U.S.forces capture Iraqi spymaster, warn self-installed Baghdad mayor (news on marsh Arabs and more)

The first postwar tasks should be cleanup of hazardous wastes and emissions, improved water management and restoration of Iraq's ecosystem -- in particular the Mesopotamian Marshlands, 90 percent of which were drained on Saddam's orders after the 1991 Gulf War, the study said.

This is good news! I've been wondering about the marsh Arabs.

Since all the paintings were being thrown out in the trash, who gives a rip if someone keeps them? Give me a break...

He is suspected of having knowledge of Iraqi intelligence activities in the United States, including names of people spying for Iraq

More suicides and arkansides on the way for Democrats?

About 60 technocrats and academics

Liberal academics I'll bet.

Leave it to the UN to place environmental concerns above all else in postwar Iraq. As soon as I see the letters "UN" as the prefix, I know that what follows is purely idiotic.

If they can't get themselves into Iraq on one pretext, they'll keep trying to get in on others.

Where are the international environmental organizations? Why aren't they volunteering? I guess there aren't any ways to sue anybody for this using their own money.

They could at least condemn Saddam for environmental crimes, couldn't they ? (/sarcasm)

arrest him as a disident/combatant

Leave it to the UN to place environmental concerns above all else in postwar Iraq. As soon as I see the letters "UN" as the prefix, I know that what follows is purely idiotic.

The marsh Arabs isn't simply a matter of environmental. Saddam was attempting to rid Iraq of the entire tribe (like other groups who weren't Suni muslim) by destroying their habitat. He almost succeeded.

extracted from the above article:

APRIL 6 or 7, 2003 : (IRAQ : THIS IS THE DATE THAT ALI HASSAN AL-MAJID aka CHEMICAL ALI WAS REPORTEDLY SEEN ALIVE IN BAGHDAD- A DAY OR TWO AFTER THE AIRSTIKE THAT PURPORTEDLY KILLED HIM IN BASRA, AND A FEW DAYS BEFORE THE FALL OF BAGHDAD, ACCORDING TO A LATER REPORT FROM KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS) Among the top regime officials believed by U.S. and British forces to have been killed is Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as "Chemical Ali" for his use of poison gas against Iraq's Kurds. Knight Ridder Newspapers reported Thursday that Baghdad hospital workers saw al-Majid alive a day or two after the airstrike that purportedly killed him in the southern city of Basra.
A nurse and a doctor at Baghdad Nursing Hospital said al-Majid was at the hospital April 6 or 7 while another official and a bodyguard in his entourage were treated for injuries, according to the Knight Ridder report. The doctor was quoted as saying al-Majid's group left the hospital two or three days before Baghdad fell to American forces. ...--- "U.S. forces capture Iraqi spymaster, warn self-installed Baghdad 'mayor' not to arm followers," by DAVID CRARY, Associated Press Writer, http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/04/24/international0332EDT0458.DTL

APRIL 23, 2003 Wednesday : (IRAQ : THE HEAD OF IRAQ'S AIR DEFENSES, MUZAHIM SA'B HASSAN AL-TIKRITI IS TAKEN INTO US CUSTODY) ...Four important officials from Saddam's ousted regime were taken into custody Wednesday by U.S. forces, including ... Muzahim Sa'b Hassan al-Tikriti who headed Iraq's air defenses...Al-Tikriti reportedly helped train the Fedayeen Saddam militia, which have been accused by U.S. officials of committing war crimes including using civilians as human shields. Pentagon officials said it was too early to determine whether any of the captured officials would be tried for war crimes. --- "U.S. forces capture Iraqi spymaster, warn self-installed Baghdad 'mayor' not to arm followers," by DAVID CRARY, Associated Press Writer, http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/04/24/international0332EDT0458.DTL

APRIL 23, 2003 Wednesday : (IRAQ : IRAQ'S FORMER MILITARY INTELLIGENCE CHIEF, GEN ZUHAYR TALIB ABD AL-SATTAR AL-NAQIB IS TAKEN INTO US CUSTODY) ...Four important officials from Saddam's ousted regime were taken into custody Wednesday by U.S. forces, including ... Gen. Zuhayr Talib Abd al-Sattar al-Naqib, the former military intelligence chief... --- "U.S. forces capture Iraqi spymaster, warn self-installed Baghdad 'mayor' not to arm followers," by DAVID CRARY, Associated Press Writer, http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/04/24/international0332EDT0458.DTL

APRIL 23, 2003 Wednesday : (IRAQ : IRAQ'S FORMER TRADE MINISTER, MUHAMMED MAHDI AL-SALIH IS TAKEN INTO US CUSTODY) ...Four important officials from Saddam's ousted regime were taken into custody Wednesday by U.S. forces, including ... Muhammad Mahdi al-Salih, the former trade minister ... --- "U.S. forces capture Iraqi spymaster, warn self-installed Baghdad 'mayor' not to arm followers," by DAVID CRARY, Associated Press Writer, http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/04/24/international0332EDT0458.DTL

APRIL 23, 2003 Wednesday : (IRAQ: 14 OF 55 MOST WANTED IRAQI EX-OFFICIALS HAVE BEEN EITHER KILLED OR CAPTURED) bring to 14 the number of ex-officials on the 55-name wanted list who are in custody or believed killed. --- "U.S. forces capture Iraqi spymaster, warn self-installed Baghdad 'mayor' not to arm followers," by DAVID CRARY, Associated Press Writer, http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/04/24/international0332EDT0458.DTL

APRIL 23, 2003 : (IRAQ : IRAQ'S FORMER DIRECTOR OF AMERICAN OPERATIONS FOR IRAQ'S INTELLIGENCE AGENCY, SALIM SAID KHALAF AL-JUMAYLIA, IS CAPTURED) A fourth Iraqi captured Wednesday is not on the [55 Most Wanted] list but will be of keen interest to U.S. investigators -- Salim Said Khalaf al-Jumaylia, former director of American operations for Iraq's intelligence agency. He is suspected of having knowledge of Iraqi intelligence activities in the United States, including names of people spying for Iraq, said U.S. Central Command spokesman Jim Wilkinson. --- "U.S. forces capture Iraqi spymaster, warn self-installed Baghdad 'mayor' not to arm followers," by DAVID CRARY, Associated Press Writer, http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/04/24/international0332EDT0458.DTL

APRIL 24, 2003 Thursday : (IRAQ : KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS REPORTS THAT ALI HASSAN AL-MAJID aka CHEMICAL ALI WAS SEEN ALIVE IN BAGHDAD ON APRIL 6 or 7 A DAY OR TWO AFTER THE AIRSTIKE THAT PURPORTEDLY KILLED HIM IN BASRA, AND A FEW DAYS BEFORE THE FALL OF BAGHDAD) Among the top regime officials believed by U.S. and British forces to have been killed is Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as "Chemical Ali" for his use of poison gas against Iraq's Kurds. Knight Ridder Newspapers reported Thursday that Baghdad hospital workers saw al-Majid alive a day or two after the airstrike that purportedly killed him in the southern city of Basra.
A nurse and a doctor at Baghdad Nursing Hospital said al-Majid was at the hospital April 6 or 7 while another official and a bodyguard in his entourage were treated for injuries, according to the Knight Ridder report. The doctor was quoted as saying al-Majid's group left the hospital two or three days before Baghdad fell to American forces. ...--- "U.S. forces capture Iraqi spymaster, warn self-installed Baghdad 'mayor' not to arm followers," by DAVID CRARY, Associated Press Writer, http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/04/24/international0332EDT0458.DTL