<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1141" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Thanks.  Al-jazeera certainly seems to have its spin, but I was interested to see this, re the area around Karbala where the Iraqis put up strong resistance to 30+ Apache helicopters today.  I wonder if this is another area where Shiites might act in support of the regime.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Randy</FONT></DIV> <DIV> <P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">"In recent months, Saddam Hussein has also been keen to repair the Shiite holy sites in Karbala – which his own forces had inflicted terrible damage on in the 1991 Gulf War. Today, alcohol is banned in public places and there has been much discussion recently of applying Islamic law." </SPAN></P> <P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p><FONT face=Arial size=2>Story on the battle at </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p><A href="http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/24/international/worldspecial/24CND-HELI.html?ex=1049542724&ei=1&en=5f4b37631cdd9e72">http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/24/international/worldspecial/24CND-HELI.html?ex=1049542724&ei=1&en=5f4b37631cdd9e72</A></o:p></SPAN></P></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial><BR><FONT size=2></FONT></FONT></DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>: <BR>: </FONT><A href="http://english.aljazeera.net/"><FONT face=Arial size=2>http://english.aljazeera.net/</FONT></A><BR><FONT face=Arial size=2>: <BR>: launched recently.<BR>: <BR>: -gr<BR>: <BR>: <BR>: <BR>: <BR>: </FONT></BODY></HTML>