- August 19, 2003
"See also"
August 18, 2003 -August 2003 -August 20, 2003 ----
*War on Terrorism - Canal Hotel: A truck bomb explosion at the Baghdad Canal Hotel that houses theUnited Nations mission kills at least 17 people and injures over 100. Among the casualties isSérgio Vieira de Mello , U.N. special representative in Iraq. The bomb damages ahospital nearby, and the shockwave is felt a mile away. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3163877.stm] [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/02/24/iraq/main541815.shtml] [http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2003-08-19-iraq-unblast_x.htm]
* 20 killed, 136 wounded by an explosion on board anIsrael i bus inJerusalem . Among the victims are several children. The explosion was caused by aPalestinian suicide bomber . ThePalestinian Islamic Jihad inHebron claims responsibility for the attack. There are conflicting reports thatHamas is responsible for the bombing. Israeli government reportedly freezesroad map for peace negotiations. In the following days, two additional victims died of their wounds, raising the death toll to 22. [http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,95150,00.html] [http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=3302933] [http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=3303310] [http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1061318328538_25///?hub=TopStories] , see also:Jerusalem bus 2 massacre
*War on Terrorism : A Moroccan court sentences four men to death and jails 83 others for their involvement in a wave of terror attacks inCasablanca that killed 33 bystanders and a dozen suicide bombers inMay 2003 . The trial involved dozens of defendants accused of belonging to a clandestine Moroccan group, theSalafia Jihadia . Moroccan authorities have linked the group toOsama bin Laden 'sal-Qaida network.
* Occupation of Iraq: IraqiVice President Taha Yassin Ramadan , disguised as anArab Bedouin , has been captured. Ramadan served as Saddam's thug and a member of Iraq'sRevolutionary Command Council .Kurd ish group claims responsibility for the capture of Ramadan. He was handed over to Coalition forces inMosul . [http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20030819_261.html] [http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/08/19/sprj.irq.main/index.html] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3163219.stm]
*Afghanistan celebrates its Independence Day amid one of the bloodiest weeks in a year, with heavily armed guerrillas killing at least nine police officers in the latest in a string of ambushes. In the last week, the country has been battered by an onslaught from insurgents, who are believed to be a mix of guerrillas from the oustedTaliban regime,al-Qaida fighters and supporters of renegade warlordGulbuddin Hekmatyar . [http://www.deepikaglobal.com/ENG4_sub.asp?ccode=ENG4&newscode=19401]
* TheInternational Survivors Action Committee releases a 152-page [http://www.isaccorp.com/tbj/tranquilityreport.doc report] on the controversialTranquility Bay behavior correction facility.
*Natural disaster : Start of the Booth and Bear Butteforest fire s in the Cascade Mountains, the worst fire inOregon of this year. Within three days the resort community ofCamp Sherman is evacuated, affecting 1,500 residents and campers, closure of US highway 20 overSantiam Pass , and burning at least 41,000 acres (170 km²).
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