topic too,
described in the article's link that follows this article), Bush and
his Zionist cohorts sent over approximately 700 former Iraqis who
didn't like Hussein for one reason or another. How much did the
U.S. government pay these former Iraqis for the media blitzkrieg, if
any, remains unknown?
While a U.S. tank pulled the statue of
Hussein down, many of these American Iraqis rejoiced. From
pictures taken aback of the whole affair, you can see that it was only
a handful of these American Iraqis in the square. Meanwhile,
several American tanks stood on the outside of the square, preventing
true Iraqis from protesting the dismantling of the statue.
Lately, there is talk about a new campaign
being unleashed on American troops by "other" Iraqis, not
the ones that we saw "celebrating." Apparently, the
real Iraqis aren’t too happy with this whole scenario. It
seems that honesty is still cherished in other lands.
-------------------
Mark Franklin is the producer of the
controversial video "Zionist War Crimes: The Case for the
Prosecution."
To see an online streaming video excerpt
from this video (for a 56K modem), go to -
http://www.indymedia.org/local/webcast/uploads/zwcesad.wmv
To see an online streaming video excerpt
from this video (for a 112K modem or faster), go to -
http://www.indymedia.org/local/webcast/uploads/zwc-ad-e-med.wmv
(sm. Video – Windows Media Video - 4
minutes download with 56K)
To read about this video, see the following (one continuous) link:
(If you want, feel free to copy the above
article and post it. No copyright.)
The above article is also shown here, but
the quotes are messed up (seems to always mess up true-type quotes,
continuous link):
http://www.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=308008&group=webcast
If you would like to get on my mailing
list, please respond to me at nonzion@yahoo.com
with the comment "Zionists suck" in the header.
If you would like to get on this mailing list, respond to this e-mail with the comment "Zionists suck" in the header. If you would like to get off it, respond to this e-mail with the comment "Zionists are God's chosen people" in the header. See the video shocking the nation, "Zionist War Crimes: The Case for the Prosecution." Read about it: http://www.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=308008&group=webcast Online video, 56K modem: http://www.indymedia.org/local/webcast/uploads/zwcesad.wmv
Islamic Institute Calls for Pipes to Apologize or Decline Nomination Friday April 11, 2003 The Islamic Institute, a Washington, DC-based advocacy group today called on Daniel Pipes to retract his many offensive and bigoted statements and to apologize for his promotion of racial, religious, and ethnic stereotyping and hatred. Daniel Pipes, the founder of the Middle East Forum, was nominated last week to the board of directors of the U.S. Institute for Peace, a federally-funded think tank created by Congress to promote the prevention and peaceful resolution of international conflicts. Khaled Saffuri, Executive Director for the Islamic Institute, stated, "If Pipes fails to do apologize for his many bigoted statements and writings, he should withdraw his nomination from the US Institute for Peace. Daniel Pipes has made it his mission to promote hate and bigotry and to divide people. The US Institute for Peace needs a person who brings the many cultures, religions and ethnicities of our diverse world together, not someone who seeks to divide people based on race or religion." Daniel Pipes has made a series of statements considered offensive by Muslims, African-Americans, and immigrants. In some instances, Pipes has even attempted to "reeducate" Muslims about what he believes they should believe as followers of Islam (please se below). Congress established the US Institute for Peace in 1984. The 15 Board members meet six times a year and are confirmed by the US Senate. ### "Muslims are flourishing and in some cases are privileged," said Daniel Pipes of the Middle East Forum, a critic of U.S. Muslim political advocacy on Middle East issues. "My impression is that the leadership asks for these privileges, not ordinary Muslims." Privilege, he said, is evident in the easy ability of Muslims to win legal disputes with financial penalties, payments from corporations who offend Islam, retractions from newspapers and favors from government. "I don't see any Hindu stamps, and I don't see Hindus filing so many complaints," he said. "American Muslims a New Force," Larry Witham The Washington Times 11/28/2000 http://www.hvk.org/articles/1100/99.html "The Koran is a not 'a product of Muhammad or even of Arabia,' but a collection of earlier Judeo-Christian liturgical materials stitched together to meet the needs of a later age...A few scholars go even further, doubting even the existence of Muhammad." - Daniel Pipes, The Jerusalem Post, 5/12/2000 "The Muslim Claim to Jerusalem," Daniel Pipes Middle East Quarterly, September 2001 http://www.danielpipes.org/article/84 "Western European societies are unprepared for the massive immigration of brown-skinned peoples cooking strange foods and maintaining different standards of hygiene...All immigrants bring exotic customs and attitudes, but Muslim customs are more troublesome than most." National Review 11/19/90 "(The) increased stature, and affluence, and enfranchisement of American Muslims...will present true dangers to American Jews." American Jewish Congress Convention, 10/21/01 "The Palestinians are miserable people...and they deserve to be." Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, July 2001 "Iranians and Pakistanis, to take two groups of non-Arabs, re at least as widely conspiracy-minded and as anti- Semitic as, say, Tunisians and Kuwaitis." Commentary 9/1/99 "There is no escaping the unfortunate fact that Muslim government employees in law enforcement, the military, and the diplomatic corps need to be watched for connections to terrorism, as do Muslim chaplains in prisons and the armed forces. Muslim visitors and immigrants must undergo additional background checks. Mosques require a scrutiny beyond that applied to churches, synagogues and temples. Muslim schools require increased oversight to ascertain what is being taught to children…" - Daniel Pipes, "The War's Most Agonizing Issue," Jerusalem Post, 1/22/03 "...black converts [to Islam] tend to hold vehemently anti-American, anti-Christian, and anti-Semitic attitudes." Commentary, 6/1/2000
US bomb mosque - believe Saddam is hiding in it Reuters via SABC News April 11, 2003 http://www.sabcnews.com/world/north_america/0,1009,56812,00.html Where is Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi President? A US missile slammed into a mosque in Baghdad thought to be sheltering key Iraqi officials, and possibly Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi president, himself. One day after jubilant Iraqis, with the help of US troops, brought down a statue of Saddam in the centre of Baghdad, a fierce gunfight took place at a mosque believed to be sheltering Iraqi officials. Iraqi fighters in northern Baghdad's Imam Mosque fought bitterly with US marines. US marines from the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force received a tip that regime leaders were meeting at the house of a senior Baath Party official. Military officials still have no idea if Saddam was among them. The "intense fighting" took place near the Az Amihyah Palace. One marine was killed and up to 20 others were wounded; the mosque was left in good condition. - Reuters
http://www.sabcnews.com/world/north_america/0,1009,56812,00.html
Thank you, there's the door' AFX via News 24 April 10, 2003 http://www.news24.com/News24/World/Iraq/0,,2-10-1460_1346107,00.html Baghdad - The people of Baghdad on Thursday were still savouring their liberation by American troops, but said they will also be pleased to see them leave quickly. After the ecstatic scenes the day before welcoming US marines rolling through the city centre and toppling President Saddam Hussein's most cherished statue, there were few outbursts of joy for the American guests on Thursday. Many Baghdadis were outraged to watch US troops settle in at city intersections while their fellow Iraqis looted with impunity. "We are free and I had my first fearless night in years," said Muafak Ali, a 30-year-old shop assistant. "We thank the Americans for liberating us. But we want to see them replaced quickly by a government because the city is lawless right now. There are no police, there is only stealing." As the United States talks about taking the reins for six months or more before handing over power to Iraqis, many in Baghdad said this first taste of freedom has been too sweet to give up already. "I feel like I have been reborn. We are very happy. The Americans have liberated us, but now we need a purely Iraqi government that protects our freedoms," said Abdallah Jelem, a 30-year-old factory worker buying fruit at one of the stalls open for business in the Karada district of downtown Baghdad. Amjad Saad, an interpreter, also had mixed feelings. "This is a bittersweet day," he said. "It is happy because we have been freed from a brutal tyrant, but at the same time sad because a foreign army is occupying my country. I hope they will leave as soon as possible." In the bakery where he works, Haidar Abed, 18, was nervous about what the future would bring. "If they don't leave now, there will be a civil war because without a real government, people will fight among themselves. Look at what has already happened," he said, referring to the looting. The city only slowly came back to life on Thursday with a few stores opening their metal shutters and cigarette vendors manning their stalls. At the house of Saddam's favourite daughter, Hala, one of the looters takes a moment to speak to a journalist. "I hate Saddam Hussein and I came to take what he stole from us. But if the Americans want to put an administration in place directly, we Iraqis will fight them," said Mohamad Haidari. 'We have lost our country' Down the road, Mander Mohamad, a 68-year-old businessman, looks incensed by the advancing American troops. "This is a very sad day. We have lost our country. The Americans want us to disappear from the map," he said. "The Americans will never leave. They did not come here with troops like this to have a picnic. This is an occupation, pure and simple." One of his neighbours, who asked not to be named, agreed. "In seeing all these looters do what they want before their eyes, I suspect they will set up a government of thieves and outlaws. That is all that will change," he said. These feelings of relief apprehension are widespread, with a clear mistrust of American intentions. "They did not come to make us happy. They want to profit from our wealth. It would be great if Saddam disappeared forever, but I hope they won't put someone else in with another name to do what they want at the expense of our freedoms," said Salah Mohamad, a 39-year-old shopkeeper. http://www.news24.com/News24/World/Iraq/0,,2-10-1460_1346107,00.html
20 Bodies litter streets of Baghdad suburb Dead bodies of children could be seen lying on side of road between Al-Dora and international airport. Middle East Online April 10, 2003 http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=5101 ------------------------------------------ photo: http://www.middle-east-online.com/pictures/big/_5101_charred-body-baghdad-10-4-2003.jpg Charred bodies buried in mass grave ------------------------------------------
BAGHDAD - Around 20 bodies and burnt-out cars littered the streets of the southwestern Baghdad neighbourhood of Al-Dora on Thursday, a photographer reported. Bodies, including those of children, were still strewn over the road between Al-Dora and the international airport, which is under the control of US forces. The putrid, fly-covered corpses were being buried in a mass grave along the side of the road by volunteers whose noses were covered with scarves against the stench, according to the photographer. Some of the corpses were in or under the charred vehicles. Dead children lay on the side of the road, covered in sheets. One family, two of whose members were completely incinerated, died in the back of a pick-up truck. "If the price of freedom is this, we don't want it," said one Iraqi helping at the scene. A gutted white Mercedes car sat at the roadside, a white flag still fluttering from its antenna. A US officer at the scene said Saddam's Fedayeen paramilitary militia attacked an American convoy which retaliated, causing the deaths on Monday. Witnesses, however, said that US soldiers opened fire on cars carrying civilians they thought posed a threat on Wednesday morning. Two Iraqis were killed and three others wounded Wednesday when US troops shot at an ambulance on a central Baghdad street, a doctor said. "The American troops just mowed down the ambulance which was transporting wounded people from the Saddam Center for Plastic Surgery to another hospital," said Belgian doctor Geert Van Moorter. The driver was wounded in the stomach and the co-pilot in his legs, said Van Moorter, from the Belgian association Medical Aid for the Third World. The ambulance had been carrying three men wounded by exchanges of fire in the city, he said, adding that two of them were among the dead. "This is completely unacceptable, and when I went up to a US officer to denounce such behavior, he just said: 'The ambulance could contain explosives,'" said Van Moorter. http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=5101
DON'T THINK IT'S ALL OVER By Abdel Bari Atwan, Editor of UK-based Arabic paper al-Quds Daily Mirror April 11, 2003 http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/page.cfm?objectid=12833498&method=full&siteid=50143 ---------------------------------------------- photos: http://images.icnetwork.co.uk/upl/mirror/apr2003/2/3/000247C6-0B7A-1E96-B25F80C328EC0000.jpg BITTERNESS: The Union Jack is burnt at an anti-war rally in Damascus http://images.icnetwork.co.uk/upl/mirror/apr2003/3/2/000994F4-03D5-1E96-B25F80C328EC0000.jpg WARNING: Arab expert Abdel Bari Atwan ----------------------------------------------
WHILE most viewers in America and the UK celebrated the fall of Baghdad – and of the statues of Saddam Hussein – in Arab homes it was greeted with frustration and anger. Frustration because Baghdad fell without a fight. Anger because Iraq is now effectively under US and British occupation. The Americans and their British allies have now come face to face with the Iraqi people, with all their complexities and racial, sectarian and religious mosaic. Certainly, those who danced in the streets in front of the cameras are few, perhaps 1,000 persons. They do not represent the overwhelming majority of Iraqis. The same may be said of those robbing and looting before the eyes of the US Marines in Baghdad and the British in Basra. Iraq is now passing through a transitional stage and still living through a state of shock and imbalance. They lived under the sway of the Ba’ath regime and Saddam Hussein for more than 30 years during which they had known nothing else. They will require a long period to adapt to, and accept, the new reality – to sense a likely future. The shift from transitional to permanent may not be smooth. After all, if the Americans under the leadership of George Washington rose against British occupation, why does anyone think the Iraqis will be different? Saddam Hussein divided the Iraqis. His downfall may bring them together, or unite the overwhelming majority of them, but this time by confronting the US. Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda only emerged because of the presence of US troops on Saudi soil; a presence the Muslims perceive as humiliating for them and desecrating for Islamic shrines. Disagreements have begun to show in the opposition factions. What is certain is the Sunnis, who are counted as supporters of Saddam’s regime, will turn into an opposition because they are secularists who mostly believe in Arab nationalism. But perhaps the most serious development is the transformation of the Shi’ites, who are supposed to be most hostile to Saddam, into a resistance movement that employs suicide operations as weapons against the coalition. Lebanese Shi’ite sources close to Hizbollah have confirmed to me an Iraqi Hizbollah is being founded. Elements of this group, who are trained to carry out resistance in South Lebanon, have been infiltrating Iraq and will begin their operations against the US and British troops. The intrusion of the US troops into Najaf and Karbala, the two most sacred cities for 60million Shi’ites in Iran, is considered a humiliation. The Iraqi borders with Iran are more than 1,000km long and so are those with Syria. Don’t be surprised to see weapons smuggling and recruits volunteering to fight, especially in the wake of threats by US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld against both countries. Officials in Syria and Iran firmly believe they are next in line. Iraq is proceeding rapidly not in the direction of a democratic model, but one of anarchy and confusion, just as in Somalia, Afghanistan and the Balkans. It is now the most fertile soil for radicalism, and it will attract radicals and extremists from all sides. They will all embrace the call for jihad against the occupation. The American and British honeymoon in Iraq may be a short one. But if it drags on it is only likely to be bloody. Hence, it is rather premature to celebrate the fall of Baghdad despite the end of Saddam Hussein.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/page.cfm?objectid=12833498&method=full&siteid=50143
"Catastrophic" Situation At Baghdad Hospital: ICRC Islam Online April 11, 2003 http://www.islam-online.net/english/news/2003-04/11/article03.shtml
----------------------------------- photos: http://www.islam-online.net/english/news/2003-04/11/images/pic03.jpg "The situation (at al-Kindi) is chaotic and catastrophic," ICRC http://www.islam-online.net/english/news/2003-04/11/images/pic03a.jpg Looting and chaos prevailed in Iraq -----------------------------------
BAGHDAD, April 11 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - A Baghdad hospital visited Friday, April 11, by a team of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was in "catastrophic" state, an ICRC official said. "The situation is chaotic and catastrophic," ICRC medical coordinator Peter Tarabula told Agence France-Presse (AFP), at Al-Kindi hospital, one of the biggest medical centers in Baghdad. The hospital was looted after Saddam Hussein's authority crumbled Wednesday, April 9, and U.S. occupation troops rolled into central Baghdad. It was the first time in several days that the ICRC had inspected a hospital in the occupied Iraqi capital, amid the uncertain security situation in the Iraqi capital. Twenty-five people were admitted to the hospital Friday after suffering gunshot wounds in clashes during looting in the Iraqi capital, hospital sources also told AFP. The hospital in the east of the city has been ransacked and all staff have fled with the exception of two doctors who administer first aid but do not carry out operations. All patients have left the hospital, one of Baghdad's largest, and Shiite fighters from the southern city of Najaf under the leadership of Sheikh Abbas al-Zubaidi have set up camp there. Shopkeepers Open Fire
As the UN accused U.S.-led forces of being “unable” to prevent anarchy and chaos, shopkeepers in central Baghdad opened fire on looters Friday for the first time since U.S. troops entered the city, as the widespread chaos left 25 people injured. In Al-Rasafi market, merchants fired pistols in the air outside a seven-story garment store, while at Al-Arabi market shopkeepers fired Kalashnikov rifles toward approaching looters. "We want the law to rule and if the Americans don't defend us then we'll defend ourselves with our own weapons," said merchant Khazen Hussein. Young people were also seen with iron bars running after potential thieves. Baghdad has seen rampant looting since U.S. troops rolled in Wednesday and the two-and-half-decade authority of Saddam Hussein crumbled. Almost everything has been considered fair game, from the luxury homes of senior regime figures to European diplomatic missions. Twenty-five people were admitted to Baghdad's Al-Kindi hospital on Friday after suffering gunshot wounds in clashes during the looting. But the hospital, Baghdad's largest, can provide little help as it has been looted itself. All staff have fled Al-Kindi hospital with the exception of two doctors who administer first aid but do not carry out operations. "The doctors have all left," said nurse Jawad al-Jabiri. Few patients have remained at the hospital since the looting Thursday, in which armed men stole two ambulances and medicine from the facility. U.S. troops called to assist them replied that they had no orders to intervene and medical staff said they were powerless to stop the thieves. Kirkuk In Chaos Meanwhile, the situation in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, captured by Kurdish and U.S. forces Thursday, is spiraling out of the control of local Kurdish chiefs, and several people have been killed, the city's Kurdish governor, Rizgarali Hamgam, told AFP. Pillaging and score-settling had begun after the fall of the city and carried on through the night, Hamgam said Friday, adding that a number of people were killed or wounded. He did not give details. http://www.islam-online.net/english/news/2003-04/11/article03.shtml
Children shot at checkpoint, traders fire on looters Sydney Morning Herald April 11, 2003 http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/04/11/1049567873069.html US Marines said they killed two children at a checkpoint in Iraq today when the driver of the vehicle in which the youngsters were travelling ignored warnings to stop, creating fears of a suicide attack. Captain Jay Delarosa, spokesman for the 15th US Marine Expeditionary Unit in the southern city of Nasiriyah, said nine other people in the minivan were wounded in the incident. "Our Marines took action to protect themselves against what they thought was a suicide bomber," Delarosa told Reuters correspondent Adrian Croft in Nasiriyah, adding that the driver had ignored repeated warnings to stop. "Currently, we are providing the best available medical assistance to those injured," he said, adding that no weapons had been found in the vehicle. "It was a regrettable mistake."
Meanwhile, an AFP correspondent reports that shopkeepers in central Baghdad opened fire today for the first time on looters, as the city descended into chaos. In two separate incidents, shopkeepers armed with assault rifles, pistols or iron bars opened fire on groups trying to ransack their shops. Twenty-five people were admitted to Baghdad's Al-Kindi hospital after suffering gunshot wounds in clashes during looting, hospital sources told AFP, although it was unclear if they were wounded in these incidents. In the al-Rasafi market, merchants fired pistols in the air outside a seven-storey garment store, while at the al-Arabi market shopkeepers fired Kalashnikov rifles toward approaching looters. Young people were also seen with iron bars running after potential thieves. "We want the law to rule and if the Americans don't defend us then we'll defend ourselves with our own weapons," said Khazen Hussein. Baghdad has seen widespread looting since US troops rolled in on Wednesday and the two-and-half-decade authority of Saddam Hussein crumbled. In London, the head of Britain's aid agency said today US troops occupying Baghdad should make a "massively bigger effort" to bring law and order to the Iraqi capital and make its hospitals safe. "There must be a much bigger effort to stop all this looting and violence," International Development Secretary Clare Short told British Broadcasting Corp radio. "We need a massively bigger effort. It should focus on hospitals." The collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime led to mass looting in Baghdad, a city of 5 million occupied by thinly stretched US forces, and earlier in Basra, where British forces are in charge. US battalion commanders have pledged patrols to at least stop the looting of hospitals, which Short said lacked electricity, drugs and water supplies. "It's an absolute priority that US troops should bring order to Baghdad," Short said. "An occupying power has a duty to make sure that civilians are cared for, to keep order and to keep civilian administration ticking over." British military spokesman Group Capt Al Lockwood said law and order were slowly being restored to Basra. "The incidents of looting are dying out," Lockwood told BBC TV from Qatar. "Hopefully the local leaders who wish for law and order to be restored are asking their people to stop the looting." AFP/AP and Reuters http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/04/11/1049567873069.html
Hope fades at Basra hospital AFX via Channel 24 April 11, 2003 http://www.news24.com/News24/World/Iraq/0,6119,2-10-1460_1346585,00.html Basra - She cradled her newlywed son, waved swarming flies away for the hundredth time and wept with every breath he took. In three days, he will be dead. Maybe two. Medical staff at Basra General Hospital can do little but stand and watch, stripped of the medicines and blood supplies that would save his life. The man is Nagim Abdul Nabiy, a 25-year-old Iraqi architect, who has been at the hospital for four months, arriving just weeks after he was married. He lies in a semi-conscious state viewing the stifling Ward 15 through runny bloodshot eyes. The bed is propped up by makeshift repairs, the temperature approaches 100 degrees Farenheit by mid-afternoon and the tiger-print sheets are already soaked with sweat. Paint peels off the walls, open windows invite more flies and the floor is littered with dust and debris. Nagim is suffering from a bone disease described by doctors, who have long since left for the day, as chronic. "There is no medication at all," said ward assistant Ali Haffat. "We have a blood bank, but no blood. "Since the war started, we have had no power so he's just getting worse. "A specialist came down from Baghdad and diagnosed him. We were keeping him alive with transfusions before, but now there is no blood, no power, no hope. "He will last another two or three days. It's very sad, but really, what can we do? We have given him all the analgesic we had, but now..." Nagim's father, Abdul Nabiy, rose from the bedside where he had clutched his son's hand and reassured him quietly. He wiped away tears, grabbed our interpreter by the arm and told us: "He is my only son. He is a good man, a proud man, an educated man. Too young to die "He is a family man with a wife, but not even any children yet. He is too young to die like this." He slumped back into his bedside vigil with a shake of his head and a comforting arm from his weeping wife Bahiya Mathood. There are only 90 patients in the crumbling 400-bed complex, built by the British in 1921 and known as Republican Basra Hospital until last week. The faded images of Saddam Hussein at the main gates survived until the arrival of coalition soldiers. An accompanying promise that "the confidence the Iraqi people have in their President will burn the American hopes" can still be read but "only because we can't find any paint" said one bystander, who took out a banknote from his pocket and gleefully spat on the president's grinning image. Inside the main reception, painted murals show children undergoing surgery while soldiers stand guard and Saddam smiles down from a messianic pose. In the harsh reality of the wards there are still children, but none are getting surgery. There are no guards and few nurses. Many of the doctors only stay a few hours. They check to see whether any power supply has been set up, they check on their few remaining patients and then they retire to their private practices, thriving with wartime injuries. Many of those wounded in fighting and B-52 bombing raids over the past three weeks decided they would be better treated at home rather than the hospital. No power The X-ray department door was open, with around 25 people milling around outside, but the official attendant said: "They come here every day and wait, then they go home at night. I've told them there is no power so no X-rays, but maybe they think the British will turn it on again today." However, electricity may not cure all the ills at Basra General. Rumours abound that doctors are stealing medical aid intended for the hospital and charging exorbitant rates to dispense it from their private clinics. "We have heard the reports and we will investigate them," said Lieutenant Colonel John Nash, of the British Royal Logistic Corps, overseeing a delivery of drinking water to the hospital. "The facilities here can be restored. We are making the first steps with medical aid ready to be delivered within the next few days, then aid organisations will take over." Back in Ward 15, Nagim Nabiy will not survive to see this new era take shape. His carer, Ali Haffat, shook his head. "We need everything you can give us; water, medicine, food and electricity. If we don't get these things soon this will not be a hospital. It will be a morgue."
USS Cole Attack Suspects Escape Islam Online April 11, 2003 http://www.islam-online.net/english/news/2003-04/11/article09.shtml ----------------------------------- http://www.islam-online.net/english/news/2003-04/11/images/pic09.jpg The port side of the USS Cole after the 2000 bombing in Yemen -----------------------------------
SANAA, April 11 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Ten Yemenis awaiting trial on charges of involvement in the October 2000 attack on the USS Cole destroyer with an explosives-laden boat sneaked out of a jail in the southern port of Aden Friday, April 11. The men cut open the bars over one of the prison windows and slipped out around 5:00 am (0200 GMT), reported Agence France-Presse (AFP). Prison authorities realized one hour later that they were gone, said officials, who requested anonymity. Among those who escaped was Jamal Badawi, one of the principal suspects held on connection with the deadly blast which killed 17 U.S. sailors and was claimed by Al-Qaeda network. Local officials said seven other suspects in the Cole case remained in prison. Police who inspected the facility after the escape found no trace of the fugitives. Authorities announced a manhunt for the suspects, distributing their pictures to police stations around the Aden area. Yemeni police have finished their investigation of the 17 men, carried out in collaboration with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and have sent their case to prosecutors. But the suspects, who could potentially face the death penalty, have not been formally charged. Yemeni officials say the United States wanted to delay the trial until prosecution of other key al-Qaeda figures. Seventeen US sailors were killed and 38 others wounded in the October 12, 2000 suicide attack, in which men rammed an explosives-laden boat into the hull of the destroyer in Aden. Yemen, known for its tribal structure and widespread ownership of weapons, has long been seen as a key recruiting ground for al-Qaeda. One of the poorest countries in the world, Yemen is the ancestral home of the Saudi-born Osama bin Laden. Yemen's government rounded up more than 100 suspects after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, although dozens have since been released for lack of evidence. At the request of Washington, Yemeni police and armed forces began in late 2001 tracking down suspected al-Qaeda members in the unruly provinces. President Ali Abdullah Saleh has deployed troops mainly around suspected al-Qaeda strongholds in the country's northeast, while the U.S. military has been sent to assist in the training of the Yemeni army. A Yemeni man wanted by the FBI as a key planner of the Cole attack, Ali Qaed Sunian al-Harithi, was killed with five other people in November when a U.S. missile blew up his vehicle in eastern Yemen.
PHOTOS: THOMAS HURNDALL, MURDERED BY ZIONAZIS WHILE PROTECTING CHILDREN FROM THEIR GENOCIDAL MANIA Associated Press April 11, 2003 http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news/?p=hurndall&n=100&c=news_photos ISLAMIC COMMUNITY NET http://groups.yahoo.com/group/islamiccommunitynet URGENT APPEAL FOR GULF WAR II VICTIMS from Human Concern International http://www.yourmailinglistprovider.com/pubarchive.php?montrealmuslimnews+100 TRANSLATIONS OF THE MEANING BY HILALI/KHAN FROM THE HOLY QURAN OF SURAHS 1, 112, 113, AND 114 AND AYAT AL-QURSI Surah 1 Al-Fâtihah 1. In the Name of Allâh, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful. 2. All the praises and thanks be to Allâh, the Lord of the 'Alamîn (mankind, jinns and all that exists). 3. The Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful. 4. The Only Owner (and the Only Ruling Judge) of the Day of Recompense (i.e. the Day of Resurrection) 5. You (Alone) we worship, and You (Alone) we ask for help (for each and everything). 6. Guide us to the Straight Way 7. The Way of those on whom You have bestowed Your Grace, not (the way) of those who earned Your Anger (such as the Jews), nor of those who went astray (such as the Christians).
Ayat al-Kursi Surah 2 Al-Baqarah In the Name of Allâh, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful. 255. Allâh! Lâ ilâha illa Huwa (none has the right to be worshipped but He), the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists. Neither slumber, nor sleep overtake Him. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on earth. Who is he that can intercede with Him except with His Permission? He knows what happens to them (His creatures) in this world, and what will happen to them in the Hereafter. And they will never compass anything of His Knowledge except that which He wills. His Kursî extends over the heavens and the earth, and He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them. And He is the Most High, the Most Great. [This Verse 2:255 is called Ayat-ul-Kursî.]
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Surah 112 Al-Ikhlâs or At-Tauhîd In the Name of Allâh, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful. 1. Say (O Muhammad (Peace be upon him)): "He is Allâh, (the) One. 2. "Allâh-us-Samad (The Self-Sufficient Master, Whom all creatures need, He neither eats nor drinks). 3. "He begets not, nor was He begotten; 4. "And there is none co-equal or comparable unto Him."
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Surah 113 Al-Falaq In the Name of Allâh, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful. 1. Say: "I seek refuge with (Allâh) the Lord of the daybreak, 2. "From the evil of those He has created; 3. "And from the evil of the darkening (night) as it comes with its darkness; (or the moon as it sets or goes away). 4. "And from the evil of the witchcrafts when they blow in the knots, 5. "And from the evil of the envier when he envies."
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Surah 114 An-Nâs In the Name of Allâh, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful. 1. Say: "I seek refuge with (Allâh) the Lord of mankind, 2. "The King of mankind, 3. "The Ilâh (God) of mankind, 4. "From the evil of the whisperer (devil who whispers evil in the hearts of men) who withdraws (from his whispering in one's heart after one remembers Allâh), 5. "Who whispers in the breasts of mankind, 6. "Of jinns and men." ---
"You can’t separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom." "Prospects for Freedom in 1965," speech, Jan. 7 1965, New York City (published in Malcolm X Speaks, ch. 12, 1965).
The Night After
The Easier the Victory,
the Harder the Peace
By URI AVNERY
It is now fashionable to
talk about "the day after". Let's talk about the night
after.
After the end of
hostilities in Iraq, the world will be faced with two decisive facts:
First, the immense
superiority of American arms can beat any people in the world, valiant
as it may be.
Second, the small group
that initiated this war--an alliance of Christian fundamentalists and
Jewish neo- conservatives--has won big, and from now on it will
control Washington almost without limits.
The combination of these
two facts constitutes a danger to the world, and especially to the
Middle East, the Arab peoples and the future of Israel. Because this
alliance is the enemy of peaceful solutions, the enemy of the Arab
governments, the enemy of the Palestinian people and especially the
enemy of the Israeli peace camp.
It does not dream only
about an American empire, in the style of the Roman one, but also of
an Israeli mini- empire, under the control of the extreme right and
the settlers. It wants to change the regimes in all Arab countries. It
will cause permanent chaos in the region, the consequences of which it
is impossible to foresee.
Its mental world consists
of a mixture of ideological fervor and crass material interests, an
exaggerated American patriotism and right-wing Zionism.
That is a dangerous
mixture. There is in it something of the spirit of Ariel Sharon, a man
who has always had grandiose plans for changing the region, consisting
of a mixture of creative imagination, unbridled chauvinism and a
primitive faith in brute force.
Who are the winners?
They are the so-called
neo-cons, or neo- conservatives. A compact group, almost all of whose
members are Jewish. They hold the key positions in the Bush
administration, as well as in the think- tanks that play an important
role in formulating American policy and the ed- op pages of the
influential newspapers.
For many years, this was a
marginal group that fostered a right-wing agenda in all fields. They
fought against abortion, homosexuality, pornography and drugs. When
Binyamin Netanyahu assumed power in Israel, they offered him advise on
how to fight the Arabs.
Their big moment arrived
with the collapse of the Twin Towers. The American public and
politicians were in a state of shock, completely disoriented, unable
to understand a world that had changed overnight. The neo-cons were
the only group with a ready explanation and a solution. Only nine days
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