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Illicit Arms Kept Till Eve of War, an Iraqi Scientist Is Said to Assert By JUDITH MILLER [W] ITH THE 101ST AIRBORNE DIVISION, south of Baghdad, Iraq, April 20 ? A scientist who claims to have worked in Iraq's chemical weapons program for more than a decade has told an American military team that Iraq destroyed chemical weapons and biological warfare equipment only days before the war began, members of the team said. They said the scientist led Americans to a supply of material that proved to be the building blocks of illegal weapons, which he claimed to have buried...

Islamabad, April 19, IRNA -- A senior leader of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid-e-Azam) on Saturday said Saddam Hussain bowed out under a deal forged with the United States. Syed Kabir Ali Wasti told IRNA here in an interview that Iraq's ex-president played the role of an agent of the US and facilitated its military action against his own country and people. "Saddam has been serving American interests for decades and, in this context, one cannot forget Iraq's war against Iran and its invasion of Kuwait," he said to substantiate his viewpoint. The analyst maintained that the ruling Iraqi...

More than 50 fighter aircraft, anti-aircraft missiles and guns and huge amounts of ammunition have been found buried and hidden at a base in western Iraq. The aircraft, many in good condition, included three Russian-made Mig 25s, one of the fastest fighters in the world. Some were buried, while others were concealed in buildings and under camouflage netting. The find by Australian forces represents as much as half of Iraqi air combat power, and came as a fourth Iraqi from America's "most-wanted" list was handed over to US special forces by Kurdish fighters. Australian Special Forces soldiers stand guard by...

On the evening of April 9, the imam of an Amman mosque did not follow evening prayers with a special entreaty asking God to grant the Iraqi people victory against the Anglo-American invaders. The roar of the imams in Amman’s mosques fell silent. For three weeks, they had all been beseeching God, almost simultaneously. But by noon on April 9, as indications that Baghdad had fallen strengthened, Amman sank into dumbfounded disappointment. Like most other Arabs, Jordanians ­ irrespective of their position on Saddam Hussein ­ had wagered on a long Iraqi resistance that would exhaust the American and British...

WASHINGTON, April 18 — The Bush administration plans to ask the United Nations to lift international penalties against Iraq in phases, retaining United Nations supervision of Iraq's oil sales for now but transferring other parts of its economy to a new Iraqi authority in coming months, administration officials said today. The officials said that instead of a single Security Council resolution to lift sanctions on Iraq, the United States would seek three or four resolutions over several months, gradually turning over parts of the economy to an Iraqi authority assembled with American guidance.The step-by-step approach was described as the latest...

This past Saturday at our regular meeting of the Arkansas FReepers, we were blessed with the opportunity to meet Jasmine, a young Kuwaiti woman and one time student of the University of Arkansas (I think...correct me if I'm wrong on that y'all). Travelgirl has been a foster mother to her and at Christmastime, much to the consternation and concern of her family and other FReepers, she flew to Kuwait to be present at Jasmine's wedding. At the meeting, we all listened attentively as Jasmine told her very moving story, driving home for us once again how blessed we are to...

<p>WASHINGTON, April 18 (UPI) -- Iraqi Kurds turned over another key member of the Iraqi regime, U.S. Central Command announced Friday.</p> <p>Samir Abd al-Aziz al-Najim, one of the top 55 leaders of the regime and the four of clubs in the "most wanted" deck of cards being used by the U.S. military, was handed over late Thursday to coalition special operations forces near Mosul in northern Iraq.</p>

<p>PARIS -An American backlash against French products and businesses has started to bite, dashing hopes here that appeals in the United States to punish France economically for opposing the war in Iraq would go unheeded.</p> <p>American importers of French wine are reporting sharp drops in sales in the past two months.</p>

The official purpose of the two-day meeting of European Union leaders in Athens was the signing of an accession treaty admitting 10 new countries, mostly from the former Eastern bloc, to the union. But the key meetings on the fringes of the formal event were inevitably focused on the aftermath of military conflict in Iraq. The summit ended with a joint statement, calling for a "central role" for the United Nations in the setting up of a new government and urging the coalition military forces to ensure peace and security in the interim. But the role of the EU itself...