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Topic: Iraqis Observe Somber Easter, Food Aid Arrives (Read 264 times)

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Iraqis Observe Somber Easter, Food Aid Arrives
« on: Apr 20^th, 2003, 10:05am »

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Iraqis Observe Somber Easter, Food Aid Arrives
35 minutes ago

By Hassan Hafidh

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi Christians observed a somber Easter Sunday, praying for an end to postwar chaos and uncertainty, as a first convoy of food aid reached Baghdad.

Australia, which joined the United States and Britain in the war to overthrow Saddam Hussein (news - web sites), said the allies would declare victory in the next few days. But diplomatic arguments continued over Iraq (news - web sites)'s future, and Saddam's fate remained a mystery.

While Christians prayed, tens of thousands of Shi'ite Muslims, Iraq's majority population, beat their chests as they streamed toward the holy central city of Kerbala, in a pilgrimage banned by Saddam for nearly a quarter of a century.

Dozens of tents were set up along the 50-mile route where Shi'ite groups scooped up water from oil drums and handed it to pilgrims to sustain them on their tough walk. The pilgrimage reaches its climax on Wednesday.

In Baghdad, the mood was anxious as hundreds of Christians, dressed in the best clothes they could find, went to church to pray on the day they believe Jesus rose from the dead.

"We just want an end to killing. We have had enough," said Suhail Elias Kusto, 50, weeping at the Lady of Our Salvation Catholic church in Baghdad. She said her nephew was killed soon after the U.S.-led invasion began on March 20.

The mood was also subdued among the hundreds of people who crammed into the small St Paul's church in the northern city of Mosul, where relations are tense between Arabs and Kurds.

"Now we must all work together to rebuild our society and also promote the role of Christianity. The responsibility on us is great," said Father Jalil Mansoor David, who led the service.

U.S. troops attended Easter services at camps across Iraq and in Kuwait, where reinforcements are waiting to deploy.

"We probably never thought we would be celebrating Easter in the desert, but God is with us and He will be with us wherever we go," Sergeant Major Curtis Davis, a Baptist preacher, told a handful of soldiers at Camp New Jersey in Kuwait.

FOOD CONVOY ARRIVES
A World Food Program (WFP) convoy of 50 trucks arrived on Sunday at a Baghdad warehouse guarded by U.S. troops. It was the first aid to reach the capital since the war.

Convoy leader Adnan Dugum said the cargo of 1,400 tonnes of wheat flour was held up for two days at Ramadi, 55 miles west of Baghdad, because no suitable warehouse was available.

A WFP official in the Jordanian capital Amman told Reuters the food would start being distributed early next month when current stocks in the city were expected to begin running out.

"The arrival of the convoy might allow the opening of a well-functioning food aid corridor that opens a major food lifeline into Iraq," WFP spokesman Maarten Roest said.

The International Committee of the Red Cross says Iraq's infrastructure has collapsed and the country urgently needs a new administration, as well as food and other supplies.

A fierce debate is raging over Iraq's future as troops switch their focus from combat to security, and as U.S. Marines hand control of Baghdad over to the U.S. army, which is better equipped for rebuilding the bombed capital and restoring order.

The United States is under pressure from many Iraqis and Arab leaders not to stay too long, and faces widespread calls to give the United Nations (news - web sites) a major role in rebuilding the country.

Pope John Paul (news - web sites) said in his Easter message the Iraqis must take charge of rebuilding the country with international help.

"Peace in Iraq!" the Pope said after celebrating an Easter Sunday mass in St Peter's Square. "With the support of the international community, may the Iraqi people become the protagonists of the collective rebuilding of their country."

DEBATE OVER U.N. ROLE EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana took a swipe at the United States in a newspaper interview, saying it should use its clout to form consensus among its allies rather than impose its will by force. He renewed calls for a major U.N. role in Iraq.

The United States resents the U.N. Security Council's refusal to support its invasion of Iraq.

But acknowledging the U.N. has a role to play, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage told the Al Khaleej and Gulf Today newspapers that the United States would "work together with the U.N. to figure out what the appropriate role is."

The United States has promised to pull out its troops and hand over control to an Iraqi government when it considers a U.S-led interim administration has completed its job.

Armitage also said the United States had no military plan to attack Syria, which it says may be developing chemical weapons.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak (news - web sites) arrived in Syria for talks with President Bashar al-Assad on Iraq and on tensions between Damascus and Washington. Details were not immediately available.

Jay Garner, the retired U.S. general charged with supervising the reconstruction of Iraq, will travel to Baghdad on Monday for a first hand look at the situation in the capital.

It was not clear whether he would meet Ahmad Chalabi, a pro-American Iraqi politician who has close ties to Washington and is widely thought to be its candidate to lead Iraq.

Chalabi said on Sunday U.S. forces should stay in Iraq until it holds elections.

"The military presence of the United States in Iraq is a necessity until at least the first democratic election is held, and I think this process should take two years," Chalabi said in an interview on ABC television's "This Week" program.

He said there should be a role for Islamic religious parties, including Shias. "But they are not going to be forcing any agenda or any theocracy on the Iraqi people," he said.

U.S.-led forces have captured some senior Iraqi officials but are still hunting for Saddam and have found no weapons of mass destruction, a key justification for the invasion.

But Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, whose country is one of a handful which committed troops to the war, said the alliance would issue a victory declaration soon.

"There's just some tidying up going on in relation to the final proclamation," he said in a television interview.

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