Tribal leaders walk out of Congress
(Addustour) Some tribal leaders have withdrawn from the second session of the National Congress for not being fully represented to occupy the seats of the parliament and for the critical situations under which the congress was held.
(Addustour is an independent daily published by former journalist Basim al-Sheikh.)

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Minister seeks better life for displaced and returnees
(Baghdad) Minister of the Displaced and Migrants Pascal Warda said a ministerial committee has been formed to follow up the issue of four million Iraqis living abroad. His ministry, in collaboration with other ministries, has tried to provide a better means of living to the returnees. In her tour to Europe, the minister succeeded in delaying the deportation of Iraqis until the country improves its level of security and infrastructure. The minister asked all the concerned bodies to look after the returnees better and to treat them in a civilised way. She formed a committee from different ministries to deal with the possession of the returnees' properties confiscated by the old regime.
(Baghdad is a daily newspaper issued by the Iraqi National Accord.)

New 'Hadi Army' may join insurrection
(Al-Mashriq) Clerics and preachers in Samarra have asked young believers to join the so-called Hadi Army in reference to Imam Ali al-Hadi, who is buried in Samarra. Sources affirmed the army would consist of armed elements that would be attached to the Mahdi army in Najaf. The insistence of the government to solve the crisis militarily has urged many Iraqis to join the resistance, and it has unified the different bodies of resistance. Member of the political office of the Islamic Party Ammar Wajeeh said the party rejected the government's attempt to solve the issue with Muqtada al-Sadr militarily. They think there were wider scopes for negotiations.
(Al-Mashriq is published daily by Al-Mashriq Institution for Media and Cultural Investments.)

US forces besiege mosque
(Al-Mutamar) News sources said American forces have besieged the mosque of Umm al-Qura, which serves as headquarters for the Muslim Clerics Board in Baghdad, and have prevented anyone from entering or leaving the mosque. Board member Sheikh Ahmed al-Samarrai said the Americans have besieged the mosque and the adjacent area under the allegations they were attacked from that area. Therefore, he said, they insisted on inspecting the whole area including the mosque.
(Al-Mutamar is issued daily by the Iraqi National Congress.)

Sadr 'agreeable' to Congress
(Azzaman) Muqtada al-Sadr has agreed on the initiative of the National Congress to solve the crisis of Najaf peacefully. The members of the congress aided the proposal of Sayyid Hussein al-Sadr by solid margin. Sayyid Hussein said no one had the right to control the Imam Ali shrine, and that the government was the only body that should be in charge of it. Sayyid Hussein added that the government did not ask Muqtada to leave Najaf but had only asked him not to keep control of the shrine. He emphasised the importance of ending armed scenes in Najaf and that Mahdi elements entrenched in the shrine were free to leave the shrine and go anywhere without being chased by the government.
(London-based Azzaman is issued daily by Saad al-Bazaz.)

Health ministry seeks legal redress in France
(Asharq Al-Awsat) The Ministry of Health has launched a claim against the Mario Company of France for supplying blood products infected with AIDS viruses to Iraq in 1986. Waddah Hamid of the ministry said it sought compensation for those were infected and killed by the virus. A team from the legal department was sent to France to follow up on the legal sessions there.
(London-based Asharq al-Awsat, a Saudi independent paper, is issued daily.)