DUBAI, 10 June 2007 (IRIN) - CONTENTS:

IRAQ: Hundreds go missing or get killed at checkpoints IRAQ: Poor municipal services worsen Iraqi living conditions IRAQ: Ahmed Zuhair, Iraq "I have only God to help my daughter." IRAQ: Drive to raise awareness of unexploded ordnance in south IRAQ: Hilal Naim, "I was forced to give up my humanitarian work to save my daughter" IRAQ: Years of war, current insecurity take toll on environment IRAQ: Reporters Without Borders calls for special unit to protect journalists IRAQ: Curfew leaves Bagdhad suburb residents in trouble IRAQ: Local tribes in south set up schools ISRAEL-OPT: West Bank movement restrictions can be lethal for Palestinians, says Amnesty report LEBANON: Unexploded ordnance hampering aid deliveries to refugees LEBANON: UNRWA appeals for $12.7m as camp clashes spread south LEBANON: Three-day bombardment of camp cuts off vital aid supplies to terrified residents OPT: Gaza fishermen's livelihoods in jeopardy OMAN: Authorities on high alert for approaching cyclone

YEMEN: Thousands of displaced live in "precarious conditions"

IRAQ: Hundreds go missing or get killed at checkpoints

Samir Waleed, 39, said he is scared to go out into the streets of Baghdad after his brother was stopped at a road block, taken away and killed two weeks ago. The deteriorated security situation in the capital has given rise to an increasing number of checkpoints in the city, which, ironically, have become dangerous in themselves.

Manned by the Iraqi police, Iraqi soldiers or sometimes by militias, checkpoints are adding to the immense strain already felt by Baghdad residents. Locals say that people are often arrested at checkpoints on suspicion of working with armed groups - and after being arrested, anything can happen.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72576

IRAQ: Poor municipal services worsen Iraqi living conditions

Corruption, neglect and insurgent attacks have left Iraq's public services in tatters, residents and officials say. Limited electricity and drinking water are the main problems, causing disease and frustration.

"We have one or two hours a day of electricity at best. Sometimes we have no electricity for two or three days. And it has become normal for us to wake up in the morning and find no water in the taps," Alwan, a father of three and government employee living in Baghdad, said.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72577

IRAQ: Ahmed Zuhair, Iraq "I have only God to help my daughter."

Four years ago, Ahmed Zuhair, 44, a father of three girls, decided to get his family out of Baghdad as US-led forces were heading in to topple former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's regime. Minutes after they left their home, nearby bombings sent shrapnel flying at the family, injuring his three daughters Arsalan, 14, Suzan, 12, and Ban, 9.

At the time, doctors only managed to remove shrapnel from Arsalan and Suzan. Ban's case was more difficult and required complex surgery, which could not be done in Iraq. For the past four years, Ban has depended on painkillers to cope with the shrapnel in her head.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72592

IRAQ: Drive to raise awareness of unexploded ordnance in south

Southern based non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have been providing local children with information about mines and how to prevent accidents in areas still affected by Unexploded Ordnance (UXOs) left over from 25 years of war.

"We noticed that many children were UXO victims in the southern provinces because of the lack of information from local authorities. Our duty is to make people aware of the dangers of such mines and what to do if they find one," said Mayada Obeid, a spokesperson for South Peace Organisation, an NGO based in Basra.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72541

IRAQ: Hilal Naim, Iraq, "I was forced to give up my humanitarian work to save my daughter"

Hilal Naim, 33, has stopped working with humanitarian agencies in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, after his son was killed and the life of his only daughter threatened by militants.

Naim had never had any trouble in his job or with the local community until militants one day demanded that he give up his job, which involved helping displaced families. When he failed to do so, his 10-year-old son was murdered.

http://www.irinnews.org/HOVReport.aspx?ReportId=72545

IRAQ: Years of war, current insecurity take toll on environment

Neglected factories, military scrapyards and battle sites containing hazardous material across the country pose a serious threat to Iraq's environment and to public health, experts warn. The current security situation is also hampering rubbish collections and clean-up operations.

"Chemical and other forms of hazardous material can easily be found in many areas of Iraq. Military scrapyards aren't destroyed, but rather left wherever they are. Urgent clean-up measures are needed, but few financial resources are available, while ongoing insecurity is preventing specialists from even reaching the sites in question," Iraqi enivronmental specialist, Professor Rand Abdel-Jaffar of Iraq's Baghdad University, said.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72565

IRAQ: Reporters Without Borders calls for special unit to protect journalists

Paris-based media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has called for the creation of a special task force to protect journalists as violence claimed the lives of at least five Iraqi journalists last week. RSF urged the Iraqi authorities on 31 May to establish a special police unit to investigate the killings of journalists and organise awareness programmes among Iraqi security forces and the public.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72528

IRAQ: Curfew leaves Bagdhad suburb residents in trouble

Clashes between rival Sunni militant groups in the Sunni neighbourhood of Amiriyah in western Baghdad have left residents facing acute difficulties. In a bid to restore calm after the last week of clashes, the Iraqi authorities and US forces imposed a curfew, adding to residents' problems.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72529

IRAQ: Local tribes in south set up schools

Shia Muslim tribes in Iraq's southern provinces have begun setting up their own schools in an effort to prevent their children losing another academic year due to insecurity. Using empty mosques, the homes of tribal leaders and open areas, 21 temporary schools in Basra, Missan, Najaf and Kerbala provinces will eventually provide free education to some 2,000 children. Teachers will be paid by the local community.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72517

ISRAEL-OPT: West Bank movement restrictions can be lethal for Palestinians, says Amnesty report

Rights group Amnesty International on Monday said Palestinians were dying in the West Bank because Israel's restrictions on movement there are severely hampering access to health services.

Israel controls the 2.5 million Palestinians through a matrix of more than 500 checkpoints and roadblocks as well as a 700km barrier that encloses 10 percent of the West Bank on the Israeli side. (See Amnesty's interactive map of the West Bank barrier)

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72530

LEBANON: Unexploded ordnance hampering aid deliveries to refugees

Unexploded ordnance and booby-trapped buildings are hindering an already highly restricted relief effort trying to provide vital food and water and evacuate the injured from the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in north Lebanon. Up to 8,000 people remain caught in a deadly stand-off there between the military and Islamist militants.

"It is becoming extremely difficult to mount relief operations, not only because of the deteriorating security conditions, but also because debris, rubble and unexploded ordnance on the camp's roads are obstructing the way for ambulances and relief vehicles," said Jordi Raich Curco, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) head of delegation in Lebanon, in a statement.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72609

LEBANON: UNRWA appeals for $12.7m as camp clashes spread south

The UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) launched a global appeal for US$12.7 million on Monday in an effort to raise funds to meet the humanitarian needs of more than 27,000 Palestinians displaced from the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in northern Lebanon.

Since 20 May the Lebanese army has laid siege to the camp after Islamist militants from a relatively unknown group called Fatah al-Islam killed dozens of its soldiers. The army has intensified its bombardment of the camp since 1 June, describing its actions as the "beginning of the end".

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72531

LEBANON: Three-day bombardment of camp cuts off vital aid supplies to terrified residents

Aid agencies and emergency services have been unable to access the besieged Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon for three days to either evacuate the injured or deliver vital supplies of water and food to trapped residents.

"If we don't get into the camp today or tomorrow the situation will be really critical," Dr Yousef Assad of the Palestine Red Crescent (PRC) told IRIN on Saturday. The PRC is the only emergency service that has been evacuating civilians from inside the camp. "We are sure there are lots of civilians injured and we need to help them. This is our only concern. Our distribution network for medical supplies inside the camp has completely broken down."

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72518

OPT: Gaza fishermen's livelihoods in jeopardy

Almost a year after Israel imposed harsh restrictions on fishing off the Gaza coast, the industry is in sharp decline and fishermen's livelihoods are in jeopardy. Gaza fishermen are now allowed by the Israeli navy to fish up to eight nautical miles off the coast after what the UN described as a "near total ban" on fishing since last June, when Gaza-based militants from the armed Palestinian faction Hamas abducted an Israeli soldier.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72597

OMAN: Authorities on high alert for approaching cyclone

Oman's police and army are on high alert in anticipation of a powerful tropical cyclone that is expected to hit the Gulf country's shores late on Tuesday or on Wednesday. At least 7,000 people living in coastal areas have already been evacuated.

"There is no definite number of people who have left the areas expected to be hit by the cyclone as the people moved by themselves as a precautionary measure. Many are staying in friends' or relatives' houses - that's why we don't have an exact number," Colonel Abdallah al-Harathi, head of the Omani police's public relations department, told IRIN by phone.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72567

YEMEN: Thousands of displaced live in "precarious conditions"

Thousands of civilians displaced by more than four months of fighting between government forces and rebels in Yemen's north-western Saada province face an uncertain future and are becoming fully reliant on aid to survive, relief workers say.

"As a result of the fighting, there is an estimated 35,000 to 42,000 IDPs [internally displaced people] who have left their homes and are now living in precarious conditions," Eman Mo'ankar, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) spokeswoman in Yemen, said.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72616

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