New Explosions Rock Somalia’s Capital

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Artillery fire and mortar shells rained down on Somalia’s capital Saturday as government troops and their Ethiopian allies continued a major offensive to quash a growing insurgency by Islamic militants.

Residents were sent fleeing some of the heaviest fighting in Mogadishu since the early 1990s.

On Friday, insurgents shot an Ethiopian helicopter gunship out of the sky and mortar shells slammed into a hospital, leaving piles of bodies in the streets and wounding hundreds of civilians.

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U.N. Chief Warns Arms Smugglers From Syrian Could Threaten Lebanon Cease-Fire

BEIRUT, Lebanon - The U.N. chief warned Saturday that arms smuggling from Syria could threaten the cease-fire in Lebanon and urged full compliance with a U.N. resolution that ended the summer war between Hezbollah and Israel.

U.N. Resolution 1701 which halted the 34 days of fighting calls among other things for a stop in arms shipments to Hezbollah guerrillas and demands the “unconditional release” of two Israeli soldiers the militants captured, triggering the conflict.

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Iranian President Demands Apology From World Leaders Over Captured Sailor Crisis

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad insisted Saturday that 15 captured British sailors trespassed in Iranian waters and called world powers “arrogant” for failing to apologize, the country’s official news agency reported.

“Instead of apologizing over trespassing by British forces, the world arrogant powers issue statements and deliver speeches,” IRNA quoted Ahmadinejad as saying during a speech in the southeastern city of Andinmeshk.

“The British occupier forces did trespass our waters. Our border guards detained them with skill and bravery. But arrogant powers, because of their arrogant and selfish spirit, are claiming otherwise,” the hard-line leader told the crowd who was celebrating the Persian New Year holiday, IRNA said.

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Iraqis, Coalition Working Together to Secure Tal Afar

Coalition and Iraqi forces are working with city leaders to secure the Iraqi city of Tal Afar after a bombing at a market killed more than 80 people earlier this week, a military official said today in a briefing from the city.

“It’s been a tremendously busy four days, tremendously stressful four days,” Army Lt. Col. Malcom Frost, commander of 3rd Squadron, 4th U.S. Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, told journalists from Forward Operating Base Sykes in Tal Afar. “But … the city is now secure and going back to its normal routines.”

The question of possible involvement by Iraqi security forces, police or army has come up since the March 27 attack. Frost dismissed the notion that Iraqi forces had anything to do with the incident.

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President Stokes Crisis

Iran’s President has said that Britain is not following the”legal and logical way” in its attempts to solve the crisis over the 15 Royal Navy personnel taken captive by his country.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s comments to a rally in the province of Khuzestan were reported on Iranian state radio.

He said: “After the arrest of these people, the British government, instead of apologising and expressing regret over the action taken, started to claim that we are in their debt and shouted in different international councils.

“But this is not the legal and logical way for this issue.”

Read more here: news.sky.com

Iraqi, U.S. Soldiers outfit schools

 

Iraqi Soldiers pose with children at the Al-Haafaththa school near Zaidon, Iraq, March 28 during a humanitarian operation delivering school supplies with U.S. Soldiers of the 1st Squadron, 89th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) and 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division. The troops delivered small supplies like books and pencils as well as new blackboards and generators for the schools. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Chris McCann, 2nd BCT PAO, 10th Mtn. Div.

AZ ZAIDON — Iraqi Soldiers and Coalition forces visited two schools and brought much needed school supplies and gifts Thursday.

Soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, U.S. troops from 1st Squadron, 89th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) and the military transition team from 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division conducted a good-will mission to help school children receive equipment that was needed.

Read more here: mnf-iraq.com

Iran: UK Issues Response

Britain has sent a written response to Iran calling for the release of the 15 Royal Navy personnel taken captive in the Gulf.

It follows a letter received by the British Embassy in Tehran from the Iranian government.

Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett is with other EU leaders in Bremen, Germany, who have warned they will take “appropriate measures” against Iran unless it frees the Britons.

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Iran fears strike by West’s ‘warmongers’

The International Atomic Energy Agency decides to refer Iran to UNSC.
Photo: Associated Press

Iran is blaming the US and Israel for its decision to withhold information from the outside world on its nuclear program, saying in a confidential letter that threats from the two “warmongers” led it to curtail cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The IAEA - the UN nuclear monitor - in turn told Iran that it is defying the 35-nation board of the agency with its move and urged it to reverse its decision. Both the Iranian document and the confidential IAEA response were made available to The Associated Press on Friday.

Read more here: jpost.com

“Sailors will be tried if there is enough evidence of guilt”

 

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Photo: AP

Iran’s ambassador to Russia has said the 15 British sailors held by Iran could be tried for violating international law, Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported on its Web site Saturday.

Gholam-Reza Ansari told Russian television Vesti-24 on Friday that Iran had launched a legal investigation of the British sailors.

“They will be tried if there is enough evidence of guilt,” Ansari was quoted by IRNA as saying.

Read more here: jpost.com

Bush Apologizes for Poor Conditions on Visit to Walter Reed Army Hospital

AP

March 30: President Bush shakes hands with 1st Lt. Scott Quilty during a visit to the Walter Reed Army Center.

President Bush apologized Friday for the poor conditions of the military health-care system endured by U.S. soldiers recovering from injuries suffered in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“The system failed you and it failed our troops,” Bush said during a visit to Walter Reed Army Medical Center. “We’re going to fix it.”

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