BAGHDAD, IRAQ – In a significant retreat from U.S. efforts to seize weapons held by Iraqi citizens, U.S. and British officials said Saturday that Iraqis would be allowed to keep AK-47 assault rifles in their homes and businesses.
Israel uses Russian snipers on West Bank By David Blair in Jerusalem (Filed: 23/09/2003) Veterans of Russia's campaign in Chechnya are serving in the Israeli army as highly trained snipers in the West Bank and Gaza. Russian immigrants fill the ranks of a specialist sniper unit known as the Aliya (Immigration) brigade, the army confirmed yesterday following a report in the newspaper Ha'aretz. Sharpshooters with experience in Chechnya have been concealed at vulnerable points where Israel is open to infiltration from the occupied territories. A security official told Ha'aretz that the men were deployed to reinforce the defences of "weak...