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Over 10,000
rally in Tokyo against US-led war on Iraq
Over
10,000 people gathered on Friday in Tokyo to
protest the US-led military attack on Iraq.
Police put the
number of people at 10,000 while organizers
said50,000 were present.
Around 100
protesters carrying banners assembled in front
of the US Embassy in Tokyo's Minato Ward, the
site of a number of demonstrations this week,
shouting "Stop the war! We oppose
war!"
At around
midday, thousands of anti-war protesters had
taken to the streets of Tokyo, Kyodo News
reported.
The protesters
later marched to JR Tokyo Station carrying
banners and shouting in response to calls over
a loudspeaker to "Stop the war!" and
"Don't kill Iraqi children!"
Meanwhile,
another anti-war rally dubbed World Peace Now
took place at Tokyo's Shiba Park. There has
been several major similar demonstrations in
Tokyo since last weekend.
Turkish DM
confirms opening of airspace to US warplanes
Turkish
Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul late Friday
confirmed that the country has opened its
airspace to US warplanes for strikes on Iraq.
Gonul made the
announcement to reporters after a meeting
between Erdogan, army chief Hilmi Ozkok and
senior officials to evaluate the situation
with regard to the US-led war on Iraq.
"It has
been determined that it is in Turkey's
interests to open Turkish air space,"
Gonul told reporters.
He added that
"this decision was recently conveyed to
the US secretary of state (Colin Powell) by
our prime minister (Recep Tayyip Erdogan)."
Hours earlier,
the Turkish Foreign Ministry denied an earlier
report that Turkey will immediately open its
airspace to US planes flying to Iraq.
All key oil
wells in southern Iraq safe: British Official
All key
components of oil fields in a southern Iraqi
port remain safe, with only seven oil wells
being set on fire, Admiral Michael Boyce,
British chief of defense staff told reporters
Friday.
British Defense
Secretary Geoff Hoon earlier said that about
30oil wells at Umm Qasr, a city not far from
Basra, have been set on fire by Iraqi forces.
"I'm
pleased to be able to tell you that the latest
information I have is that only seven well
heads have been fired, as opposed to the some
30 or so that we suspected might have been on
fire today," Boyce told a press briefing
at the Ministry of Defense in London.
"We are
absolutely determined not to let (Iraqi
President) Saddam (Hussein) to bring more
damage to the lives of his people through some
sort of scorched-earth policy," Boyce
said, adding that "specialist civilian
contractors" would be in the area
"in a day or two" to snuff out the
fires.
Umm Qasr has
been overwhelmed by US Marines and now
"is in coalition hands," Boyce said,
adding that two Iraqi vessels loaded with
mines for deployment in the Gulf have been
captured by allied forces.
Progress made
in the campaign so far was
"promising" and humanitarian
supplies were expected to be brought into Iraq
within the next few days, Boyce said.
He also praised
the British and American advance into southern
Iraq, under air cover provided by the RAF and
US air force.
On Friday,
local reports said the US and British forces
were expected to take Basra, Iraq's southern
stronghold, later in the day.
Iraqi
defense minister says Iraq strongly resists
enemy
Iraqi
Defense Minister Sultan Hashim Ahmed said here
Friday evening that Iraqi forces are strongly
resisting American and British invaders.
At a press
conference held in Baghdad, he acknowledged
for the first time that US and British troops
have crossed the borders into Iraq from Kuwait
and attacked Um al-Qasser and headed towards
Basra.
He also said
that US and British paratroopers landed in a
number of border towns close with Syria and
Jordan. Towns they attacked include Rutba, 350
km west to Baghdad, al-Nakhaib near Mosul,
besides Al-Walid military base close to the
Syrian border.
But the
paratroopers met strong resistance from Iraqi
troops and tribesmen.
In Rutba area,
"two enemy armed vehicles were destroyed
by rocket propelled grenades," he said,
adding battles in that area still continued.
The press
conference was disrupted by loud explosions at
around2100 local time when coalition forces
launched massive bombardment on Baghdad.
He also said
that British forces landed behind al-Saw
peninsula and bombarded the town of al Saw by
artillery. "The enemy forces have
advanced further more into the northern
Rumeila area, which has rich oil
reserve."
Another army
force heads the city of Basra 520 km north of
Baghdad, but "was stopped because of
strong resistance.
Meanwhile, a
statement issued by the military said Iraqi
missile force fired surface-to-surface
missiles to coalition forces concentrations in
Al-Rouqa, and Ali Salem base in Kuwait on
Friday.
Two US
missiles hit Iranian oil refinery: Iran
confirms
Two US
missiles hit a petrol depot of an oil refinery
near the southwestern Iranian town of Abadan
near the border with Iraq on Friday evening,
Iran's official sources confirmed.
Blasting the
event as an "evil act," the sources
could not confirm there was any injury in the
explosions. Earlier, the Qatar-based al-Jazeera
TV channel said that two people were injured
in the accident. The missiles may have been
missed when the United States launched a new
wave of air raids on Iraq Friday evening.
Despite
mounting international opposition, the United
States launched its war against Iraq at 0530
a.m. (0230 GMT) on Thursday, in a bid to
topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
The offensive,
the first preemptive strike in the US history,
kicked off about 90 minutes after the
expiration of an ultimatum issued by US
President George W. Bush for Saddam to leave
the country or face war.
The United
States has accused Iraq of hiding and secretly
developing banned weapons as well as having
linkage with the al-Qaeda terror network, and
vowed to disarm Iraq by force if necessary.
Iraq strongly denies the US allegation.
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