U.S. Marines battle for al-Azimiyah palace
WITH THE 5TH MARINES, Iraq, April 10 (UPI) -- Marines hunkered down for a tense night Thursday at the al-Azimiyah palace compound following fierce fighting earlier in the day against Iraqi soldiers and other gunmen. The fighting began before dawn as the 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, rolled down highways and streets in east Baghdad toward the 17-acre compound. One Marine was killed and 35 others were wounded in street battles against Iraqis firing automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades from bridges, rooftops, balconies and alleyways near the palace on the east bank of the Tigris River.
Chirac rejoices at Saddam's fall
PARIS, April 10 (UPI) -- French President Jacques Chirac, among the Iraq war's fiercest critics, said Thursday he rejoiced over the fall of Saddam Hussein and called for a speedy and effective end to the fighting. "It is now necessary to create the conditions which will restore dignity to the Iraqi people, in their rediscovered liberty," Chirac said in a statement, which also called for the swift dispatch of humanitarian aid. "As soon as possible, after the necessary phase of securing the country, Iraq should reassume its full sovereignty in a stabilized region, with legitimacy bestowed by the United Nations," the French president said.
Report: Kurds enter Kirkuk
BAGHDAD, April 10 (UPI) -- Kurdish Peshmerga fighters said they had captured the district center of Khanaqin in northern Iraq Thursday after Iraqi troops evacuated the region. A source at the ministry of Peshmerga affairs in the Suleimaniya-based administration of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, led by Jalal Talabani, told UPI the Kurdish forces moved into Khanaqin Thursday morning with the support of the population. Fighters from the PUK and its rival Kurdistan Democratic Party of Masud Barzani, have taken over control of several Kurdish cities and villages in the past few days following the evacuation by Iraqi troops.
Report: Iraqi leadership disappears
WASHINGTON, April 10 (UPI) -- Secret CIA and military teams in Iraq to monitor Saddam Hussein's inner circle say nearly the entire Iraqi leadership has vanished, according to a published report Thursday. U.S. military officials told The Washington Post some leaders had headed to Saddam's hometown of Tikrit, while others had fled to Syria. Heavy fighting by Iraqi forces at Qaim, near the Syrian border, has led some U.S. and British officials to believe Iraqi troops may be protecting important Iraqi leaders and their families, the Post said.
Rights group wants Iraqi archives safe
WASHINGTON, April 10 (UPI) -- A prominent human rights organization Wednesday called for U.S. and British troops to protect valuable Iraqi archives amid reports of widespread looting and destruction in Iraq. Government documents would prove crucial to developing prosecutors' evidence in future war crime trials, Human Rights Watch said. With all-out anarchy, the danger of security archives being widely distributed could also contribute to revenge killings because the archives would reveal the names of "tens of thousands of security agents and collaborators by name," according to the human rights organization.
S. Korea, Russia in talks over N. Korea
SEOUL, South Korea, April 10 (UPI) -- Russia's defense minister said Thursday his country would join a U.S.-led effort to reach a peaceful resolution to the nuclear standoff with North Korea. At a meeting in Seoul with his South Korean counterpart, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said Moscow would urge U.S. President George W. Bush to accept Pyongyang's long-standing demand of a non-aggression pledge. North Korea has called for a direct dialogue with the United States to defuse the nuclear standoff, demanding a non-aggression treaty between them, which it says would guarantee the North Korean regime's survival.
France, Britain to end Concorde flights
PARIS, April 10 (UPI) -- Air France and British Airways announced Thursday the retirement of their Concorde fleets by the end of the year, ending more than three decades of luxury travel. In a statement, Air France said its last supersonic flights would be May 31. The airline cited a steep decline in business and increased maintenance costs for its decision. British Airways said it would cease flying its supersonic Concorde jets in the fall because of "commercial reasons."
Ex-FBI man, Chinese lover held in spy case
LOS ANGELES, April 10 (UPI) -- A retired FBI agent was arrested Wednesday on charges he repeatedly allowed his Chinese lover, who was allegedly also a double agent working for the Peoples Republic of China, to have access to sensitive documents in his briefcase. James Smith, 59, of Westlake Village, Calif., was charged with gross negligence in handling government documents although there was no evidence he knowingly allowed classified material to be passed on to China by Katrina Leung, a 49-year-old San Marino woman who had been an "asset" under Smith's control for around 20 years.
Asian shares end mixed
SINGAPORE, April 10 (UPI) -- Asian stock markets closed mixed Thursday, with investors in Japan concerned about the sluggish global demand, while some investors in North and Southeast Asia warmed to the idea the war in Iraq is coming to a close. Asia's choppy performance followed declines on Wall Street where the Dow Jones industrial average lost 1.22 percent and the Nasdaq composite lost 1.89 percent as investors refocused on the U.S. economic prospects. In Tokyo, the Nikkei fell for the third day in a row, breaking below the key support level of 8,000, dragged down by a few blue chips. The index lost 0.96 percent to 7,980.12.
Harrington, Toms tie in Masters prelude
AUGUSTA, Ga., April 10 (UPI) -- David Toms and Ireland's Padraig Harrington both shot a 6-under 21 Wednesday and were declared co-champions of the annual Masters par-3 tournament when rains forced a suspension of play late in the afternoon. If tradition holds, neither Toms nor Harrington should be considered threats to win the Masters this year because no player has ever won the par-3 tourney and the main event the same year. Raymond Floyd came the closest to doing so in 1990 when he won the par-3 tournament and lost the Masters in a playoff to Nick Faldo.
