GC to issue statement on murder of Al-Khoei
(Al-Nahdhah) – An announcement concerning details of the assassination of Shia leader Ayatollah Sayyid Abdul Majeed al-Khoei will be issued within the next 24 hours, Ayad Alawi, Chairman of the Governing Council’s Security Committee, has announced. The Ministries of Interior and Justice will make the announcement, he said, which would be backed up by photos and "tangible" evidence. Alawi said the decision to issue the announcement came after the GC summoned investigators and judges supervising the investigations into Khoei’s assassination. The GC wanted to learn the details of the case and understand to what extent Mustafa al-Yaqubi and other supporters of Muqtada al-Sadr may be involved.
(Al-Nahdhah is a daily newspaper issued by Adnan al-Pachachi, GC member and head of Independent Democrats Movement.)

Sadr supporters seize two Koreans
(Al-Mashriq) – Muqtada al-Sadr's militants in Nasiriya yesterday said kidnapped two South Korean human rights workers, and would not release them until Italian military forces left the city. Sayyid Riyadh, an official in Sadr’s so-called Army of the Mahdi said: "We kidnapped on Sunday two Koreans working in an organisation defending human rights. We cannot show them because they are in a hideout. They will not be released until the Italian troops leave the city."
(Al-Mashriq is published daily by Al-Mashriq Institution for Media and Cultural Investments.)

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Yaqubi ‘innocent’ until court decides otherwise
(Al-Taakhi) – Officials in the Governing Council said an announcement would be issued within the next 24 hours explaining the details of arresting Mustafa al-Yaqubi, Muqtada al-Sadr's assistant. Ghazi Ajeel al-Yawir, GC member, said Yaqubi is a suspect and innocent until he is found guilty by a court of law. Yawir said these matters hurt Iraq and not the Coalition forces. Meanwhile, an unnamed assistant of Sadr said the judge who issued Yaqubi’s arrest warrant is a Baathist who participated in crimes of the former regime but now collaborates with the Coalition. Clashes resumed yesterday between Sadr's militias and Italian troops in Nasiriya two hours after the announcement of a ceasefire.
(Al-Taakhi is issued daily by the Kurdistan Democratic Party.)

Sasdr calls off sit-in
(Al-Mada) – After three bloody days, Muqtada al-Sadr yesterday declared an end to his sit-in at al-Kufa mosque. He said in a press conference: "I promised myself not to shed any blood other than mine and that is why I decided to end the sit-in." Hazim al-Araji, spokesman of al-Sadr's office in Kadhimiya in Baghdad, said Sadr supporters would not allow his arrest by the Americans, the British, or any other side. Meanwhile, the Shia al-Hawza foundation called for avoidance of violence. But, the Reuters news agency, quoting a Shia religious source, said Muqtada had rejected this call.
(Al-Mada is issued daily by Al-Mada institution for Media, Culture, and Arts.)

Najaf stable, Karbala quiet
(Al-Sabah) – Informed sources say the situation in the holy city of Najaf is stable. Stores are open. While students of religious sciences are back to their studies, schools and universities are still closed due to fears of violence. Hospitals and the municipal government are working normally. Sources said that dialogue is being held between envoys of Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani and followers of Muqtada Sadr to contain the crisis peacefully. The city of Karbala is still quiet despite some shooting heard in the night. Early this morning convoys of Iraqi police were seen patrolling the streets to keep security. A source in the Husseini Hospital said two people were killed and others wounded in clashes between Polish forces and Muqtada followers.
(Al-Sabah is issued daily by the Iraqi Media Network on behalf of the Coalition Provisional Authority.)

Bremer called to court
(Asharq al-Awsat) – In a meeting with some officials of the Ministry of Information, the Iraqi lawyers' society announced its readiness to file a claim against the Governing Council (GC) and Ministry of Finance on behalf of employees dismissed after closure of the former Ministry of Information. Journalists are making their claims against L. Paul Bremer III, the top civil administrator, for dissolving the old Ministry after the fall of the former regime. The claim lodged with the Ministry of Justice states that Bremer dissolved the Ministry of Information without any legal basis and they have asked him to appear in court on April 21. They want him either to cancel the order or stop applying it. Lawyers Ahyeb al-Hadithi and Ahmed Jarullah al-Hadithi will present the claim on behalf of the journalists, while other lawyers have expressed readiness to defend the staff of the Ministry. The court has notified Bremer the date of the trial and the content of the claim.
(London-based Asharq al-Awsat, a Saudi independent paper, is issued daily.)

No Jews have returned to claim property – minister
(Baghdad) – Minister of Housing and Reconstruction Baqir al-Zubaidi has denied reports attributed to him in the press concerning the rights of Jews to return to Iraq and regain their properties. He said all Iraqis who had properties confiscated and were deported by the former regime have the right to return and repossess their property according to forthcoming regulations. He gave assurances, however, that no single Jew has returned to Iraq and bought property. Reports to the contrary are only rumours set in motion by people with motives of their own to defame the GC and the Iraqi government, he said.
(Baghdad is a daily newspaper issued by the Iraqi National Accord.)