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An outpouring of criticism combined with threats to the coalition government followed the eviction on Friday morning of 200 Jews from two buildings in Hevron, which they purchased in full from an Arab buyer and took residence of on Thursday. Immigrant Absorption Minister Ze'ev Elkin (Likud) demanded that the Security Cabinet be convened on the matter, and condemned Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon (Likud) for the decision. Sources close to Ya'alon said Thursday that the purchase did not receive required political approval. "It cannot be that we speak about collective responsibility of all the ministers, and in practice one minister decides...

101st Airborne Helps Reopen Iraqi-Syrian Border Crossing May 13, 2003 MOSUL, IRAQ (AP) -- U.S. troops have reopened a border crossing between Iraq and Syria. The commander of the Army's 101st Airborne Division says any trade will be done in accordance with United Nations regulations. Major General David Petraeus is referring to the sanctions that ban shipments of weapons and other restricted material to Iraq. The general is also the commander of Fort Campbell on the Tennessee-Kentucky border, where the 101st is based. Petraeus says re-establishing trade is another move toward bringing northern Iraq back to normal. He says the...

WASHINGTON, May 6 — President Bush appointed a new civilian administrator for Iraq today, settling a sharp disagreement between the State and Defense Departments over how best to manage that country during its recovery and reconstruction. The new administrator, L. Paul Bremer, who served as an ambassador at large for counterterrorism in the Reagan administration, will outrank Jay Garner, the retired Army lieutenant general who has been in charge of postwar administration since the government of Saddam Hussein was ousted by American-led military forces last month. The Pentagon had hoped to retain control of the postwar effort, so the decision...

The Bush administration is considering appointing a new civilian "superboss" to oversee the rebuilding program in Iraq. The new post would likely be headquartered in Baghdad and be over Washington's current supervisor in Iraq, retired Lt. Gen. Jay Garner, say very senior sources. The plan is "under consideration," says a top administration official. If it happens, insiders say, it will be a victory for the State Department, which has been sparring with the Pentagon over who is in charge of the rebuilding program. Garner's role is to get Iraq up and running: making sure water and electricity work, rebuilding roads,...

THE US plans to divide Iraq into five administrative zones, one of which could be managed by Poland, the daily Rzeczpospolita said quoting a NATO source. Under a proposal made by Washington to Warsaw, Polish companies would also take part in the reconstruction of Iraq, the conservative newspaper, one of Poland's two biggest dailies, said. It said the United States was "ready to fully finance the participation of the Polish contingent in the stabilisation force" in Iraq and had asked Warsaw to send between 2000 and 4000 soldiers, while the Polish defence ministry "has in mind a figure of 1500"....