DUBAI, 18 February (IRIN) - CONTENTS

IRAQ: New security plan could make more homeless IRAQ: Former vice-president death sentence unlikely to fuel violence IRAQ: Fighters fill humanitarian vacuum IRAQ-UAE: Broken dreams for Iraqi children IRAQ: Armed groups occupy hospitals and kidnap doctors IRAQ: Palestinians say gov't cannot protect them IRAQ-JORDAN: Healing the brutal face of war IRAQ: Child beggars proliferate in Baghdad ISRAEL-OPT: More Palestinians entering Israel on health grounds ISRAEL-LIBERIA: Refugees appeal to government to extend stay LEBANON: Razor wire and soldiers keep factions apart LEBANON: Pro-government group urges peace after deadly bombing

IRAQ: New security plan could make more homeless

As part of its newly declared security crackdown to put an end to the relentless violence that threatens to divide the capital along sectarian lines, the Iraqi government has ordered the return of illegally seized houses of displaced families.

http://newsite.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70208

IRAQ: Former vice-president death sentence unlikely to fuel violence

The United Nations and human rights groups have condemned the death sentence passed on Monday against Iraq's former vice-president, Taha Yassin Ramadan, while most ordinary Iraqis are happy to see him hang.

http://newsite.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70181

IRAQ: Fighters fill humanitarian vacuum

Militia fighters and insurgents responsible for much of the internecine violence in Iraq are also offering humanitarian assistance to their own communities to fill a vacuum left by the government and aid agencies.

http://newsite.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70170

IRAQ-UAE: Broken dreams for Iraqi children

Nine of the 55 Iraqi children who were flown recently to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for medical treatment are to be sent back to Iraq on Thursday morning because UAE doctors said their cases are hopeless.

http://newsite.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70146

IRAQ: Armed groups occupy hospitals and kidnap doctors

Iraqi troops, US-led coalition forces and insurgents are all guilty of breaking Geneva conventions that govern the neutrality of hospitals, say health specialists. The increasing risk of being shot or arrested in a hospital in Iraq is preventing ordinary citizens from seeking medical attention.

http://newsite.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70139

IRAQ: Palestinians say gov't cannot protect them

Palestinian refugees in Iraq say that despite renewed assurances of protection from the Iraqi president, they believe they will continue to be persecuted and attacked.

http://newsite.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70106

IRAQ-JORDAN: Healing the brutal face of war

Though her name means 'the sun' in English, 18-month-old Shams may never be able to experience sunlight in her life again. Half her face was blown away in an explosion in Baghdad, leaving her eyes buried under badly burnt skin.

http://newsite.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70087

IRAQ: Child beggars proliferate in Baghdad

Ahmed Saffar, 7, has been forced to beg on the streets of Baghdad in order to eat. An orphan with two brothers and one sister, Ahmed hangs around all day near a traffic light, asking for money from each driver who stops.

http://newsite.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70089

ISRAEL-OPT: More Palestinians entering Israel on health grounds

More and more Palestinians are gaining permission to enter Israel and East Jerusalem for medical reasons – one of the few ways they can still obtain a permit.

http://newsite.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70200

ISRAEL-LIBERIA: Refugees appeal to government to extend stay

Members of the small Liberian community in Tel Aviv have appealed to the Israeli government to allow them to extend their stay in Israel.

http://newsite.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70198

LEBANON: Razor wire and soldiers keep factions apart

The girl was a veiled Sunni Muslim but waved the flag of the Lebanese Forces, once one of the country's most powerful Christian militias. She was marking the second anniversary of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's assassination with a call for the downfall of the Shia-led opposition, camping out less than 100 metres away.

http://newsite.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70180

LEBANON: Pro-government group urges peace after deadly bombing

Leaders of the Lebanese pro-government 'March 14' group warned that the country was sliding towards Iraq-style sectarian violence after at least three people were killed in explosions that hit two buses travelling through a Christian-majority mountain town outside Beirut.

http://newsite.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70147

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