Foreign Desk
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
PERSIAN GULF
GUNBATTLE AND BOMBINGS IN BAGHDAD
BAGHDAD, Iraq – Gunmen loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr ambushed an Iraqi patrol in an eastern Baghdad slum Sunday, and U.S. forces joined the 90-minute battle, killing as many as eight attackers in the first significant violence in the neighborhood in nearly a year.
Elsewhere in Baghdad, armed men pulled off a daring armored car robbery, killing two guards and escaping with $850,000, and a suicide car bomber slammed into a convoy carrying Interior Ministry commandos, killing seven of them and two civilians.
South of the capital, two separate bicycle bombings in town markets killed at least seven people and wounded dozens.
– Associated Press
MIDDLE EAST
LEBANESE JOURNALIST WOUNDED BY CAR BOMB
BEIRUT, Lebanon – A bomb rigged to the car of a prominent journalist for an anti-Syrian television station exploded yesterday, severing the woman’s arm and leg in the latest in a string of targeted explosions in Lebanon.
May Chidiac, a political talk show host with the private Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation, was inside her car when the bomb exploded in Ghadir, a town near the Christian port city of Jounieh, north of the capital, Lebanese security officials and the TV station said.
Late yesterday, Hotel Dieu Hospital in Beirut reported that Ms. Chidiac’s left arm and leg were severed in the blast and her right leg and pelvis were broken. A hospital statement said she was suffering from various injuries and burns all over her body, adding that her vital organs were “stable” but would need careful monitoring over the next few days.
– Associated Press
WESTERN EUROPE
IRA SAID TO FULLY DISARM
BELFAST, Northern Ireland – International weapons inspectors have supervised the full disarmament of the outlawed Irish Republican Army, a long-sought goal of Northern Ireland’s peace process, an aide to the process’ monitor said yesterday.
The IRA permitted two independent witnesses, including a Methodist minister and a Roman Catholic priest close to Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams, to view the secret disarmament work conducted by officials from Canada, Finland, and America, the aide to retired Canadian General John de Chastelain said on condition of anonymity.
– Associated Press
BLAIR SURPRISED BY SCALE OF INSURGENCY
BRIGHTON, England – Prime Minister Blair defended Britain’s commitment to stay in Iraq, calling it “crucial for security of the world” but conceded yesterday he was surprised by the ferocity of the insurgency.
Mr. Blair, a firm ally of President Bush in the conflict, said he had not set a deadline for withdrawing some 8,500 British soldiers from Iraq. “There is no arbitrary date being set.”
“But I have absolutely no doubt as to what we should do. We should stick with it,” the prime minister told the British Broadcasting Corp. at the start of the annual Labor Party conference. “There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that what is happening in Iraq now is crucial for our own security,” Mr. Blair said. “Never mind the security of Iraq or the greater Middle East. It is crucial for the security of the world.”
– Associated Press
CENTRAL ASIA
U.S. CHINOOK CRASHES, KILLING FIVE CREW MEMBERS
KABUL, Afghanistan – An American military helicopter crashed yesterday in a mountainous area plagued by Taliban violence, killing all five American crew members.
American military said there was no sign it had been shot down. The crash of the Chinook helicopter is the third this year involving the large troop-carrying choppers that have proved essential in battling a reinvigorated insurgency in remote, largely inaccessible parts of Afghanistan.
A purported Taliban spokesman claimed the rebels shot down the CH-47 helicopter, but a American military spokesman, Colonel James Yonts, said, “Indications are there wasn’t any hostile fire.”
He said the chopper was part of a convoy of aircraft in the area and other pilots did not see it come under fire. “We are just taking a hard look at this investigation to see exactly what did cause the crash. It could be mechanical (failure),” he said.
American ground forces reached the crash site near Daychopan in southern Zabul province – 180 miles southwest of the capital, Kabul – and were providing security for recovery operations, Colonel Yonts said.
– Associated Press