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Many of the refugees, of Iranian and Palestinian origin, are said to have fled to the border area following threats by local people as well as from dwindling supplies. Jordan has refused to allow them entry, and the refugees are stranded in conditions described as "rapidly deteriorating". Meanwhile, aid workers across Iraq are racing to restore basic services such as power and water. Waiting The refugees - of whom more than 400 are children - have been gathering in the border area for up to two weeks waiting to enter the empty camp at Ruweishid in Jordan. There is reported to be some basic tents and canned food, but the water is being brought in and there is no electricity.
Peter Kessler, spokesman for the UN's High Commission for Refugees, said: "Conditions at the makeshift border encampment are rapidly deteriorating. Some of the new arrivals have serious medical problems that require treatment in hospital". The UN says Jordan is violating an agreement to keep its border open for people fleeing Iraq and has repeatedly requested the refugees be allowed to cross the border. Jordan's Information Minister Mohamad Adwan told Agence France Press that they were "looking into their ordeal". But he added: "We only admit, in transit,
third country citizens who are sure to be going back to their own designated
countries". Most of the refugees are said to have come from al-Tash camp, 120km (75 miles) west of Baghdad, which holds more than 12,000 Iranian refugees. Some refugees have said their lives were
being threatened by local Iraqis. UN's Secretary-General Kofi Annan has said there is a very real prospect of more people becoming displaced inside Iraq. Restoring services In Baghdad, the first major shipment of food aid is awaiting distribution in a government warehouse. Fifty truck-loads of wheat flour from the UN World Food Programme (WFP) arrived at the trade ministry warehouse on Sunday. Unicef has also delivered its first medical supplies from Jordan to Baghdad, the bulk of which contained rehydration kits to be distributed to hospitals and primary health centres. Aid agencies are increasingly concerned about the need to restore basic services, fearing there will outbreaks of diseases such as cholera and dysentery if action is not taken soon.
Doctors at the main paediatric hospital in western Baghdad, formerly the Saddam Teaching Hospital, say they are receiving between 15 and 20 cases an hour, including many children with gastroenteritis, which can be fatal in very young children. However, parents complain that with all the schools closed and the security situation so fragile, it is difficult to keep children away from risks such as open sewers and the rubbish piling up in the streets. The International Committee of the Red
Cross has reiterated calls for vital facilities such as water treatment plants,
sewage installations, hospitals and health centres to be protected from
looting, destruction and sabotage.   . End of article 1.
A statement from US Central Command in Qatar said Abd al-Khaliq Abd al-Gafar, who was minister of higher education and scientific research, was taken into custody on Saturday. In a separate development, an Iraqi political party says that Saddam Hussein's son-in-law, Jamal Mustafa Sultan, has given himself up to them. Mr Gafar is ranked 54th on the US list of 55 wanted Iraqi leaders, who are pictured on packs of cards handed out to US forces in Iraq. Mr Jamal is ranked 40th. The Iraqi National Congress, which was exiled before the American-led invasion of Iraq, said Mr Jamal - who is married to Saddam Hussein's youngest daughter - would be handed over to US forces.
A spokesman for the group said Mr Jamal had been in Syria, but had been persuaded to return to Baghdad to give himself up. "We told him there would be a better future for him if he surrendered," INC spokesman Faisal Qaragholi told the BBC. The arrest has not been confirmed by Central Command officials, who say they are looking into the claim. The capture of Mr Gafar means the coalition forces have now seized four leaders of the Iraqi regime in the past four days. The BBC's Richard Galpin, in Baghdad, says the net appears to be slowly closing on the more senior members of the old regime. The more top officials are captured, the more intelligence the US military can obtain in their hunt for Saddam Hussein himself, he adds. . End of article 2.
More than 4,000 Shia Muslims staged an anti-American protest in Baghdad as the new US administrator, Jay Garner, spent his first day in the bomb-damaged Iraqi capital. The demonstrators converged on the Palestine Hotel - the main hotel housing international media - and demanded the release of one of their leaders, Sheikh Muhammad al-Fartusi. "No to colonialism," they chanted, while thousands more Shias poured into the holy city of Karbala for a pilgrimage which was banned for years by the ousted regime of Saddam Hussein. US military officials have not confirmed the reported arrest of Sheikh Fartusi by US forces. But US Central Command did announce the capture of Muhammad Hazmaq al-Zubaidi - number 18 on the US list of most-wanted former Iraqi regime officials. The Iraqi National Congress (INC) said Free Iraqi Forces (FIF) captured him on Monday in al-Hilla, 80 kilometres (50 miles) south of Baghdad, and handed him over to US forces. Mr Garner, a retired US general, flew into Baghdad on Monday insisting he was a "facilitator not a ruler".
He told the BBC a civic meeting was planned for Thursday to bring together Iraqis from all walks of life. But Shia Muslim groups have threatened to boycott the talks. Mr Garner and his British deputy Major-General Tim Cross visited a hospital as well as water and power facilities in Baghdad, where many basic services remain crippled. "We will help you, but it is going to take time," Mr Garner told doctors at the Yarmuk hospital, which has been ransacked by looters. Electricity was restored to some parts of the capital a few hours before Mr Garner's arrival, but not to the hospital he visited. Mr Garner plans to install an interim administration before Iraqis form their own government and regain control of their country. Tension BBC News Online's Martin Asser in Baghdad says there remains some goodwill towards the US-led forces who toppled Saddam Hussein.
But the role of religious leaders, particularly in the Shia community, will be crucial. Tensions have also risen in the eastern city of Kut, near the Iranian border, where US marines are trying to dislodge a Shia cleric who has taken over the city hall. The BBC's David Loyn in Kut says a group of 50 leading citizens, including a judge, teachers and lawyers, are protesting against US policies and urging the Americans to back the cleric, Syed Abbas. The marines, acting in the belief that they are the legitimate authority, have seized cars and computers which belonged to the former regime - actions that can only strengthen support for the cleric, our correspondent says. And in the north, a Kurdish leader, Jalal Talabani, said he objected to any "foreigner" leading an administration for Iraq. "This government has to be a coalition, an interim one, and an Iraqi one," he said.
Touring the battered hospital, Mr Garner said his aim was simply to get the job done and leave, but he refused to comment on a specific time frame when asked if the work could be completed in three months. "I wouldn't put 90 days as a mark on the wall. We will be here as long as it takes. We will leave fairly rapidly," he said. Only Ahmed Chalabi, leader of a political grouping backed by some elements within the US Government, has called for US troops to remain in Iraq for up to two years until elections can be held. The leader of the Iraqi National Congress (INC) also insisted that there was no religious figure waiting to take power in Iraq. In other developments:
. End of article 3.
Jay Garner flew into the Iraqi capital from Kuwait as intense international debate rages over how long victorious US-led forces should remain in Iraq. Questions also remain about what role the United Nations will play in creating a new government to replace the toppled regime of Saddam Hussein. The United States has promised to pull out its troops and hand over control to an Iraqi government when it considers the interim administration has completed its job. Anti-US sentiment "It's a great day, and it's a great day for me personally," Mr Garner said upon arrival. "What better day can you have in your life than to be able to help somebody else, to help other people, and that is what we intend to do." He said his priority was to restore basic services such as water and electricity supplies, which were lost in many parts of Baghdad during the war, "as soon as we can". He plans to visit a hospital, a power plant and a sewage works in Baghdad before travelling to northern Iraq. He said his aim was to get the job done and leave as soon as possible, but refused to comment on a specific timeframe when asked if the work could be completed in 90 days. "I wouldn't put 90 days as a mark on the wall. We will be here as long as it takes. We will leave fairly rapidly," he said.
But Iraq's main Shia Muslim groups have said they will boycott any talks with General Garner. Many Shia clerics have urged followers to take to the streets and demand the immediate withdrawal of coalition troops from Iraq. Meanwhile Ahmed Chalabi, leader of a political grouping backed by some elements within the US Government, has called for US troops to remain in Iraq for two years until elections can be held. The leader of the Iraqi National Congress (INC) also insisted that there was no religious figure waiting to take power in Iraq, despite fears that the power vacuum left by Saddam Hussein will be filled by Islamic fundamentalists. His comments came as tens of thousands of Shia Muslims continued their march to the holy city of Karbala on a pilgrimage that had been banned under Saddam Hussein's government. In other developments:
Fifty lorries carrying wheat flour from the UN food agency arrived in the capital on Sunday in the first big aid delivery since the war began. However, despite efforts to restore water and power since US-led forces entered the city, Baghdad is still suffering from a lack of basic services and huge piles of rubbish are festering in the streets. The looting of hospitals has also deprived the city of badly needed medical facilities. Refugee crisis Meanwhile, the UN has warned of a humanitarian crisis developing on the border between Iraq and Jordan. Nearly 1,000 displaced people of Iranian and Palestinian origin have camped in the no-man's land between the two countries after fleeing their homes in Iraq. Aid workers have described the conditions at the makeshift camp as desperate. Reports say that groups of armed Iraqis forced some of the people to leave their homes. Despite requests by the UN, Jordan has refused to allow the refugees to cross the border. . End of article 4.
The demonstrators, who have travelled for over a week on foot from jungle areas where coca leaf is grown, are also demanding their jailed leader is freed. The protest is part of an on-going battle between coca growers and the government, which wants farmers to grow other crops in its efforts to crack down on drug trafficking. Last month Peru's coca growers suspended highway blockades and protests while the government worked on a new anti-drugs policy. In the latest protest, farmers marched with flags and banners towards the presidential palace. Lower-priced alternatives "(We want) President Alejandro Toledo to listen to our demands and make good on his promises," said Marisela Guillen, secretary-general of the Agricultural Producers' Association of the Apurimac-Ene River Valleys. "We don't want to be abandoned or to be maligned. We are against drug trafficking. We just want to survive." Farmers want subsidies for lower-priced alternate crops like coffee, bananas, and cocoa, as well as an increase in the amount of coca that can be grown legally. Most coca farmers insist they are not involved in the drugs trade and that their crops are grown for traditional Andean uses. The farmers' leader, Nelson Palomino, was
jailed in February for alleged links to outlawed guerrillas and for allegedly
kidnapping a journalist. . End of article 5.
A scientist who worked in Iraq's chemical weapons program for more than a decade reportedly has told U.S. military investigators that Iraq destroyed chemical weapons and biological-warfare equipment just days before war began last month. The New York Times reports Monday that the scientist has revealed the location of buried supplies of chemical "precursors" - the ingredients needed to produce illegal weapons. U.S. military officials say the scientist told them that Iraqi officials set fire to a warehouse last month where biological weapons research and development was conducted. The warehouse reportedly was destroyed four days before President Bush gave Saddam Hussein a 48-hour deadline to step down or face war. The newspaper says the scientist told American weapons experts that Iraq secretly sent unconventional weapons and technology to Syria beginning in the mid-1990s, and that Saddam Hussein's regime more recently had been cooperating with the al-Qaida network. A senior U.S. officer in Iraq, Major General David Petraeus, commander of the 101st Airborne Division, is quoted as saying the Iraqi scientist's information could prove to be a major discovery "of incalculable value". U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Monday the United States has inspection teams inside Iraq searching for evidence of weapons of mass destruction. He added that the United States would look favorably on Iraqis who provide information on hidden materials. Some information for this report provided by AP.
. End of article 6.
The latest figures - reported by China's official news agency - bring the death toll from Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome to 92 in the country, with the total number of cases reaching 2,001. In Hong Kong, the authorities said six more people had died there, bringing the death toll from Sars to 94 - the highest in the world. As people avoid travel and public places for fear of infection, the disease is also taking its toll on economies in the region. In Beijing, shops, restaurants and hotels are empty and locals in Hong Kong say their city is a ghost town, according to the BBC's Holly Williams in the Chinese capital. The pneumonia-like disease has now spread to four previously unaffected provinces in China, but most of the new cases are in Beijing. Shanghai inquiry The latest figures came after the Chinese Government signalled a tough new approach to the disease, admitting a cover-up, sacking top officials and pledging more than $100m for disease control in its poorest provinces. As the scale of infections in Beijing becomes clearer, a team from the World Health Organisation is in China's biggest city, Shanghai, to assess how it is coping.
But after the revelation of a far worse situation than previously admitted in Beijing, the WHO experts will be trying to find out how truthful a picture the Shanghai administration is presenting. Sars was front-page news in every major newspaper on Monday - a drastic change from weeks of very little coverage. The sharp rise in official figures - from 40 to more than 300 confirmed cases in Beijing, as well as around 400 suspected cases - also provoked some strong editorials.
As well as extra money for disease control, the Chinese authorities have cancelled the traditional week-long May Day holiday in an attempt to stop people from travelling and so spreading the disease. Our correspondent says this is a clear sign that the authorities are finally taking the outbreak seriously. Classes have also been suspended at several universities in the capital, including China Northern Jiaotong University where 118 people are under observation, AFP reported. The four provinces which now have Sars cases are the northern areas of Jilin and Liaoning, Zhejiang in the east, and Gansu in the north-west. There is no cure or vaccine for the virus, and China's efforts are seen as vital to controlling the epidemic, which has hit business and travel in Asia. The death rate from Sars infections is put at about 4%. The latest victims in Hong Kong - two women and four men - were aged between 48 and 79 and all had a history of chronic illness, a statement from the health department said. So far, 1,402 cases of the illness have been recorded there. In Singapore, the authorities have placed 2,400 workers in quarantine and closed a large vegetable market for 10 days after a man working there was diagnosed with Sars. Sars has also claimed 14 lives in Canada. The authorities closed the country's largest trauma unit for at least 10 days after four new cases of suspected Sars were discovered among health staff. Origins of virus The WHO has voiced concern that many poor and rural areas of China with only rudimentary healthcare face much less scrutiny. People in China's poor provinces tend not to visit the doctor because it is too expensive or because there is no doctor. Health experts say the virus may therefore never be fully eradicated. It is believed to have originated in China's southern Guangdong province in November. The WHO has identified the coronavirus - a virus family which causes the common cold - as the cause of Sars. But Canadian heath officials have cautioned that it may not be the only cause of the disease. . End of article 7.
 The roads leading to Karbala are lined with pilgrims. The columns, sometimes five or six abreast, stretch for at least 100 kilometres (60 miles).
The worshippers sing as they march to their holy city, flinging their arms in the air and then beating their chests in prayer. Old women and children as young as four or five trail behind. They pause to sit down away from the hot tarmac, in what little shade they can find. Some lie, lifting tired feet in the air, to rest them against trees and buildings. On the road I met Mudel Hussein, an English teacher. "Before this time it was impossible to do this," he told me, "because Saddam Hussein didn't let us come freely. "He thought that we were against him." And he added: "I feel very happy today, because today we can make the journey openly. "Saddam Hussein was a nightmare and only George Bush helped us to get rid of him. "For the future, I think it is good if everyone can live their life freely, Shia, Sunni, everyone."
They carry flags and banners, some with inscriptions from the Koran, others praising Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Mohammed, whose martyrdom they are coming to commemorate. It was Hussein's death which caused the split between Shia and Sunni Muslims. For the past 25 years Shias were banned from making this pilgrimage. Saddam Hussein's security forces used to set up checkpoints on the roads. They would shoot at those trying to make the journey. So the vast human tide heading for Karbala is both an expression of faith and a celebration of their new-found freedom. In Karbala itself the crowds are swelling, as hundreds of thousands of Shias gather ahead of the main festival on Tuesday. The avenue between the city's two biggest
shrines is becoming a heaving sea of people, the first gathering like this in
at least three decades. . End of article 8.
It was extremely well regimented, with long robed and turbaned clerics first ordering the crowds to sit down in Saadun Street, just under the broadcasting positions of the assembled television news organisations. Then the chanting began, at first with the now obligatory call for Islamic unity between the majority Shia and their Sunni Muslim counterparts. Then the crowds called for the immediate release of the cleric - Sheikh Muhammad al-Fartusi - who is the representative in Baghdad of the powerful Hawza Council of Ulema, which is based in Najaf.
Outside the Palestine Hotel other chants included "No to colonialism" - a reference to fears of US intentions in Iraq - and "Release Fartusi or else". In a statement to the media, Sheikh Hussein al-Assadi, a student of Sheikh Fartusi, warned that, since US forces had set foot in Iraq, they should be aware of Muslim sensibilities, "otherwise there will be an explosion". "We suffered under Saddam, we don't want to suffer under the Americans, too," he said. Then, with a word from one of the organising clerics, held shoulder-high among the crowd as they beat their chest in the traditional Shia fashion, the demonstrators marched away north up Saddun Street. . End of article 9.
A senior U.S. delegation is en route to Beijing for talks with Chinese and North Korean officials about Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program. The talks, expected to begin Wednesday and go on for three days, will be the highest-level U.S.-North Korean meeting since October. That is when Pyonyang told U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly about its pursuit of a secret nuclear weapons program in violation of international accords. Mr. Kelly also heads the current delegation. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Washington sees the talks as the start of a dialogue that must eventually include such countries as South Korea and Japan in order to yield positive results. Mr. Boucher also said Monday North Korea should expect no diplomatic or financial benefits from the process unless it is willing to eliminate its nuclear program. Concerns were raised last week that the Beijing talks might be canceled, because of a report from Pyongyang that said North Korea was assembling the material necessary to make an atomic warhead. U.S. analysts say they believe North Korea meant only to say that it is on the verge of reprocessing the material, not that the process had already begun. Meanwhile, a five-member North Korean military delegation is in Beijing, ahead of the crucial multi-lateral talks about Pyongyang's nuclear program. China's official news agency, Xinhua, says the North Korean delegation met with Chinese military officials on Monday. It gave no details of what the delegation will be doing or whether it has any connection to the nuclear talks. Also Monday, North Korea's official media continued their approach of criticizing the United States and accusing it of planning an attack. President Bush has said he believes diplomacy will resolve the crisis over Pyongyang's nuclear development.
. End of article 10.
The Beijing talks, expected to span three days, will be the highest level U.S.-North Korean contacts since last October, when authorities in Pyongyang acknowledged to Mr. Kelly that North Korea had a secret uranium enrichment program in violation of several international accords. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher says the Bush administration sees the talks as only the initial phase in a dialogue that will eventually have to be expanded to include other affected parties, foremost among them South Korea and Japan, if it is to yield substantive results. He also made clear that North Korea can expect no benefits from the process, diplomatic or financial, unless it is willing to end, once and for all, its drive for nuclear weapons. "The situation created by these nuclear weapons programs has meant that North Korea has lost out on many of the benefits it could have expected from the world, lost out on many of the opportunities it could have expected, lost out on the kind of approach that we have been willing to take," he said. "The issue number one, the issue that we will be addressing, is how North Korea can correct that situation, how North Korea can verifiably and irreversibly end its nuclear weapons programs." The Bush administration has said it was ready last year to offer North Korea a so-called "bold approach" of upgraded aid and recognition. But it took the proposal off the table after it became clear that Pyongyang had been violating terms of the 1994 nuclear freeze accord with the United States and other international undertakings. Relations with Pyongyang began a downward spiral after Mr. Kelly confronted North Korean officials with evidence of the enrichment effort during his visit there last October.
Mr. Kelly is leading a team of State Department, White House and Pentagon officials to Beijing. North Korea will be represented by Li Gun, director-general of the North Korean foreign ministry's American affairs bureau, while China's chief delegate will be Fu Ying, director-general of the Chinese foreign ministry's Asian affairs bureau. China brokered the agreement for the talks and U.S. officials say that government will be a full participant in the discussions despite North Korean suggestions that China will have only a ceremonial role. Mr. Kelly will stop in Seoul and Tokyo to brief officials there on his way back from the Chinese capital.
. End of article 11.
His comments follow a report in the New York Times newspaper, which said a number of senior officials had confirmed the plans. Mr Rumsfeld said on Monday that the US was planning to discuss possible changes in its military presence in the Middle East with leaders in the region. But the possibility of maintaining a permanent presence in Iraq had not been discussed, he said. "I have never, that I can recall, heard the subject of a permanent base in Iraq discussed in any meeting," he told a Pentagon briefing. "The likelihood of it seems to me to be so low that it does not surprise me that it's never been discussed in my presence, to my knowledge." Evaluating 'footprint'
Four sites for bases in Iraq were named, including Baghdad International Airport. The BBC's Nick Childs at the Pentagon says US military officials played down the report. But they did confirm that they are beginning to look at the US presence - or "footprint" as they call it - in the region as a whole, now that Saddam Hussein has been ousted. This footprint could include a new military relationship with Baghdad, but the officials also said that they would be evaluating what kind of presence to maintain in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf as a whole, our correspondent adds. Saudi Arabia has long experienced difficulties with the military presence on its soil, and a shift in military presence in the region could ease the sometimes tense relations between Washington and Riyadh. A presence in Iraq could also put valuable
pressure on Iran and Syria, recently the target of US Government accusations
that it was harbouring members of Saddam Hussein's ousted regime, the BBC's
Justin Webb reports from Washington. . End of article 12.
The retired U.S. general responsible for Iraq's post-war reconstruction has arrived in Baghdad. The general's first priority is to help restore essential services throughout the country as quickly as possible. Retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General Jay Garner arrived at Baghdad airport Monday morning from Kuwait. He came with an initial staff of about 20 civil administrators including his British deputy, Tim Cross.
The trip is General Garner's first visit to Baghdad since American-led forces toppled Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein more than two weeks ago. The general
was recently appointed by President Bush to supervise the U.S.-military-led
Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance. The new agency has a
mandate from Washington to shape a post-Saddam administration for Iraq, to
revitalize the economy, and to prepare the way for an eventual government made
up of Iraqis.
The general says he does not know how long it will take to rebuild Iraq in a way that will be acceptable to the Iraqi people. But he says the United States and its coalition allies will not leave the country until the Iraqis can hold democratic elections and choose a new leader. General Garner and his staff of more than 400 military officers and civilians have been preparing for their mission for more than a month in nearby Kuwait. They are expected to move their headquarters to Baghdad in the coming week. The general's staff includes former U.S. State Department and Commerce Department officials and retired American military generals. There are also more than 20 judges and lawyers who have been recruited to help restore Iraq's judicial system.
. End of article 13.
The Bush administration is reported to be planning a long-term military relationship with the post-Saddam Hussein government of Iraq. The New York Times newspaper reports that a number of senior officials have confirmed the plans.
Officials say the relationship could allow US forces to be reduced in other parts of the Gulf region, particularly Saudi Arabia, where the presence of US troops is a source of difficulty for the government there. Four sites for bases in Iraq are named, including Baghdad International Airport. But an administration official is quoted as saying the scope of the relationship has yet to be defined - it could be on a full-blown operational basis or just plain access. It does look likely that the US will settle in the end for long-term access, and not ask to have any troops stationed permanently in Iraq. Such access would be useful for putting pressure on Iran and on Syria. US officials do not speak at the moment of a complete withdrawal from Saudi Arabia. But a sharply reduced presence would probably suit both Washington and Riyadh. . End of article 14.
"The Palestinians can't afford to miss this opportunity," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said in Washington. Mr Boucher's comments come as Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Mr Abbas apparently remain deadlocked over the composition of the new cabinet. Despite intensive negotiations, Mr Abbas has failed to win approval for his choice of ministers and some officials are talking of a serious crisis. The two men have given themselves until Wednesday to agree on the make-up of a new Palestinian government, which the US says is a pre-condition for publishing details of a new peace plan.
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We only admit, in transit, third country
citizens who are sure to be going back to their own designated
countries 
