Global briefs
BRITAIN: British foreign Secretary Jack Straw told BBC radio that British forces would be in Iraq "at least for a couple of years" or maybe even longer. Britain has about 8700 troops in Iraq. Spain, Honduras and the Dominican Republic are pulling out their troops. Poland is reviewing its engagement in Iraq but stated that it would withdraw early next year. US General Myers revealed that the cost of the war had increased to US4.7 billion (A$6.44 billion) a month.* * * USA: President Bush named John Negroponte, the United States' top diplomat at the United Nations, as the US ambassador to Iraq. If confirmed by the Senate, Negroponte would head a US embassy in Baghdad which would be the largest in the world. Negroponte assisted the Contras in Nicaragua when he was the US ambassador in Honduras and to this day denies the human rights abuses committed by Honduran death squads, funded and partly trained by the CIA.* * * SERBIA: UN police in Kosovo are investigating a shootout between Jordanian and US police units in the province, which left two US officers and a Jordanian dead, amid fears that it was motivated by anti-US feeling.* * * ITALY: Silvio Berlusconi's right-wing government is to change the law to allow people to kill intruders without fear of imprisonment.* * * JAPAN: Peace organisations in Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo, are strongly opposed to Pentagon plans to deploy a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in the Yokosuka Port. Yokosuka Port has been the only homeport outside the US for US aircraft carriers since 1973. Up to now strong opposition by the Japanese people has prevented nuclear-powered aircraft from being deployed there.* * * GREECE: The head of the Greek construction workers' union said that construction workers were risking their lives as they tried to complete preparations for this summer's Olympic Games. Georgios Filiousis said 13 workers involved in Olympic projects have already died, and he fears more will die as the deadline draws closer. He compared this to one death prior to the Sydney games, and blamed it on companies cutting costs. The union said average working hours on the projects ranged from seven to 12 hours — up from the usual five to seven — and builders were working around the clock on key sites.* * * HAITI: As death-squad gangs linked to the former fascist Duval regime ravaged the country after President Aristide's forced removal, 34 workers at the Grupo M garment factory in the Codevi "free trade zone" on the Haitian-Dominican border, were sacked on March 1 for joining the union. The next day, as co- workers prepared to act in support of the union, they were attacked by gang members, who said Grupo M management had called them in. After several workers were handcuffed and others beaten, the workers were forced to return to work.