"It was an unjust war. I am very angry with the U.S. So many people died in Iraq and I believe this rally will make a difference. It will drive out the U.S. and UK troops from Iraq," said South Korean anti-war activist Moon Myung Joo.

"We are against the occupation in Iraq, we are against war, we are for freedom for all the people in the world," Vittorio Agnoletto, a member of the organising committee, told a news conference.

"Live and let live. That is my motto," said Indian gay rights activist Ganesh, dressed in red pants and a polka-dot bandana with "GAY" emblazoned across his chest.

But all the sound and the fury from the forum delegates did not produce any declaration or action plan after a six-day meeting that discussed an alphabet soup of issues from AIDS to WTO.

Punching their fists in the air, the screaming protesters vented their fury against the war in Iraq with slogans such as "No war, George Bush terrorist" and placards saying "US/UK troops out of Iraq now" and "Bush, Blair Butchers".

"To suggest our teachers are values-free simply shows the Prime Minister's prejudices," she said. "What are John Howard's values? That working women don't deserve paid maternity leave? Is it a system of pre-emptive strikes and war at any costs?"

Barbarians at a Glance

Conan the Barbarian was a pussycat compared with the Mongols, who built towers of human heads. But then, the term barbarian is a subjective one, according to Robert Gardiner, who made Barbarians, a documentary chronicling history's bad boys . . . The producer says he takes "the opposite of the Ken Burns approach," using reenactments "to keep the story moving." And like all stories, it has at least two sides. "The Goths thought the Romans were barbarians," he points out. In fact, one reason the Roman Empire collapsed "like a wet paper sack" was because they underestimated their opponents. "If we are having a clash of civilizations now," he says, "it's because we don't understand the culture."

For at least a year, investigators claim, the 30-year-old Algerian had been a key part of a network of Islamic militants dedicated to recruiting and dispatching suicide bombers to the Middle East. Several volunteers had got through, wreaking havoc in a series of attacks in Iraq. Many more were on their way, along with bombers focused on targets in Europe.

Even worse, his associates were planning bombs in Western Europe. At least two European intelligence services had made previous attempts to take Mahdjoub out. Now, finally, it was the Germans' turn. This weekend, just over a month after his arrest, Mahdjoub remains in prison at an undisclosed location. He is likely to remain incarcerated for some time.

When the Italians arrested Ciise they put him in the same cell as another Islamic radical known as 'Mera'i'. Again, the conversation was bugged; it gives a chilling insight into the mind of a hardened militant.

Mera'i tells Ciise that he hates their jailers: 'They like life, I want to be a martyr, I live for jihad. In this life there is nothing, life is afterward, the indescribable sensation of dying a martyr.'

As the host of Kilroy, BBC1's version of The Oprah Winfrey Show, the television presenter built up a following among housewives for his lively, and often controversial, morning discussion show. . . .

In his article, Kilroy-Silk began by expressing contempt at the anti-war campaigners of the Iraq war. He said: "What do [Arabs] think we feel about them? That we adore them for the way they murdered more than 3,000 civilians on September 11 and then danced in the hot, dusty streets to celebrate the murders?

"That we admire them for the cold-blooded killings in Mombasa, Yemen and elsewhere? That we admire them for being suicide bombers, limb-amputators, women repressors? I don't think the Arab states should start a debate about what is really loathsome."

He suggested that the destruction of the "despotic, barbarous and corrupt Arab states" and their replacement by democratic governments could be a "war aim".

He said: "After all, the Arab countries are not exactly shining examples of civilisation, are they? Few of them make much contribution to the welfare of the rest of the world.

"Indeed, apart from oil - which was discovered, is produced and is paid for by the West - what do they contribute?

"Can you think of anything? Anything really useful? Anything really valuable? Something we really need, could not do without?"

The West had been singled out, he said, despite providing Arabs with science, medicine and technology.

"They should go down on their knees and thank God for the munificence of the United States," he said.

Although the Sunday Express refused to discuss Kilroy-Silk's future, his article invited censure from the wider community.

Trevor Phillips, the head of the CRE, called the article "indisputably stupid" and said it might incite some to feel an animosity towards Arabs.

Kilroy-Silk, who presents a daily chat show: "Kilroy" along the lines of the U.S. "Oprah Winfrey Show," could not be reached for comment.

TV presenter Robert Kilroy-Silk could be investigated by police after expressing scathing views on Arabs. . . .

The former MP will also face a BBC probe into how his position as a Sunday Express columnist fits with his on-screen appearances. . . .

His article appeared at the weekend under the headline "We owe Arabs nothing".

It has now prompted the Commission for Racial Equality to refer the matter to police for investigation.

The presenter was unable to give a comment due to his mother's funeral.

Mr Kilroy-Silk's piece started: "We are told by some of the more hysterical critics of the war on terror that 'it is destroying the Arab world'. So? Should we be worried about that?"

It asked why "a publicly funded body such as the BBC" would tolerate such "ignorant, extremely derogatory and indisputably racist" remarks by one of its staff at a time when all its other employees are being forbidden to express controversial views in the press.

"We wonder whether you would consider it proper to give the same kind of prominence to a presenter who was so openly anti-black or anti-Jewish?" Bunglawala wrote.

He charged that Kilroy has clearly violated the BBC Producer's Guidelines which states: "Our audiences rightly expect the highest...ethical standards from the BBC...values such as impartiality, accuracy, fairness, editorial independence and our commitment to appropriate standards of taste and decency."

The chat show host Robert Kilroy-Silk came under fire yesterday for atacking Arabs in a newspaper article at a time when the BBC's other employees are being forbidden to express controversial views in the press. . . .

BBC guidelines introduced in the wake of the Hutton inquiry say that freelance writing by staff "should not bring the BBC into disrepute or undermine the integrity or impartiality of BBC programmes or presenters".

The BBC ran into trouble during the Hutton inquiry over remarks by its reporter Andrew Gilligan on the Today programme.

Gilligan got into deeper water by writing an article for the Mail on Sunday in which he named Alastair Campbell, then director of communications at Downing Street, as being responsible for "sexing up" the government's dossier on Iraq's weapons of mass descruction.

As part of a tightening-up on external journalism by BBC staff, high-profile figures including the Today presenter John Humphreys, the world affairs editor, John Simpson, and the business editor, Jeff Randall, have been told to give up lucrative newspaper columns in return for pay rises. Some exceptions, such as non-controversial restaurant reviews, are allowed under the guidelines but in these cases they have to be vetted by the BBC.

The rules are being introduced gradually because some staff are legally bound by freelance contracts.

Report: Syria, Iran sent arms to Hizbullah on aid planes

Iran, last week, sent several planes filled with weapons to the Hizbullah in Lebanon via Syria, Channel One reported Thursday night.

According to the report, Iran is supplying the arms with direct assistance from the regime of Bashar Assad, who has made recent peace overtures directed at Israel.

Several planes sent last week by Syria to Iran under the guise of humanitarian airlifts following the earthquake in the city of Bam, returned to Syria filled with arms, which were then transferred to the Hizbullah, the report said.

General Election
Thursday, 9th June 1983

SEDGEFIELD
THE NEW CONSTITUENCY

VOTE LABOUR

TONY BLAIR

YOUR LABOUR CANDIDATE

DEFENCE MADNESS
*The incompetent Tories, got us into the Falklands war - now the Falkland Fortress policy is costing us billions.
*The Tories would rather spend [pound sign]10 billion on Trident missiles, than try to stop the growing nuclear arms race.

*We'll protect British industry against unfair foreign competition.

*We'll negotiate a withdrawal from the E.E.C. which has drained our natural resources and destroyed jobs.

A MORE SANE DEFENCE POLICY
*Labour believes in defence and in membership of N.A.T.O. but we don't need dangerous and costly Trident and Cruise missiles, which just escalate the nuclear arms race.

Since graduating from Oxford University I have been a practising barrister specialising in trade union and industrial law. . . .

Britain in general and the North East in particular have suffered appallingly under the misrule of Mrs. Thatcher. Her hardline policies are both cruel and wrong. Caring and compassion for Mrs. Thatcher are dirty words.

A BILL: To preserve the cooperative, peaceful uses of space for the benefit of all humankind by permanently prohibiting the basing of weapons in space by the United States, and to require the President to take action to adopt and implement a world treaty banning space-based weapons.

SEC. 4. WORLD AGREEMENT BANNING SPACE-BASED WEAPONS. The President shall direct the United States representatives to the United Nations and other international organizations to immediately work toward negotiating, adopting, and implementing a world agreement banning space-based weapons.

(2)(A) The terms 'weapon' and 'weapon system' mean a device capable of any of the following:

. . . (ii) Inflicting death or injury on, or damaging or destroying, a person (or the biological life, bodily health, mental health, or physical and economic well-being of a person)--

. . . (II) through the use of land-based, sea-based, or space-based systems using radiation, electromagnetic, psychotronic, sonic, laser, or other energies directed at individual persons or targeted populations for the purpose of information war, mood management, or mind control of such persons or populations . . .

(B) Such terms include exotic weapons systems such as--

(i) electronic, psychotronic, or information weapons;

(ii) chemtrails;

. . . (vii) chemical, biological, environmental, climate, or tectonic weapons.

(C) The term 'exotic weapons system' includes weapons designed to damage space or natural ecosystems (such as the ionosphere and upper atmosphere) or climate, weather, and tectonic systems with the purpose of inducing damage or destruction upon a target population or region on earth or in space.

Mr. KUCINICH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, and in addition to the Committees on Armed Services, and International Relations, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

. . . written in the mud splatter on the back of a British Telecom van in Oxford today:

George W Bush welcome to UK.

Chirac go home.

Arab economies: Improving?

Despite the region's instability, some economies are doing better than usual

When war in Iraq loomed, the country's Arab neighbours predicted dire economic consequences for themselves. Egypt's government said it expected the country to lose $2 billion-3 billion, with tourists flocking elsewhere and fat contracts with Iraq abandoned. Jordan and Syria dreaded a cut-off of cheap Iraqi oil. Bahrain and Dubai feared a flight of investors. Regional shippers bemoaned hefty increases in their insurance bills.

In fact, Arab countries have done quite nicely, thank you. Several of the biggest oil exporters saw their incomes surge by a good 30% last year, as prices stuck at the comfortable end of OPEC's $22-28 target range. Saudi Arabia earned a delicious $74 billion from oil, letting its government bank a budget surplus of $12 billion, marking only the second time in 20 years it has balanced its books. Throughout the Gulf, the windfall has encouraged governments to invest in infrastructure on a scale unseen since the 1970s' oil boom. The reckoning that economists have long predicted, with oil monarchs failing to pamper their growing number of subjects, has again been put off.

But it is not just governments and contractors cashing in. The All-Arab Index, which tracks 79 stocks in 12 Arab countries, posted a gain of 50% in dollar terms in 2003. Another index reckoned that Kuwait's shares, boosted by heady profits for local firms servicing the American army and by the surge of joy due to the end of an Iraqi invasion threat, have doubled in value. Saudi Arabia's soared by a more modest 74%. Even the dowdy Cairo exchange, stalled for years by local troubles including an inexorable slide in the value of Egypt's currency, advanced by 60% in dollar terms.

Awash with cash, banks in Saudi Arabia saw profits rise by 15% in the first nine months of last year, and those in the United Arab Emirates by an average of 30%. Egypt's Suez Canal, whose revenues have stayed flat at $2 billion a year for a decade, last year earned 32% more. Arab firms are also starting to do well out of reconstruction in Iraq. Egyptian and Kuwaiti ones are building the country's mobile-phone networks, with contracts for restoring power generation, water supplies and other such huge projects likely to follow.

As for those fickle tourists, they seem to have more nerve than expected. Lebanon has enjoyed its best year since 1974, the last year before civil war wrecked its reputation as the Switzerland of the Middle East. And Egypt hosted a record 6m tourists last year, up 20% on 2002.

Asked how she's holding up, Catherine picks up a prescription bottle of Zoloft from the coffee table and checks the date. September. That's when she found out that Marquette had re-upped and that the youngest of her three children, Shamario, 18, also a soldier, would be going to Iraq early in the new year. . . .

She is angry now, angry that the war might claim two of her children. "I don't worry too much about Marquette because of how crazy he is. But my 18-year-old? He's not ready," she says. "Every time I see the President, I turn from him. There's nothing he can say unless he says he's bringing all the kids home."