The Guardian 22 February, 2006
Global briefs
PNG: Papua New Guinea Foreign Minister Sir Rabbie Namaliu expressed disappointment that Australia has not recognised the damage that climate change doing to Pacific Island nations. The National newspaper in PNG reported him as saying that rising sea levels were already having an impact on PNG and other Pacific Island nations. He added that developed nations need to be serious about not only reducing greenhouse gas emissions but in assisting with the relocation of the real victims of rising sea levels.
IRAN: Strategists in the Pentagon are drawing up plans for devastating bombing raids backed by submarine-launched ballistic missile attacks against Iran’s nuclear sites as a "last resort" to put a stop to US-alleged efforts to develop a nuclear bomb. Chief of Russian General Staff Yury Baluyevsky said that a military escalation of the situation around Iran’s nuclear program was a possibility but stressed that "military action is not the best option". "The real military capabilities of Iran and the United States cannot be compared", he said. He also stressed that US aggression against Iran could cause an unpredictable reaction in the Muslim world. "It is hard to predict what reaction could be like but such a development of events may inflame the entire world, and this is something that must not be allowed to happen", he said. The European Parliament proposed the establishment of a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East, including Israel, and admitted the possibility of a military resolution of the conflict. Unlike Iraq, Iran has nuclear facilities located underground. In 1981, Israel destroyed nuclear facilities in Iraq in an air strike.
IRAQ: On Tuesday 14th February, the day well-known in Iraq as "Communist Martyr Day", marking the anniversary of the execution of Yousuif Salman Yousif ("Fahad") in 1949, the Communist Party’s "Mobile Communist Clinic" celebrated the occasion by going to spot where comrade Fahad had been publicly executed, to provide medical aid to the public. Dr Mazahim Mal-Allah Mubarak, the Clinic director, took his team to the busy public transport station Alawi al-Hilla Garage, and put up a banner about the anniversary. Within seconds of arriving a large number of people converged on the place. A traffic police patrol arrived to find what was going on, and they decided to help the medical team by organising the growing crowd of people in a queue. Many people expressed their appreciation for this initiative. One of them expressed his feelings in simple and moving words: "You communists are concerned about the people’s well-being and work for them". Many Iraqis were happy to get hold of medicines that were usually rare and expensive in pharmacies. One of the patients refused to leave after receiving medical advice, insisting on handing a 5000 Iraqi Dinars bill (about $3) as a donation to the Iraqi Communist Party. The number of people treated and given medical advice by the Clinic, over a period of 3 hours, were about 220, mostly elderly and destitute. The medical cadre responded to words of praise by stressing "we are only carrying out our duty as Communists in helping the people".