UNITED STATES: NO PAUSE OR CEASE-FIRE

    U.S. commanders said Sunday there would be no pauses or cease-fires in the invasion of Iraq and denied reports that Pentagon officials balked at the number of troops needed for the assault. Coalition troops have moved to within 60 miles of Baghdad on several fronts and a "capable ground force" is in place in northern Iraq, Gen. Tommy Franks said at a briefing Sunday at U.S. Central Command headquarters in Qatar. Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the number of troops on the ground is "exactly what Gen. Franks wanted

    "Every day the regime loses more of its military capabilities," General Franks said. "Where we stand today is not only acceptable in my view, it is truly remarkable."  U.S.-led airstrikes blasted several targets Sunday in Baghdad and outside the city, where Saddam Hussein's elite Republican Guard is entrenched. General Franks said he doesn't know whether Saddam is dead or alive, but he has seen no evidence "that this regime is being controlled from the top."

    In southern Iraq, British Royal Marine commandos captured five high-ranking Iraqi paramilitary leaders and a senior officer Sunday in a village southeast of Basra, said a British military spokesman.  "One of them is an Iraqi general," the spokesman said. "We are hoping very much that he will be able to assist us, now that he is no longer a member of the regime, to overthrow Saddam Hussein's regime."  U.S. forces in western Iraq have captured another Iraqi general, who led them to a cache of weapons that included 26 surface-to-air, anti-aircraft missiles and six anti-aircraft guns, according to Central Command.

  THOUSANDS OF CUBAN EXILES RALLY ON CALLE OCHO CALLING FOR CUBAN DICTATOR FIDEL CASTRO'S OVERTHROW  

    A 12-block-long surge of demonstrators, most of them Cuban Americans, flowed across the heart of Little Havana on Saturday to pump up support democratic changes Cuba. With chants of ''Long Live America!'' and ''Long Live A Free Cuba!'' they applauded the Bush administration's tough stance against terrorism and likened Cuba's Fidel Castro to Iraq's Saddam Hussein.

    The sea of red, white and blue flags along Southwest Eighth Street, known more commonly as Calle Ocho, conveyed one distinct message: that the exile community in Miami has not shifted to a more moderate position in bringing about democratic reform in Cuba, despite recent polls supposedly  indicating that today's exiles favor a more pragmatic approach.

    Some analysts said the show of support for Cuba freedom on Calle Ocho also was a display of political power. ''What we're reminded is that what matters in politics is the voters, and these people in the streets are the voters,'' said a political science professor.

    SECRETARY RUMSFELD WARNS SYRIAN AND IRAN ABOUT AIDING IRAQ

    Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld issued a stern warning to Syria on Friday, saying military supplies, including night-vision goggles, were passing from that country into Iraq, posing a "direct threat" to coalition forces. "We consider such trafficking as hostile acts and will hold the Syrian government accountable for such shipments," Rumsfeld said at a Pentagon briefing.

    Secretary Rumsfeld also warned Iran -- a longtime enemy of Iraq -- about proxy forces moving into Iraq, where the United States and coalition forces are waging a war to topple the regime of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. The defense secretary cited the Badr Corps, a military force he said is trained and equipped by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard. Any such "proxies" would be viewed as a "potential threat" to coalition forces, Rumsfeld said.

    "We will hold the Iranian government responsible for their actions and will view Badr Corps activity inside Iraq as unhelpful," he said. "Armed Badr Corps members found in Iraq will have to be treated as combatants."  The United States, Rumsfeld said, does not want any interference in the military conflict unfolding in Iraq.  "We don't want the conflict prolonged," he said. "And we don't want neighboring countries, or anyone else for that matter, to be in there assisting the Iraqi forces."  Asked if the United States was threatening military action against Syria, Secretary Rumsfeld replied, "I'm saying exactly what I said. It was carefully phrased."

      U.S. WALKS OUT OF IRAQÍS ADDRESS TO U.N

     The U.S. delegation to the United Nations walked out of a Security Council meeting Thursday as Iraq's U.N. ambassador was excoriating the United States and Britain for their actions in Iraq.

     Speaking later to reporters, U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte said, "I'd heard enough. ... I didn't hear anything new and of course don't accept any of the kinds of allegations and preposterous positions that he put forward."  "If the humanitarian issue is very important, it is more important" to end the war, he said.

    RULES CHANGED ON CUBA TRIPS

    President Bush administration released new rules Monday that will allow more Cuban Americans to visit relatives on the island, restrict the kinds of groups that can participate in exchanges and increase the flow of money to Cuba, including funds meant to reach government opponents. 

    Among the most dramatic changes in licensing rules:

´ Travel permits no longer will be granted to organizations that take individuals to Cuba to participate in ''educational'' exchanges that are not related to academic course work. The change will require more scrutiny of license applications.
´ Travelers with relatives in Cuba can now carry as much as $3,000 in household remittances, up from $300, each quarter.
´ Licenses will now also be issued to independent organizations designed ``to promote a rapid, peaceful transition to democracy.''
´ The so-called humanitarian activities will be expanded to include construction projects intended ''to benefit legitimately independent civil society groups'' as well as promote educational training in such fields as civic education, journalism, advocacy and organizing.

    The new rules were in response to President Bush's ''Initiative for a New Cuba'' announced last May, according to the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, which issues the travel licenses. The revisions took effect Monday but written comments on the changes will be accepted through May 23, meaning that the provisions could be altered.

    PRESIDENT BUSH CONDEMNS INTENSIFIED REPRESSION OF THE CUBAN GOVERNMENT

    President George W. Bush on Wednesday accused Cuba of launching "personal attacks" against U.S. diplomats and urged it to release more than 75 Cuban dissidents arrested in a recent crackdown. "President Bush condemns the Castro government's intensified repression of Cuba's growing pro-democracy and human rights activists," a White House statement said.

    The statement said the dissidents have been "unjustly imprisoned" in a sweep that began last week and has been described by Cuban officials as a crackdown on U.S.-backed anti-government conspirators. "Arrest of these dissidents comes on the heels of recent personal attacks by the Cuban government against our diplomats in Havana," it said. "We call upon the Castro government to release immediately Marta Beatriz Roque, Rene Gomez Manzano, Felix Bonne, Oscar Elias Biscet, and all other unjustly imprisoned dissidents," the White House statement said.

    The crackdown carried out by the Cuban government was regarded as one the most severe in years. The European Union on Wednesday also criticized the arrests, and European diplomats said the arrests could damage Cuba's hopes for EU aid.  

      IRAQIS KILLED AMERICAN PRISONERS

    Some of the Army soldiers captured on Sunday after they took a wrong turn in the Iraqi town of Nasiriya were apparently executed by their captors, probably in front of townspeople, American officials charged tonight. It is unclear how many of the seven soldiers were executed, rather than killed in fighting, as the Iraqis contend. Five other Americans were taken prisoner and at least three were still missing.

    The accusations came a few days after a videotape of the prisoners and the dead soldiers was broadcast on Al Jazeera, the Arab satellite television network. It showed images of at least four bodies; some appeared to have bullet wounds to the head. "When the full story comes out, people will be outraged," said one senior military official.

    CUBA HIJACK SUSPECTS GET BOND

    A federal magistrate refused prosecutors' request Tuesday to deny bond to six Cuban men charged last week with using knives and a hatchet to hijack a Douglas DC-3 plane from Cuba to Key West. U.S. Magistrate Judge Hugh Morgan set bond for Alexis Norneilla Morales, 31, Eduardo Javier Mejía Morales, 26, Yainer Olivares Samón, 21, Neudis Infantes Hernández, 31, Alvenis Arias Izquierdo, 24, and Miakel Guerra Morales, 31.

    The men were charged with conspiracy to seize a plane by force after the twin-engine plane was diverted from a scheduled stop in Havana on March 19. The plane had departed from the Isle of Youth with 31 passengers and six crew members aboard. Eleven passengers have been released from the custody of immigration officials and one still remains in custody. The rest of the plane's passengers were returned, at their request, to Cuba on Saturday.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney John Delionado argued in court that the men could pose a risk of flight because they face at least 20 years in prison if convicted. ''They certainly cannot go back to Cuba,'' Morgan responded. The Monroe County Sheriff's Office seized the DC-3 on Friday, and set a date of April 28 for its auction to pay off part of a $27 million judgment against Cuba obtained by Ana Margarita Martinez, the duped ex-wife of a Cuban spy.

    CUBAÍS CATHOLIC CHURCH DECRIES CRACKDOWN

    Cuba's Roman Catholic Church on Monday condemned the recent arrests of scores of government critics and urged authorities to accept differing political opinions. Since last week, Cuban state security agents have arrested 100 people, many of them independent journalists and leaders of opposition groups.

    ñWe lament the inappropriate methods being used to arrest people for thinking and acting differently from the official ideology,'' a statement from the Conference of Cuban Catholic Bishops said. The church's one-page statement urged the government not to treat government critics as ñpeople who have committed a crime.'' It called on Cuban authorities to ``encourage the public debate of ideas and dialogue.''

    The statement was the second in less than a month from church officials appealing to the government to allow more freedom of expression on the Caribbean island. Last month, Cardinal Jaime Ortega, Cuba's top Catholic churchman, called on the communist-run government to soften its traditionally heavy hand and be more compassionate with its citizens.

    U.S. CITES ïRAPIDÍ AND ïDRAMATICÍ PROGRESS IN WAR

    Despite resistance from Iraqi units and rising coalition casualties, U.S. military officials expressed satisfaction Monday with the pace of the war effort. "Progress toward our objectives has been rapid and in some cases dramatic," said Gen. Tommy Franks, head of U.S. Central Command.

    U.S. military officials showcased images of successful airstrikes on Iraqi military and leadership targets and said coalition ground forces have made significant gains in southern Iraq. U.S., British and Australian Special Operations forces operating in small, mobile teams are "about their business, from the left to the right and top to bottom" in Iraq, the general said. U.S. Central Command confirmed that one Apache is missing in Iraq but had no details on the crew or the reported second missing helicopter. Thirty-eight U.S. and British military personnel have been confirmed killed since the Iraqi conflict began.

    SADDAM GOES ON TV TO RALLY TROOPS

    Saddam Hussein appeared on his state-run television Monday to tell the nation that the United States and its allies are "trapped" as Iraq resists "heroically." In his speech Monday, Saddam, without the glasses he wore in Thursday's TV pictures, specifically praised the fighters in Umm Qasr and Al Qadisiya, in southern Iraq.

    It was not immediately clear whether the speech was broadcast live or was taped. Saddam talked about current battles and referred to "setbacks" for his "enemies." "Today you are standing in a position that would please the friend and would anger the enemy and all the infidels," he said. "You will be victorious against the enemies and you are causing them to suffer."

    Seated at a podium in his military uniform, Saddam named specific members of the Iraqi military and praised his soldiers for "causing the enemy to suffer." "After they underestimated you, you Iraqis, now they've come on land, this attempt is our chance to incur losses on them," he said. "They are in a dilemma, they are in trouble now... hate them and strike them."  UK Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon told a news conference shortly afterwards: "Obviously analysis continues but I can say straight away that those pictures were not live." Hoon said Saddam's people were still issuing tape recordings.

    HUGO CHÁVEZ DEMANDS U.N. REJECT IRAQ WAR

    Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, whose friendly ties with Saddam Hussein and Cuban dictator Fidel Castro have riled Washington, demanded  the United Nations on Sunday to reject the U.S.-led war in Iraq and sharply condemned loss of civilian life in the conflict. Despite ChávezÍs baseless accusation, the International Red Cross has reported that only one civilian has died since the war started.

   "Look at this child, look at this mother. They managed to escape ... Are these smart bombs falling on children, women and old people and innocent men?" Chavez said, holding up a photograph of an injured Iraqi child printed in local newspaper. "We call on the secretary general of the United Nations to speak up and reject this aggression against the people of Iraq," he said during his weekly Sunday television program. Relations between the U.S and Venezuela have been tested during Chavez's four-year rule after he strengthened ties with states such as Cuba, Iraq and Libya.

     PRESIDENT BUSH: "THE UNITED STATES EXPECTS IRAQ TO TREAT CAPTURED U.S. AND ALLIED TROOPS HUMANELY" 

    "If there is somebody captured -- and it looks like there may be -- I expect those people to be treated humanely," he said. Bush spoke to reporters as he returned to the White House from the Camp David presidential retreat. He said he expects the prisoners to be treated "like we're treating the prisoners we have captured, humanely." Those who do otherwise will be treated as war criminals.

    President Bush said coalition forces are making "good progress" and that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is "losing control of his country." But he emphasized, "This war has just begun."  "All I know is we've got a game plan, a strategy to free the Iraqi people from Saddam Hussein and rid his country of weapons of mass destruction, and we're on plan."

    The air and ground campaigns are achieving their goals -- "we're slowly but surely taking control of that country so we can free the people of Iraq and clear that country of weapons of mass destruction," he said.  While there are pockets of resistance, such as Basra, he said, "most of the south is in coalition hands." In the south, coalition oil fields "are secure."

    BAGHDAD BURNS AFTER MASSIVE BOMBARDMENT

    Hours after the coalition forces launched the ñshock and awe" aerial campaign against Iraq, the distinct sound of aircraft could be heard over Baghdad for the first time since the start of the U.S.-led attack on Iraq.  Coalition forces planned to hit hundreds of targets on Friday across the country. A huge fire raged to the south of Baghdad; the red glow of the flames illuminated the horizon. In Baghdad, three major fires raged in a palace compound that includes the offices of the prime minister's staff and the Cabinet. The turquoise-domed main building appeared to be untouched, but a building next to the palace was ablaze and black smoke billowed from a 10-story building elsewhere in the compound. U.S. forces plan to drop more than 1,500 bombs and missiles across Iraq in the first 24 hours of its "shock and awe" campaign that began Friday, Pentagon officials said.

    Also Friday, Iraqi officials confirmed that one of SaddamÍs homes had been hit during the aerial attacks on specific targets in Baghdad, but they said no one was hurt. "They rocketed the residence of his household," Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Sa'eed al-Sahhaf said at a news conference. "But thank God, they are all safe." U.S. officials now believe that Saddam was injured, perhaps seriously, in the attacks on a leadership compound in Baghdad on Wednesday, the first night of bombing. Intercepted communications suggest that emergency medical assistance was called in to the site. U.S. intelligence officials, claiming disarray among the Iraqi military, said there was no evidence that Saddam „ or another senior official „ was in overall command of the countryÍs security or military operations, the Associated Press reported.

    Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the air campaign had shaken up the regime of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, which he said is "starting to lose control of their country."  "The confusion of Iraqi officials is growing," Rumsfeld said at a Pentagon briefing. "Their ability to see what is happening on the battlefield, to communicate with their forces and to control their country is slipping away."  Rumsfeld said the bombing was stepped up Friday after senior Iraqi officers failed to turn against Saddam following initial U.S. airstrikes Thursday, including one aimed at Saddam himself, and a U.S. and British invasion of southern Iraq.  "What we've done so far has not been sufficiently persuasive," Rumsfeld said.  "There's no question but that strike on that leadership headquarters was successful," Rumsfeld said. "We have photographs of what took place. The question is, What was in there."

    CUBAN AGENTS ROUND UP MORE DISSIDENTS

    A human rights group said more than 100 dissidents had been arrested. The detainees included more than a dozen independent journalists, owners of lending libraries, leaders of opposition political groups and pro-democracy activists who gathered signatures for a reform effort known as the Varela Project. The crackdown alarmed international rights and press advocates, including former President Jimmy Carter, who called on Cuban authorities to respect human rights and ñrefrain from detaining or harassing citizens who are expressing their views peacefully.î

    The organization Reporters Without Borders accused the Cuban government of taking advantage of the world's preoccupation with the U.S.-led war in Iraq to carry out the roundup. ñHuman rights in Cuba can therefore be viewed as one of the first cases of collateral damage in the second Gulf war,'' said Robert Menard, the group's secretary general. The leadership of the Inter-American Press Association, currently meeting in San Salvador, El Salvador, expressed concerns about the arrest. The American Society of Newspaper Editors sent a letter to Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque urging the release of those detained.

    Meanwhile, some of the island's best-known critics remained free, including veteran rights activist Elizardo Sanchez, Varela Project organizer Oswaldo Paya and Vladimiro Roca, son of the late Cuban Communist Party founder Blas Roca. But all three reported they had been under heavy surveillance by plainclothes security agents in recent days and said they would not be surprised if they were next. The crackdown began during a meeting in Geneva of the United Nations Human Rights Commission, which has repeatedly criticized Cuba.

    PRESIDENT CHAVEZ SLASHES WAR AND URGES UN INTERVENTION IN CONFLICT

    Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez said on Thursday that he and the government of Venezuela rejected the U.S. military operation in Iraq. "Right now a war is in place, another war among so many wars that have hit the world. Beyond any geopolitical consideration, I join, as Venezuela as a whole does, in a prayer for world peace," he said.

    Venezuela's head of State also urged to comply with international law and the resolutions issued by international organizations such as the United Nations. "I hope international conflicts can be solved through peaceful ways, and that we respect public international law. I hope that the solution to conflicts among nations are solved by having in mind the respect for international institutions such the United Nations," Chávez urged.

    Venezuelan Vice President José Vicente Rangel, who is visiting Argentina, said that "the U.N. is very significant for the world, and the U.S. and its allies attacking Iraq has been a harsh blow for this organization and the international law." "I declare my solidarity with stances such as those of French President (Jacques Chirac), Pope John Paul II, and so many other people. Those of us who believe in peace and international law cannot agree with this war act," Rangel stated.

     CUBAN DICTATOR EXPANDS CRACKDOWN, GRABS AT LEAST 100 DISSIDENTS

    Cuban dictator Fidel Castro's agents arrested some of the government's leading critics in an escalating crackdown and accused them of working with U.S. diplomats to undermine Cuba's socialist system. With the world focused on the war on Iraq, Cuban authorities began looking at higher-profile opponents Thursday, picking up Raul Rivero, the island's best known independent journalist.

    State security agents on Thursday evening also detained Hector Palacios, a leading organizer of the Varela Project reform effort, after an extensive search of his home, said veteran rights activist Elizardo Sanchez. Both Sanchez and the Varela Project's top organizer, Oswaldo Paya, reported that their homes were under heavy surveillance by plainclothes security officers late Thursday. ñThey are outside my house, on the corner,'' Sanchez said by telephone. ñWe don't know how far this crackdown is going to go,'' said Sanchez. ñThe Cuban government wants to silence the dissident movement. But that is not possible.''

    Earlier in the day, agents arrested several people at a home where they were fasting to demand the release of Oscar Elías Biscet. The day's arrests raised the number of detentions during three days of sweeps to at least 100, according to Sanchez, of the non-governmental Cuban Commission on Human Rights and Reconciliation. At least a dozen are independent journalists. Relatives of well-known government opponent Marta Beatriz Roque confirmed she was among the small group of people at the home in Havana where they had been fasting since March 11.

    CUBAN DICTATOR FIDEL CASTRO CRACKS DOWN ON U.S. DIPLOMATS

    Cuban dictator Fidel Castro government has confirmed that U.S. diplomats may no longer move freely around the island. An official statement read on state television's evening news Tuesday accused the chief of Washington's diplomatic mission in Havana, James Cason, of trying "to foment the internal counterrevolution." "No nation, no matter how powerful, has the right to organize, finance and serve as a center for subverting the constitutional order," the statement said.

     In Washington, a State Department official said that American authorities had not yet had time to study Havana's announcement. The Cuban statement did not describe the restrictions, but U.S. officials have said that American diplomats here must now get prior approval to travel outside the 434-mile area that includes Havana and surrounding Havana Province. Washington last week imposed similar travel restrictions on Cuban diplomats in the United States, saying it was responding to Havana's move.

    CARTERÍS DISAPPOINTED BY CUBAÍS HANDLING OF VARELA PROJECT PETITION

    Former President Jimmy Carter, who 10 months ago made headlines by endorsing a pro-democracy petition in a nationally televised speech during a visit to Cuba, said Tuesday that he is ''disappointed'' by the Cuban regime's lack of response to the request. Carter added that ñwe have to be constantly critical of any violation in Cuba of their own Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech, and freedom of assembly, which in my opinion authorizes the Varela Project.''

    ''I've been disappointed that the National Assembly did not accept the Varela petition and act on that petition, one way or another,'' Carter added. Referring to the Cuban government's claims that it could not consider the referendum request because it allegedly demanded constitutional changes, which would require a different procedure under Cuban laws, Carter said, ñI read the Varela petition very carefully, and I read the Cuban Constitution. In my opinion, the Varela petition does not call for constitutional changes. It calls for changes in statutory laws.''

   MONSIGNOR EDUARDO BOZA MASVIDAL DIED IN CARACAS

    Monsignor Eduardo Boza Masvidal, the Cuban-born bishop of Los Teques, Venezuela, and a leader of Cubans in exile, died Sunday of pneumonia in Caracas. He was 87. ''A prophet in exile is dead,'' said Monsignor Agustín Román, auxiliary bishop of Miami on Monday. Boza ''prophesied the darkness brought on by communism at a time when many never saw it coming,'' Román said.

    Boza was auxiliary bishop of Havana when he and 131 priests and nuns were rounded up and put aboard a ship bound for Spain on Sept. 17, 1961. The expulsion was the culmination of a confrontation between the Catholic Church and the state that built up after Fidel Castro seized power in 1959.

    In exile in Spain and later in Venezuela, Boza became active on behalf of other Cuban exiles. He founded the Brotherhood of Cuban Clergy and Laity in Exile, the Union of Cubans in Exile, and the Communities of Cuban Ecclesiastical Reflection in the Diaspora.

    PRESIDENT BUSH: SADDAM HAS 48 HOURS TO LEAVE IRAQ

    Saying the "danger was clear" that the Iraqi regime would provide terrorists with biological, chemical or nuclear weapons, President Bush announced the end of "peaceful efforts" to disarm Iraq in a televised address to the nation Monday night. Bush gave Iraqi President Saddam Hussein 48 hours for him, his immediate family and other key leaders to leave Iraq before military action began "at a time of our choosing."

    President Bush spelled out 12 years of failed diplomatic attempts to disarm Iraq after the Persian Gulf War.  "[Iraq] has uniformly defied Security Council resolutions demanding full disarmament," President Bush said.  "Over the years, U.N. weapons inspectors have been threatened by Iraqi officials, electronically bugged and systematically deceived. Peaceful efforts to disarm the Iraq regime have failed again and again because we are not dealing with peaceful men. "Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised. This regime has already used weapons of mass destruction against Iraq's neighbors and against Iraq's people," the President said.

    "The regime has a history of reckless aggression in the Middle East. It has a deep hatred of America and our friends, and it has aided, trained and harbored terrorists, including operatives of al Qaeda," he continued.  "The danger is clear: Using chemical, biological or, one day, nuclear weapons obtained with the help of Iraq, the terrorists could fulfill their stated ambitions and kill thousands or hundreds of thousands of innocent people in our country or any other," President Bush said.  

    FRANCE'S ANTI-AMERICAN STANCE BLOCKED DRIVE TO DISARM IRAQ

    France withstood huge pressure from the United States and Britain to fall in line over Iraq on Monday, saying it could not support a war ultimatum while arms inspections were still working without hindrance. Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin, giving France's first reaction to U.S. President George W. Bush's warning that Monday would be "a moment of truth for the world," said,  "France has said what it would do," referring to President ChiracÍs threat to exercise France's right of veto as a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council.

    France was in contact on Monday with Russia and Germany, two other anti-war states on the Security Council, to see if they could make a last-ditch bid to avert a war, diplomats said. British Foreign Office Minister Mike O'Brien said that Paris had frustrated the drive to disarm Iraq. "The damage done by this threat of a French veto to the whole diplomatic process has been enormous," he said. "Nobody sees President Chirac as a credible moral policeman of the world," another diplomat also said.

      PRESIDENT BUSH WILL ADDRESS THE NATION TONIGHT

    The United States and its allies on Monday ended diplomatic efforts to win U.N. approval for an ultimatum to Iraq, clearing the way for them to launch a war without Security Council authority within days. As diplomacy failed, U.N. weapons inspectors and other foreigners prepared to evacuate Baghdad to escape a massive aerial onslaught, followed by a ground invasion to remove the government of President Saddam Hussein.

    President Bush scheduled an address to the American people Monday evening at which he would explain why he thought war was necessary unless Saddam left Iraq immediately. Fighting could begin within hours of the U.N. inspectors leaving Iraq. 

    U.N. weapons inspectors were expected to begin withdrawing from Iraq today. Several nations closed their embassies and some foreign journalists were also leaving. Saddam told his commanders on Sunday that if Iraq were attacked, it would fight beyond its borders. ''When the enemy opens the war on a large scale it should realize that the battle between us will be waged wherever there is sky, earth and water anywhere in the world,'' Saddam said.

    PRESIDENT BUSH: ñA MOMENT OF TRUTH FOR THE WORLD

    President George W. Bush said Sunday the opportunity for a diplomatic solution to the confrontation with Iraq would end Monday, calling it "a moment of truth for the world."  President Bush said he hopes the United Nations "will do its job," but warned that France's threatened veto of any U.N. resolution to authorize force means that all "cards have been played." President Bush and British Primer Minister Tony Blair maintain they already have authority, under previous U.N. resolutions, for a military strike on Iraq, regardless of the outcome of the current debate.

    President Bush made his comments after a brief summit in the Azores with Prime Minister Blair and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar. A British official had described the meeting as the "last chance for diplomacy." Frustrated by opposition to their hard-line stance on Iraqi disarmament, the architects of the "coalition of the willing" converged on Terceira, an island of the Portuguese Azores in the Atlantic Ocean, to decide what to do next. The three countries are co-sponsors of a new U.N. resolution that would set out disarmament tests for Iraq with a do-it-or-else deadline -- a resolution that even sponsors concede has failed to garner the support it needs to pass through the U.N. Security Council.

    In Iraq, with about 250,000 U.S. and British troops in place for a strike, Baghdad's Revolutionary Command Council issued an order early Sunday putting the country on war footing, dividing Iraq into four regions with separate commanders. Saddam himself was put in charge of the air force, as well as helicopter and missile units. His son, Qusay, will command the Baghdad area. "This is being done to repel and destroy any foreign aggression," the council's order said.

    NORTH KOREA SAID IT CANNOT REMAIN A PASSIVE ONLOOKER

    North Korea cannot remain ''a passive onlooker'' while the United States conducts military exercises in the region, the North said Sunday, claiming that Washington is pushing a nuclear crisis toward a second Korean War. While vowing to counter any military attacks, Pyongyang also said Sunday it wants to avoid war and reiterated its demand for direct talks with Washington.

    The U.S. military said the annual Foal Eagle exercises, which end April 2, are defensive and not related to the political situation on the Korean Peninsula. North Korea blames the war games for heightened tensions on the divided Korean Peninsula. A dispute over North Korea's nuclear programs has been spiraling since October, when the United States said Pyongyang had admitted having a secret nuclear weapons program in violation of a 1994 agreement.

    CUBAN FOREIGN MINISTER LAMBASTES THE SENIOR U.S. DIPLOMAT IN HAVANA

    Cuba's Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque said on Friday that the top U.S. diplomat in Havana was part of President BushÍs plan to halt growing U.S. sentiment against the embargo of the island. Pérez issued a highly personal attack on the head of U.S. Interests Section, James Cason, at a Havana press conference. He said that Cason had engaged in activities that were "truly offensive" and "violated international conventions governing diplomats."

    On Friday Cason opened his residence for a seminar on media ethics attended by 30 independent journalists, whom Cuba considers to be dissidents organized and paid by the United States. "The fact that this is newsworthy in Cuba is a reminder of the status of freedom of expression in this country," the Interests Section said. The State Department has said it fully supported the U.S. Interests Section.

    Cuban dictator Fidel Castro has threatened to close the U.S. mission, calling it "an incubator for counter-revolutionaries" after Cason visited the home of a leading dissident, Martha Beatriz Roque last month. The dictator  has accused the U.S. Section of trying to undermine his one-party communist state with stepped-up support for Cuba's small but growing dissident movement.

    CUBA WONÍT LET HUMAN RIGHTS MONITOR IN

    Cuba said Friday it will not let a U.N. human rights monitor visit the island because the U.S.-backed resolution creating her post was illegitimate. Human Rights Commissioned Christine Chanet was appointed in January. ñCuba has not cooperated, nor will it cooperate with the resolution,'' Perez Roque said. The Minister charged that U.S. arm-twisting brought about the resolution and said Cuba does not accept the legitimacy of the commission vote.

    ñThe only place on this island where the existence of such a special envoy could be justified is at the (U.S.) Naval Base at Guantanamo,'' he said. The United States is holding 650 suspected Taliban and al-Qaida fighters at the base in eastern Cuba. The commission has voted to censure Cuba every year over the past decade except 1998. Cuba annually accuses the United States of strong-arm tactics to lobby support for the vote - a claim American officials deny.

    FOREIGN ENVOYS DESERT BAGHDAD AHEAD OF WAR

    Flags are being lowered, sensitive documents shredded and sandbags erected as most of the remaining foreign embassies in Baghdad prepare to evacuate the capital ahead of an expected U.S. onslaught. "We will leave before war erupts. When military troops enter, the diplomats leave," one European diplomat said. "When they begin their job, ours end. There can't be work for both."

    Nearly all embassies have been reduced to the ambassador and a skeleton staff. At one Western embassy, the ambassador answers his own phone, types his own letters and makes his own coffee. "We will leave within 24 hours before the attack. We will stay until the last moment not to surrender to the option of war,î one European diplomat said. The top envoys of  Cuba, Russia, and the Vatican will stay during an eventual war along with a handful of Arab envoys, diplomats say.

    The leading European ambassadors still in Baghdad -- the French, the German and the Russian -- have all stayed this long in the hope of a last-minute compromise to avert war. All three countries oppose a U.S. invasion and their envoys have decided to stay on until diplomatic channels are exhausted.

    FRANCE AND RUSSIA WILL BLOCK THE WAR AGAINST IRAQ

    Facing almost certain defeat, the United States and Britain delayed a vote to give Saddam Hussein an ultimatum to disarm and signaled they might compromise to try to win support from Security Council members who oppose a rush to war. President Bush administration had talked of a vote as early as Tuesday, but with France and Russia threatening to veto the current draft resolution presented by United States, and without the minimum nine "yes" votes, it held up action in the council.

    Some countries suggested delaying the deadline by 30 or 45 days, though it was clear that such a proposal stood no chance with the United States, as more than 250,000 American soldiers in the Persian Gulf are poised to attack. French diplomats said the resolution would still mean authorizing war, which France is unwilling to do. France and Russia announced Monday they would oppose the U.S.-backed resolution. "No matter what the circumstances, France will vote 'no,'" President Jacques Chirac said in a televised interview in France. "There is no cause for war to achieve the objective that we fixed - the disarmament of Iraq.

    French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin traveled to Africa to meet with the leaders of Angola, Guinea and Cameroon - three important swing votes on the council. In Moscow, Russia's foreign minister Igor Ivanov said: "Russia will vote against this resolution." The resolution - which authorizes war anytime after March 17 unless Iraq proves before then that it has disarmed - requires nine "yes" votes. Approval also requires that France, Russia and China withhold their vetoes - either by abstaining or voting in favor.

    MASSIVE BOMB TESTED IN FLORIDA

    The Air Force on Tuesday tested for the first time the biggest conventional bomb in the U.S. military's arsenal, a 21,000-pound munition that could play a dramatic role in an attack on Iraq. Cheryl Irwin, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said the test was completed at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. The bomb, known as the Massive Ordnance Air Blast, or MOAB, is guided to its target by satellite signals. It was dropped out the rear of a C-130 transport plane.

    The bomb is so powerful that its detonation was expected to create a mushroom cloud visible for miles. Asked about the test at a Pentagon news conference, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld would not say whether it would be used in an Iraq war and he declined to discuss its capabilities. ñThis is not small,'' he said.

    A MESSAGE FROM A RETIRED CUBAN-AMERICAN GENERAL TO THE VENEZUELAN MILITARY

    In a message sent today to the Venezuelan military, CAMCO Chairman, Erneido A. Oliva, Maj. Gen. (DC) Retired, says: ñƒI would like to send this message to the members of the Armed forces of Venezuela to prevent them from having to go through the same harsh realities that my countrymen and I have had to experienceƒ

    ñ ƒHundreds of my honorable comrades-in-arms, who were respectful of the Constitution, as the Venezuelan military is, were coldly and unjustly executed without having been given the opportunity to appear before competent tribunals. Thousands of them spent long years in prison, defenseless and accused of crimes they did not commit. Others tried to cross the Strait of Florida in improvised boats -- many died in the dangerous voyage. Hundreds achieved their objectives and reached lands of freedom--but the immense majority that remained in the enslave island, ended or are ending their lives forgotten and despised by those who only sought vengeance and who cried slogans similar to what members of the Bolivarian movement repeat today, ñTo the Wallî (to be executed) and ñHomeland or Death

    ñThe Venezuelan military can open the eyes of their president and make him see the masses in the streets that loudly request his resignation. The Venezuelan military must make him understand that with the four million signatures recently collected, the people have reaffirmed their demand. And, if he can not do this without spillage of blood or humiliation for himself, he at least should allow an electoral process to take place that would bring a new president and the peace, happiness and democracy that the Venezuelan people are courageously demanding.î  

    Click here and read the complete message.

     UNITED STATES SAID IT WOULD CONTINUE ENCOURAGING DISSIDENTS DESPITE THE CUBAN DICTATORÍS CRITICISM

    The United States said on Friday it would keep encouraging Cuban dissidents despite Cuban dictator Fidel Castro's criticism of the top U.S. diplomat in Havana and his threat to close the U.S. Interests Section. Cuba and the United States have not had diplomatic relations for four decades and the American mission operates as the U.S. Interests Section of the Swiss embassy in Havana.

    In a speech on Thursday to the National Assembly, the dictator accused the U.S. Interests Section of trying to undermine his one-party communist state with stepped-up support for Cuba's small but growing dissident movement. The State Department shot back by saying it fully supported the U.S. Interests Section and protested what it called Castro's "derogatory" comments about its chief, U.S. diplomat James Cason. Castro threatened to close the mission after Cason visited the home of a leading dissident, Martha Beatriz Roque, on Feb. 24.

    "Castro's defamatory language and his criticism of Mr. Cason's comments in support of democracy and freedom underscore yet again that Castro abhors freedom of expression, and fears any measure of support for human rights in Cuba," State Department spokesman Philip Reeker said in a statement. Cason has accused Cuba of suppressing human rights and freedom of expression, and said a transition to democracy was already underway in Cuba. "Despite Castro's repeated threats to close the U.S. Interests Section we will continue to reach out to Cubans to assure them that they are not alone as they work toward a free, democratic and prosperous future," Reeker said. "The United States places high priority on supporting the Cuban people in a peaceful transition to democracy."

    CUBAN EXILES WILL ATTEND A CONFERENCE IN HAVANA

    The Cuban government will hold the third "Nation and Emigration" conference on April 11-13; a meeting Communist Cuba hopes will strengthen ties between Cubans on the island and those living abroad. Most of those invited are Cuban exiles sympathizers of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro who are against the 40-year U.S. trade embargo of Cuba and favor a normalization of relations between the U.S. and Cuba. So far, a conferenceÍs spokeswoman said, more than 600 people plan to attend. Although the official agenda has not been released, besides travel much of the discussion is expected to center on emigration and the embargo.

    Jorge Mas Santos, Chairman of the Cuban American National Foundation, has said that he is willing to talk with Cuban leaders, but only if they did not include Cuban leader Fidel Castro and his brother, Raul Castro. In response, Cuban government officials say they're not interested in the proposed talks.

    MEMBERS OF CONGRESS ASK U.S. TO INVOKE OAS DEMOCRATIC CHARTER AGAINST CHAVEZ GOVERNMENT

     Please click here and find the text of a letter sent today by Congressmen Lincoln Díaz-Balart (R-FL), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Mario Díaz-Balart (R-FL), Dan Burton (R-IN), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Curt Weldon (R-PA) and Chris Smith (R-NJ), to the Secretary of State, Colin Powell, regarding the increasingly desperate and violent situation in Venezuela, and calling on the U.S. to request the invocation of the Democratic Charter of the Organization of American States, due to the Chavez governmentÍs undemocratic actions.

    DRUG TRAFFICKERS POSE GREATER THREAT THAN INVASION,, U.S. GENERAL SAID

    So-called ''narco-terrorists'' operating in Latin America fuel and fund worldwide terrorist organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah, said Gen. James T. Hill, the commander of the U.S. Southern Command, on Monday night. Speaking before a regional security conference attended by about 300 academics and military brass in Miami, General Hill urged the five nations that border Colombia to increase patrols to ensure that Colombian drug traffickers don't spill into other countries. Today's foreign threat, the general said, is not a neighbor's invasion, but the narco-trafficker, document forger, international crime boss and money launderer.

    ''We risk winning the battle with Colombia and losing the war in the region,'' general Hill said. ñI'm not pointing the finger at any one nation. I don't have enough fingers for this pervasive force of destruction.'' The United States has provided $2 billion to help Colombia beat not just drugs but the rebels as well.

    U.S. SENDS 24 BOMBERS TO GUAM

    The United States is basing more heavy bombers near North Korea and will formally protest the communist nation's ñreckless actionsî in using MiG fighters to intercept a U.S. surveillance plane, officials said.  Shifting the military aircraft toward northeast Asia was described ñas a prudent gesture to bolster our defense posture and as a deterrent'' by A Defense Department spokesman on Tuesday.

    Other Pentagon officials said the deployment includes sending B-52 bombers to the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam. The order was issued Friday, well before Sunday's incident in which North Korean jets came within 50 feet of a U.S. RC-135S surveillance plane over the Sea of Japan, they said. ñThese (U.S.) moves are not aggressive in nature,'' the spokesman said.

    Military officials said Tuesday the United States was reviewing its options in light of the gravity of Sunday's incident, one of the most dangerous military provocations in a months long standoff over North Korea's nuclear weapons program. Those options could include having U.S. fighter jets escort similar flights, a senior military official said. The United States has not suspended the flights and does not plan to, officials said.

    CUBAN OPPOSITION TAKES POLL

    In a new effort to spark dialogue about citizen rights, an umbrella group of opposition organizations said Tuesday it was preparing an open letter with the results of a survey of more than 35,000 people about their rights and duties. Nearly 500 people across the island were involved in the survey of 35,209 people, the Moderate Opposition's Reflection Group said at a news conference. The survey takers came from 67 opposition organizations, group members said.

    A letter based on the survey results will be released next month, they said. Survey organizers said their hope is to spark a dialogue about citizen rights within society and the government. ''The survey exceeded our expectations,'' group representative Reinaldo Escobar said. The survey, conducted in Cuba's 14 provinces over five months, was anonymous. Those surveyed ranged from anti-government activists to active members of Cuba's Communist Party.

    Project organizers said they received no reports of government repression against survey takers. ''We interpret this to mean that the government knows about it, but have tolerated it,'' Escobar said. Survey organizers said they did not view their project as an alternative to the Varela Project, an earlier attempt aimed at gaining guarantees for civil rights such as freedom of expression. Last May, Varela Project organizers delivered more than 11,020 signatures to the National Assembly seeking a referendum on laws to guarantee those rights. Authorities say the request was shelved.

    ATTACKS ON CUBAN POLICE GROW

    Amid a crackdown on drug trafficking and other illegal businesses in Cuba, communist authorities on Monday acknowledged a recent rise in attacks on police agents and reminded citizens of the severe penalties for such assaults. The Communist Party daily Granma dedicated an inside page to a story about the problem, accompanied by the text of the criminal code applying to attacks on police. "No one has the right to assault authority," the headline read.

    The newspaper said that police had wide popular backing for their recent crackdown, but "there still exist aggressive and disrespectful attitudes by criminals and their accomplices who resist authority and attack its representatives." The article provided no specifics on the size of the problem, including how many police officers had been assaulted.

    Cuba's Roman Catholic church last week issued a pastoral letter supporting the crackdown on drug trafficking "and all that corrupts and harms other people."  But the letter signed by Cardinal Jaime Ortega also called on the Cuban government to be merciful with its own people and "to extend a compassionate hand" before "imposing controls and sanctioning infractions."

       DIALOGUE WITH CASTRO'S CUBA? By Agustin Blazquez

       As for the issue of a dialogue with members of Castro's regime, I still agree with Jose Marti when he said:

      Please, click here and read the complete article.

    NORTH KOREA'S FIGHTERS INTERCEPT U.S. SURVEILLANCE PLANE IN INTERNATIONAL AIR SPACE

    U.S. government  plans to formally protest North Korea's actions during a weekend incident in which four North Korean jet fighters intercepted a U.S. surveillance plane over the Sea of Japan, officials said Monday. U.S. military sources said that the RC-135S surveillance aircraft was in international airspace about 150 miles [240 kilometers] off the Korean peninsula when four armed North Korean MiGs approached and flew alongside for 20 minutes, at some points coming within 50 feet of the U.S. plane. The Air Force plane returned to its base in Okinawa, Japan, without further incident.

    One of the North Korean fighters locked its acquisition radar onto the RC-135S, a method used by fighter aircraft to locate another plane in the air, a Pentagon official said. At least two of the planes were MiG-29s. The two other fighters were thought to be MiG-23s. Pentagon officials say the encounter was obviously well-planned and premeditated because the MiGs have a relatively short range, so for them to fly 150 miles offshore, shadow the U.S. plane and still have fuel to get back would require a coordinated plan that pre-positioned the planes to make the intercept.

    The RC-135S Cobra Ball aircraft is a modified version of the military C-135S cargo plane. The aircraft are used to monitor areas where missiles are tested.  Sunday's incident marked the first time in more than 30 years that North Korean aircraft have intercepted a U.S. plane, the sources said. The previous interception occurred in 1969, when a North Korean fighter shot down a U.S. EC-121 reconnaissance aircraft over the Sea of Japan, killing more than 30 U.S. airmen.

   U.S. CONGRESSMEN MEET WITH PAYÁ

     Two U.S. congressmen met with a Cuban opposition leader Sunday and expressed support for his attempt to ensure freedom of speech and other civil rights for Cubans. Reps. Jim Davis, D-Fla., and Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., were the first American congressmen to meet with Oswaldo Paya, the leader of the Varela Project, at his Havana home.

    ñWe are in the presence of an individual who has truly moved ahead the dialogue in Cuba,î Kolbe, who chairs the House Appropriations subcommittee on foreign operations, said in Paya's living room. ñAnyone in the world with aspirations for liberty and democracy would support this project.î The Varela Project seeks a referendum on several proposals that would guarantee civil liberties such as freedom of speech, assembly and the right to private business ownership. It also seeks deep electoral reforms and an amnesty for political prisoners.

    ñWe Cubans deserve these rights that we are seeking ... we are human beings,î Paya said after meeting the congressmen. He added, ñSomething new is happening here, something important. There's not just a government here, there's also a movement fighting for the rights of the people.î 

     CAR BOMB HITS VENEZUELAN OIL CITY OF MARACAIBO

     A car bomb exploded early on Sunday in the western Venezuelan oil city of Maracaibo, destroying three cars and damaging homes and a local office of the U.S. oil company Chevron Texaco, police said. Hours after the blast, President Hugo Chavez said his country's security forces were on an anti-terrorist alert.

    It was the third bomb attack in less than a week in Venezuela. Chavez, who is resisting opposition calls for early elections, Sunday blamed political foes for bomb blasts in the Venezuelan capital Caracas Tuesday which badly damaged Spanish and Colombian diplomatic buildings, injuring five people. "We're on the alert in the whole country," the former army paratrooper said on his weekly "Hello President" television and radio show.

    KHALID SHAIKH MOHAMMED CAPTURE REPRESENTS A TREMENDOUS BLOW TO AL-QAIDA

    The capture of Khalid Shaikh Mohamed, a top al-Qaida operative, is a major blow to the terror group and will give U.S. officials the chance to learn about attacks that may have been planned. Mohammed, suspected mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, is "really a big fish," said a U.S. senator. "If there was one person that we wanted to get, it was this man."

    U.S. legislators have portrayed Mohammed's arrest Saturday in Pakistan as a giant step backward for the al-Qaida and predicted that his capture is going to lead to other successful activities very shortly. U.S. authorities have taken Mohammed out of Pakistan to an undisclosed location after capturing him in a joint raid by FBI, CIA and Pakistani agents. Mohammed, 37, is perhaps the most senior al-Qaida member after bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri.

    Mohammed is a naturalized Pakistani who was born in Kuwait, he is on the FBI's most-wanted list and allegedly had a hand in many of al-Qaida's most notorious attacks. The U.S. government had offered a reward of up to $25 million for information leading to his capture. U.S. officials say Mohammed organized the Sept. 11, terror mission that sent hijacked passenger jets crashing into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania, killing more than 3,000 people. There also has been suspicion that Mohammed was involved in last year's kidnapping and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, and may have even carried out his execution. He also has been linked to April's bombing of a synagogue in Tunisia. At least 19 tourists, mostly Germans, were killed then.

    MIAMI CLERIC ASKS CUBAN EXILESÍ SUPPORT FOR CUBAÍS CARDINAL JAIME ORTEGA ALAMINO

    Monsignor Agustín Román, auxiliary bishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Miami, urged Cuban exiles Friday to promote the pastoral letter on social and economic reform issued this week by Cardinal Jaime Ortega Alamino, archbishop of Havana.

    Referring to Cardinal Ortega's statements, Father Román said that ñthis document has great usefulness for the Cuban people and we should cooperate with its dissemination from here, by all available means.î

    Exile leaders and analysts called Tuesday's comments by Cardinal Ortega, the highest Catholic Church official in Cuba, the latest sign of frustration with the regime's resistance to economic and social reforms. Ortega used the 150th anniversary of the death of Father Félix Varela -- a Cuban priest active in the fight for CubaÍs -- to write a pastoral letter that urges the communist dictatorship to ease controls and allow Cubans more independence of thought and action. (Click here and read "ARTÍCULO DE LA SEMANA").

    CUBAN LANDING RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT U.S. SECURITY

    Less than a month after an armed group of Cuban military defectors landed by speedboat in Key West, wandering the streets before police took them into custody, another incident this week raised questions about border security in the Keys. On Wednesday, a group of six Cubans beached their homemade boat in which they escaped from Cuba on Navy property that includes a key nerve center for the war on drugs.

    To exit the assumed tightly controlled Navy grounds, on the southern tip of Key West, the Cubans first had to run past a secret but highly visible ''antenna farm'' run by the U.S. military, and past the home of a Key West Naval Air Facility commanding officer whose base has trained fighter pilots now deployed in the Persian Gulf.

    The Cubans proceeded at least a quarter mile to an empty guard post near an entrance that is closed, hopped a fence, crossed busy Duval Street and ended up at the Bottlecap, a liquor store and bar that was once a favorite with sailors. The landing Wednesday comes as the Coast Guard has heightened security in and around Key West by dispatching additional boats and an extra helicopter.

    CUBA SEIZES U.S. MISSIONÍS BOOK SHIPMENT

    Works by Martin Luther King Jr., John Steinbeck and Groucho Marx were among 5,101 books seized by Cuban authorities after being shipped in by the U.S. government, America's top diplomat in Havana said Thursday. American diplomats were told it was a "firm decision by the government" not to allow the books into the communist-run country for distribution to dissident groups, including independent libraries, U.S. Interests Section Chief James Cason said.

     "They said it wasn't the books, but who we were going to give them to," he told a small group of international reporters. He said the American mission has imported similar books in the past. The Cuban government takes exception to, but largely tolerates, the scores of independent libraries now operating across the island. However, it resents their contacts with American officials. The $68,770.41 shipment seized recently remains in the control of Cuban customs officials, Cason said. American officials said they would happily pay duties on the books, but were told that was not an option.

    "It's fear of losing political control," said Cason, who arrived in Havana five months ago. "That's how Groucho Marx ... can suddenly become a subversive." Cason made a high-profile appearance earlier this week - and even spoke with the foreign media - during a meeting of opposition groups at the home of well-known dissident Marta Beatriz Roque. Cason denied the Cuban government's charges that the mission provides financial support to dissidents. "We don't give out cash to the opposition," he said. "We provide information materials from the United States. What we do here is logistics."  

    CHINAÍS CHANGES ASTONISH CUBAN DICTATOR FIDEL CASTRO

    For the 76-year-old dictator Fidel Castro, who last visited China seven years ago, the difference between the old and new China was bewildering. ñI can't really be sure just now what kind of China I am visiting, because the first time I visited, your country appeared one way and now when I visit it appears another way,'' Castro said Thursday in a meeting with the head of China's legislature, Li Peng. ñYou can say that every so often your country undergoes great changes,'' Castro said.

    China and Cuba are two of the last remaining one-party communist states, but the similarity just about ends there. China and Cuba ran along parallel communist tracks for years after Castro took power. However, beginning in the 1980s, ChinaÍs planned economy was steadily dismantled, setting the stage for today's relative prosperity - even while the Communist Party maintained its stranglehold on political power.

    The basis of that growth - foreign investment totaling hundreds of billions of dollars and the emergence of a dynamic private sector - remain largely alien concepts in Castro's Cuba. China now provides hundreds of millions of dollars in economic credits to Cuba, as well as some direct aid. Castro's talks with Chinese President Jiang Zemin earlier this week focused on economic ties and concluded with the signing of an economic cooperation agreement and Chinese aid package for Cuba.

      WHO IS FOR AND WHO AGAINST A WAR ON IRAQ? 

    A new resolution on Iraq which Washington would like passed soon will need backing from at least nine of the 15 members of the United Nations Security Council, and no VETOES.

    Here is a summary of the current positions on the council, where FIVE permanent members have the power of VETO: UNITED STATES, ENGLAND, CHINA, RUSSIA and FRANCE