The death toll from the collapse of an ageing hostel in the holy city of Mecca rose to 53 on Friday, as Saudi rescue teams hunted through the rubble for survivors. The multistorey hotel collapsed on Thursday in the latest deadly tragedy to mark the hajj or annual pilgrimage to Mecca, the holiest place in Islam.
Twenty-three Muslim pilgrims were killed and scores more wounded in the Saudi holy city of Mecca on Thursday when a building collapsed in the latest tragedy to hit the annual hajj, a witness said. Rescue teams were scrambled to search for survivors after the collapse, which happened in the heart of the city.
Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari on Tuesday told his violence-weary nation to brace for even larger attacks as insurgents exact revenge on the government for its ”success” in rebuilding the country. At least seven Iraqis were killed in a new spate of attacks that followed a bloody sequence of days for the Iraqi security forces.
A top-level European Union delegation arrived in Baghdad on Thursday, expressing hope for the EU’s new partnership with Iraq now that divisions over the United States-led invasion of more than two years ago are healed. ”In Europe, the war divided us, but now we are unified to help Iraq,” said Luxembourg’s minister of foreign affairs.
Iraq’s first elected government in half a century finally took shape on Thursday when a former rebel leader took oath as its first Kurdish president and immediately named a top religious Shi’ite as his prime minister. Jalal Talabani, who becomes the first Kurdish head of state in an Arab country, appointed Ibrahim Jaafari as Prime Minister.
At least 46 people died in violence in Iraq on the second anniversary of the United States-led invasion of the country as a diplomatic row erupted between Baghdad and Amman. Iraq was plunged into diplomatic crisis with Jordan, with both countries recalling their envoys following accusations of a Jordanian being involved in a suicide bombing.
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/ 4 November 2004
United States war planes hammered suspected rebel positions in the Iraqi city of Fallujah early on Thursday, with some Iraqis believing US President George Bush’s election victory gives him full licence to quash the insurgency. Thousands of families have already fled the rebel city, 50km west of Baghdad.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?cg=BreakingNews-InternationalNews&ao=124936">Saddam prosecution could be foiled</a>
Smiling broadly, Filipino truck driver Angelo de la Cruz enjoyed his first taste of his newfound freedom on Tuesday after his life was spared thanks to the hasty withdrawal of Manila’s tiny military presence from Iraq. ”I am fine and relaxed. I am extremely happy and I can’t say anything more than this,” De la Cruz said.
Shiite Muslim radical leader Moqtada al-Sadr has offered to withdraw his fighters from the Iraqi holy city of Najaf if United States forces pull out as part of a deal to end weeks of bitter fighting. Al-Sadr also called for the postponement of legal proceedings against him over his alleged role in the murder of a rival cleric.