From CISPES, July 3:

On July 2, various organizations and communities in the municipality of Suchitoto gathered for a protest against the official announcement of the "National Policy of Water Decentralization" by President Antonio Saca. The peaceful protest was brutally repressed by the riot police (UMO) along with specialized forces of the National Civil Police (PNC). In the end, 13 people were arrested by the police and accused of "public disorder," including four leaders of the rural development organization CRIPDES. The riot police eventually opened fire on the protest with rubber bullets, tear gas, and pepper spray, injuring around 75 people. Throughout the day helicopters circled Suchitoto and San Salvador, and the riot police didn't withdraw from the scene until well into the afternoon.

Security forces arrested Maulana Abdul Aziz, imam of the Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) in Islamabad, as he attempted to escape covered in a burqa with a group of similarly clad women July 4. More than 1,000 of his followers surrendered as army and police troops backed by armored vehicles and helicopters tightened their siege of the complex. Authorities say Abdul Aziz will face terrorism and murder charges.

WW4 REPORT has received the following letter from David Ridenour, vice president of the National Center for Public Policy Research (link added):

You may wish to remove the article, "The Gas-Guzzling Lobby Stops Time" from your site, as it is riddled with errors—including about my organization.

From the Nobel Women's Initiative, June 19:

While the Bush administration has repeatedly claimed that the war in Iraq is not about oil, U.S. oil corporations are poised to take control over the 115 billion barrels of known oil reserves - 10 percent of the world total. The Bush administration’s proposed new oil law for Iraq, set to go before Iraq’s Parliament this month, would transform Iraq’s oil industry from a nationalized model to a commercial model that is much more open to U.S. corporate control. Its provisions allow much (if not most) of Iraq’s oil revenues to flow out of Iraq and into the pockets of international oil companies. At NWI's First International Conference Antonia Juhasz from the US and Yanar Mohammed from Iraq educated participants on the perils of this proposed law and the Nobel Peace Prize laureates signed the following statement. For more information and action see below.

The Iraqi Journalists Union said in statement last month that 227 journalists and media staff have been killed since the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, with an additional 15 missing. The Union demanded that the Iraqi government and US forces "take necessary measures to protect journalists."

An urgent alert from the Iraq Freedom Congress informs us that at 3:00 AM Baghdad time on July 4, US and Iraqi government forces attacked the home of the head of IFC Safety Force, Abd-alhussein Saddam, causing serious injuries to him and his young daughter. He is now hospitalized, and we await further details.

Ostensibly, its only a dispute about fishing rights, but it has far deeper implications. Mohamed Ahmed Iman, director-general of Somalia's Ministry of Fisheries, has publcily dismissed as invalid ongoing talks between the governments of Yemen and Somalia's autonomous enclave of Puntland, protesting that he only became aware of the negotiations on fishing rights through the media. "We [Fisheries Ministry] knew nothing of this [Yemen-Puntland] deal regarding fishing rights and naval protection of the Somali coast," Iman said at a press conference in Mogadishu. "Any agreement that does not go through the Somali federal government will not be legal," Iman said, asserting that only the Federal Transition Government has authority sign agreements with foreign governments and companies.

Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said initial investigations into the July 2 suicide-bombing that killed seven Spanish tourists indicate that al-Qaeda was behind the attack. Moratinos said the information was provided by his Yemeni counterpart Abu Bakr Abduallah al Quirbi, whose government has given Spain authority to conduct its own investigation parallel to that of the Yemen government.