MASS PRISONER RELEASE PENDING
8 January 2004

500 prisoners are due to be released from Occupation prison camps, under the 4th Geneva Convention, which covers the rights of civilians who take no active part in hostilities. Today's first planned mass release of 100 has been delayed for difficulty in locating and vetting good-behavior "guarantors". Relatives gathered en masse, insisting that most prisoners were innocent civilians mistaken for militants, that their relatives had been rounded up at random and that the raids had been unforgiveably violent.

Tensions mounted between Occupation forces and civilians, as communication was scarce to nonexistent. Soldiers were reportedly not fully informed of specific elements of the release plan or of reasons for delay. As friction grew, there was a mass-release of 66 prisoners, well past where demonstrators and relatives had set up, in the middle of a major highway. Human Rights Watch continues to voice concerns about prisoners and families not informed of charges or whereabouts. [s]

BACKGROUND:
400 WEAPONS INSPECTORS TO QUIT IRAQ
8 January 2004

Some 400 weapons experts and search specialists are to be leaving Iraq, though an inspection force does remain, including specialists in the disposal of chemical and biological agents. A Washington Post report noted that there was intelligence to indicate that Iraq may have destroyed its stockpiles as early as 1991. [Full Story]

CIVILIAN CONTRACTORS AMBUSHED
6 January 2004

Civilian contractors were hit by an apparent guerrilla ambush in Fallujah, marking what some perceive as an elevated level of peril in the danger zone near central Iraq. The Pentagon has also imposed a "stop-loss order", denying soldiers due for discharge the option not to re-enlist. Observers cite the order as a sign that there will not be a reduction in force during the coming year. [Full Story]