01 April 2004 Thursday 10 Safar 1425 Saddam's wife leaves Syria for Qatar: lawyer AMMAN, March 31: The wife of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein has left Syria and gone to Qatar, a Jordanian lawyer who says she retained him to represent her husband said on Wednesday. ... US Marines start arriving in Afghanistan KABUL, March 31: The first batch of 2,000 US marines deployed to Afghanistan to intensify the hunt for Osama bin Laden and other Al Qaeda and Taliban leaders has begun arriving ... US seeks Nato ties with ME WASHINGTON, March 31: The United States is looking to extend to Middle Eastern countries the same kind of cooperation established between Nato and the former Soviet bloc nations under the so-called Partnership for Peace ... US to sell long-range radar gear to Taiwan WASHINGTON, March 31: The Pentagon said on Wednesday it planned to sell Taiwan long-range "early warning" radar equipment worth as much as $1.78 billion, a deal bound to anger China at a tense time in cross-straits relations. ... Butler under fire for anti-US remarks SYDNEY, March 31: Richard Butler, the outspoken former UN chief weapons inspector for Iraq who is now governor of the Australian state of Tasmania ... Confusion over identity NEW YORK, March 31: The New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) has asked the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to end the harassment of Asif Iqbal ... Secrecy throws up questions: Detainees at Guantanamo LONDON: Consider this theoretical possibility: if no weapons of mass destruction have been found in Iraq, is it also possible that there are no Al Qaeda terrorists in Guantanamo? It seems far fetched, put so bluntly. ... Clarke, Watergate echoes prompt rare Bush reversal WASHINGTON: Tuesday's White House decision to permit National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice to testify publicly under oath before the so-called 9/11 Commission marks ... EU asylum laws to endanger lives: UN BRUSSELS: The head of the United Nations refugee agency, and human rights groups say lives may be at risk if the EU approves tough new asylum rules. ... Inspections 'managed' by Tehran, says IAEA VIENNA, March 31: The UN nuclear watchdog has alleged in an internal report that some inspections in Iran were "managed" by the Iranians, who refused to let inspectors take pictures with UN cameras or use their own electronic devices. ... EU 'big 3' slam Iran over new N-plant BERLIN, March 31: Britain, France and Germany criticized Iran on Wednesday for starting up a uranium conversion plant and demanded Tehran explain itself. ... Muslim held on terror charges in Canada OTTAWA, March 31: An Ottawa-based Canadian Muslim has been arrested with charges of his possible links with a terrorist group, police said here Tuesday. ... Bouteflika's visit sparks riot in Berber city TIZI OUZOU, March 31: Rioting broke out on Wednesday when Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika took his re-election campaign to this flashpoint city in the restive Kabylie region, homeland of the nation's Berber minority. ... US-Japan ties take new turns TOKYO: While their governments have had a love-hate relationship for 150 years, Japanese embrace US entertainment icons and civil rights ideas while Americans have learned there is more to Japan than the stereotyped image, analysts say. ... Ethnicity takes centre stage in Lankan polls COLOMBO: As Sri Lankans prepare to elect a new parliament on Friday, the island nation's 20-year-old ethnic conflict has figured prominently in election campaigning ... Chechnya war sees rise of Russian ultranationalism MOSCOW: Fed by the war in Chechnya, nationalist sentiment has been on the rise in Russia, manifested in neo-Nazi marches, racially-motivated crime and anti-Caucasus sentiment. ...

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