BRIEFING: AT WAR WITH IRAQ
BY WORLD TRIBUNE.COM WITH MIDDLE EAST NEWSLINE

Day 25 Ñ April 13, 3003
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U.S. rescues POWs

ABU DHABI Ñ The United States has rescued six of its soldiers missing in action.

U.S. officials said the six U.S. soldiers were found on Sunday in the northern city of Tikrit. They said two of the soldiers had sustained gunshot wounds, but were in reasonably good condition.

"They appear to be reasonably healthy," U.S. Central Command chief Gen. Tommy Franks said.

Franks said the Iraqi captors of the six soldiers had fled. He said U.S. troops have entered Tikrit and were not meeting resistance.


Another pro-U.S. Shi'ite cleric under threat

Another pro-U.S. Shi'ite cleric has been threatened in Iraq.

Militias have given Ayatollah Ali Sistani 48 hours to leave Iraq. The threat was relayed by Shi'ite combatants in the southern Iraqi city of Najaf who are believed to have killed Sistani's colleague, Abdul Majid Al Khoei, on Thursday.

Sistanti's supporters said the cleric's house has been under siege since Saturday. Sistani was not at home, but his son was.

It is not clear who is behind the militias, but Moqtada Sadr, was blamed for the death of Al Khoei. Moqtada, the son of a Shi'ite cleric executed by Saddam Hussein, is said to have threatened all Shi'ite leaders born in Iran to leave Najaf.


Israel ends Iraq alert

TEL AVIV Ñ Israel has ended its alert for an Iraqi missile strike.

Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz terminated the alert on Sunday after a review of the operations by the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq. Mofaz said coalition forces have captured and examined every suspected missile and weapons of mass destruction site in western Iraq.

The end of the Israeli alert means Israelis could put away their government-issued gas masks and do away with the mandated protective rooms. Israeli authorities had urged residents to prepare a sealed room in case of a WMD attack.


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