Free Republic

Fox News reports that Rashid Khalidi wrote a 1991 obit of Salah Khalaf (also known as Abu Iyad): "Abu Iyad will be sorely missed by the Palestinian people to whom he devoted his life."

The three ambassadors who died violent deaths were Cleo Noel Jr.,killed in March 1973 when Palestinian terrorists struck an embassy in Sudan; Adolph Dubs, killed in 1973 when Afghan police stormed a hotel room where he was being held by terrorists; and Arnold Raphel, who died in 1988 when a plane crashed. Receiving waivers as longtime diplomats with military service were William Rivkin and Philip Crowe. Rivkin, who died in 1967, served as ambassador to Senegal, Gambia and Luxembourg and spent five years of in the Army during World War II, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel. Crowe, who...

So where is Muqtada al-Sadr and his Mehdi Army now? After taking serious losses against American and Iraqi forces and cynically hiding behind Shiite Islam’s most holy shrine in Najaf, these cowards have melted back into Iraqi society. Or have they? There are many questions to be answered regarding al-Sadr’s future, as he most certainly will oppose the growth of democracy in Iraq. Will al-Sadr and his thugs be held accountable for the violent crimes they committed in Najaf? During their reign of terror, they apparently held a kangaroo court. After Iraq’s top Shiite, Ayatollah Ali Sistani, pressured al-Sadr to...

A series of truces agreed on last month, encompassing Mr Sadr's stronghold in al-Thoura, Baghdad's eastern slum, as well as the Shia holy cities and other towns further south, are still holding. His own home turf in the capital has been more peaceful than it has been for months. Former fighters are now being paid to collect rubbish, plant trees, direct traffic and help the Iraqi police. The new government has promised to pay for a new sewage system so that the slum detritus will no longer flow past Baghdad's grimmest tenements. Outside the city, the clergy behind Mr...

The United States has warmly endorsed a decision by the Iraqi Governing Council to select a longtime exile with strong ties to the CIA to be the new prime minister of Iraq's interim government despite U.N. concerns over his past links.Friday's selection of Iyad Allawi _ a Shiite Muslim council member who headed an exile group made up of former Saddam Hussein military officers _ was an assertion of influence by the U.S.-picked body as the June 30 date for the return of Iraqi sovereignty draws near."He is certainly a fine and capable leader who appears to have broad support...

Some are unhappy that the U.N. was bypassed in the selection of a Shiite physician to head the interim government. BY ROBERT MORAN AND RON HUTCHESON Knight Ridder Newspapers BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iyad Allawi, a Shiite doctor who survived an assassination attempt by agents of Saddam Hussein and later tried to overthrow the former dictator, was tapped Friday to be the new prime minister of the Iraqi interim government. Allawi, a neurologist by training, will be the top official in the transitional government when it begins functioning with the transfer of sovereignty on June 30. Elections for a permanent government...