Typhoid Breaks Out in Najaf – Hospital
(Addustour) – Safa al-Ubaidi, Manager of al-Sadr Hospital in Najaf, said more than 120 cases of typhoid have appeared in suburbs and districts of the city. He said many cases had been recorded in al-Manathira area, in addition to other cases of tuberculosis and black fever. He said the situation was too dangerous and called upon the Ministry of Health (MH) to provide immediate support as soon as possible. The patients were put in a special ward until a formula is agreed upon with MH to send them to neighbouring countries as treatment in Iraq is impossible.
(Addustour is an independent daily published by former journalist Basim al-Sheikh.)

Brahimi Mission Under a Cloud
(Al-Mutamar) – Political parties and organisations are preparing to conduct large demonstrations to protest against UN envoy al-Akhdhar al-Ibrahimi’s vision of the political process in Iraq. The protests also will call for ending his mission due to his alleged loyalty to Saddam Hussein and efforts to restore officials of the former regime. Brahimi is said to be following an agenda set by certain regional countries that want to punish Iraqi political leaders who led the operation to topple the Saddam regime. A number of Iraqi politicians described Ibrahimi as leading a “white coup” with regional participation against the interests of the Iraqi people.
(Al-Mutamar is issued daily by the Iraqi National Congress.)

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Sadr Aide ups Rhetoric Against US
(Asharq al-Awsat) – An assistant to Muqtada al-Sadr, Husam al-Moosawi, yesterday threatened to attack US troops violently if they enter Najaf. He also accused Kurdish peshmerga fighters of helping the US troops. Moosawi described a barrier built by the Americans between Kufa and Najaf as a provocative step aiming at isolating the two cities. "Any American patrol in Najaf is liable to attacks because we consider this an encroachment upon the holy city. We have the right to defend ourselves, the religious authorities, and the cities," said Moosawi, who added that he had hard evidence of Peshmerga participation with US forces near Najaf. He said Peshmerga elements are in Najaf’s al-Askari quarter.
(London-based Asharq al-Awsat, a Saudi independent paper, is issued daily.)

CPA Releases Former Regime ‘Criminals’
(Al-Adala) – The Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) has freed some criminal of the former regime. They include former Minister of Interior Sameer al-Sheikhli, former head of intelligence Sadoon Shakir, and former private security officer and Yasir al-Sabawi. Also released were other symbols of the old regime like the former head of security office and some high ranking police and army officers. Some of the freed men immediately fled to Syria, close sources said.
(Al-Adala is issued thrice weekly by the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq.)

Census to Begin Soon Says Minister
(Al-Bayan) – Minister of Planning and Development Mahdi al-Hafidh said his ministry will soon start the census project at a cost of $60 million after its approval by the Governing Council (GC). He said staff will be technically trained to avoid any mistakes that might happen during implementation of the project, which will need huge numbers of staff in addition to the preparation of plans that might help in making a success of the undertaking. The project aims at economic development but will avoid sectarian bias.
(Al-Bayan is issued thrice weekly by the Islamic Dawa Party, chaired by Ibrahim al-Jafari, Governing Council member.)

Ministry Decries ‘Bribes for Food’ Scandal
(Baghdad) – Yousif al-Hattab, Director General of the Grain Manufacturing Company of the Ministry of Trade (MT) said that more than 200 Arab and foreign companies were acting fraudulently in connection with the people's food during the old regime. He explained that the companies supplied Iraq with bad foodstuff for bribes and commissions paid to the old regime's men. MT has cancelled more than 15% of the contracts with those companies, and will keep tracking them as some continue to defraud the public.
(Baghdad is a daily newspaper issued by the Iraqi National Accord.)

GC Appoints Final Two Chairmen
(Azzaman) – The GC yesterday elected Councillor Saleem Ezzul Deen as chairman for the month of May. Sources close to the GC said Councillor Ghazi al-Yawir yielded due to the fact that Deen is older. Yawir will become the last president of the GC, whose mandate will end in next June.
(London-based Azzaman is issued daily by Saad al-Bazaz.)