Bleak Ramadan for Iraq, Palestinians

BLEAK RAMADAN FOR IRAQ, PALESTINIANS Iraq was facing its bleakest Ramadan for a decade, under the threat of war over its alleged weapons of mass destruction and enduring the strain of 12 years of U.N. sanctions imposed after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait triggered the Gulf War (news - web sites) in 1991. Iraq used to be relatively rich, thanks to its oil. Breaking each day's fast after sunset would be celebrated with a feast of beef, …

…on "all the extremists of the world" to reconsider their actions as they were hurting the people they claimed to represent. "There is no political, religious, racial, ethnic or ideological position that can justify victimizing the innocent and the defenseless," they said. The 500,000 Muslims living in Australia have reported a dramatic increase in the number of attacks on them, their homes and mosques in the past year as overseas and domestic events fuel anti-Muslim sentiment