MIDDLE EAST: Weekly round-up Number 18 for 15-21 April 2005

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

Key Humanitarian Developments in Iraq

More than 50 bodies of men, women and children were found in the Tigris River, south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, on Wednesday, the international media reported.

There are mixed reports about where the bodies came from.

According to Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, they were of the Shi’ite Muslim hostages, reportedly taken by Sunni insurgents earlier in the week in the town of Madain, 30 km south of the capital.

However, when police raided the town soon after, no one was found.

In addition, police officials said some of the bodies found in the river were badly decomposed and had been pulled from the river over a period of about seven weeks.

A suicide car bomber narrowly missed Iraq's outgoing Prime Minister Iyad Allawi after explosives were set off near his convoy in Baghdad, international media reports said on Thursday. Allawi has escaped five attempts of assassination, his spokesman said. Al-Qaeda posted a statement on the Internet claiming responsibility for the attack.

In an effort to clean Iraqi cities of unexploded ordnance (UXO), Bosnia announced that it would send soldiers to the country in June to help destroy tons of the explosives, the Reuters news agency reported on Friday.

Defence Minister Nikola Radovanovic made the announcement: "In Iraq there is a big concentration of storage sites with huge amounts of unexploded ordnance, weapons and ammunition and this unit will be deployed where it can be best used," he said, according to the Reuters report.

Meanwhile, human rights organisations mourned the death of Marla Ruzicka, who worked to provide compensation for civilian victims of war in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Ruzicka, 28, was the founder of the NGO Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (CIVIC). She was killed by a suicide bomber while travelling on the Baghdad airport road on Saturday.

“Everyone who met Marla was struck by her incredible effervescence and commitment,” said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch (HRW).

“She was courageous and relentless in pursuit of accurate information about civilians caught up in war and her desire to provide some compensation to relieve their suffering. Her personal warmth and dedication made her a formidable advocate for her cause.”

Latest reports from the Middle East

CONTENTS:

IRAQ: Religious and ethnic minorities want rights enshrined in new constitution
IRAQ: Security measures preventing school and work attendance
IRAQ: Doctors fear hepatitis outbreak
YEMEN: New national cultural preservation strategy
JORDAN: Special report on honour killings

[ENDS]