Baghdad's airport is still exposed to attacks, Basra rejects appointed British ruler
Iraq-USA, Politics, 6/2/2003

Some, 5,000 Iraqis demonstrated yesterday in the downtown of al-Basra in protest of the British army appointing of one of its army officers to run the area.

Iraqi and British soldiers were deployed around the headquarters of the governorate yesterday where celebrations for the officer to assume responsibilities were held. The demonstrators raised banners saying "we reject a British ruler to run al-Basra" and "we are able to run our affairs by our own selves." The organizers of the demonstrations stressed in a statement delivered to the press that they "reject a British ruler and any administrative council to be imposed by the occupation authorities." They called on all the Iraqi political forces to convene a conference ( on the future of Iraq) under the auspices of the UN as soon as possible.

The occupation forces radio stressed that attacks are still continuous against American and British forces planes which land in the Iraqi airports especially in Baghdad's international airport, accusing members in the former Iraqi regime of making these attacks in order to obstruct the process of rebuilding Iraq.

On the other hand, the Iraqis, who were horrified by the absence of law after the war, boycotted the locations installed for turning over weapons in Iraq, in the first day of a two- week grace period set by the American occupation forces in an attempt to bring back order following the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime.

The American army says it will permit the Iraqis to keep Klashinkov riffles in their houses and to carry licensed pistols for protecting themselves, and that heavier weapons should be handed over. Yesterday the grace period of 15 days given by the occupation forces for the Iraqis to hand over weapons and explosives ended. With the expiring of this grace period licensing for carrying a weapon will be obligatory.

On the other hand, forces from the American military police announced they had arrested on Saturday a cell of 15 members in the Baath Party while they were holding a meeting at the new police academy in Baghdad. The former leader of New York police department and the American advisor at the Iraqi ministry of the interior, Bernard Kereick, said "14 persons were arrested over taking part in an illegal activity and another person over resisting detention."

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