MORE THAN 100 CHILDREN KILLED OR WOUNDED

(Asharq Al-Awsat) - On Wednesday, Baghdad witnessed the biggest massacre ever since the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime. More than 100 children were killed or wounded in a car bomb that targeted an American military convoy in Baghdad's al-Jadeeda area. A source at the morgue said the bodies were between the ages of 6 and 13. Eyewitnesses said the American forces warned people to keep away from them because there was a car bomb in the area, but the people did not listen to the warning. The children gathered around them and the soldiers started distributing candy to them. The families of the victims denounced the operation and condemned the so-called resistance, describing the insurgents as criminals and lovers of bloodshed. (London-based Asharq al-Awsat, a pro-Saudi Arabia paper, is issued daily.)

BAGHDAD COUNCIL DECIDES TO FIRE GOVERNOR

(Al-Adala) - The Baghdad provincial council has unanimously decided to fire Baghdad Governor Alaa al-Tamimi, accusing him of being incapable of dealing with his responsibilities. The council also said he is not firm in dealing with his staff, which resulted in bad services for the people and corruption. The council added that he is always out of Iraq and relies on people who are not competent to run his office. They accused him of corruption, saying he used 13 billion Iraqi dinars a month as salaries for the office of guards and security, but no one knows where this office is. (Al-Adala is issued daily by the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in

Iraq.)

SADDAM COURT FINISHED WITH 80 PERCENT OF INVESTIGATION

(Tareek al-Shaab) - Raid Joohi, one of the highest judges at the special criminal court to try Saddam Hussein spoke Wednesday about the completion of 80 percent of the court's investigation. He added that it is not the mission of the investigative judges to set a deadline for the trial of Saddam and his regime's men. Saddam is accused of committing war crimes and violating human rights. He may be tried first for the assassination of 143 citizens from the Dijail area in 1982. (Tareek al-Shaab is issued by the Iraqi Communist Party.)

HEAD OF PARLIAMENT CALLS ON ARAB STATES TO SUPPORT IRAQ (Al-Iraq al-Yoom) - Hachem al-Hasani, head of the National Assembly, has called on all the Arab states to support Iraq its war against the insurgency and in building its infrastructure. He made his comments during the Arab Parliament Union session held in Algeria from July 11 to 12. He said it is not only Iraq's responsibility to eliminate terrorism, as it is also the duty of other Arabs and other states. He added that the insurgents are trying to pull Iraq away from playing its role in the region and to distort bilateral relations with its Arab brothers, and the killing of the Egyptian ambassador is a good example of that. (Al-Iraq al-Yoom is a weekly newspaper issued by Isra Shakir.)

UN TO PRINT MATERIALS IN KURDISH

(Addustour) - An Iraqi Kurdistan official said the United Nations has decided to issue their pamphlets, website, and letters in Kurdish, in addition to printing materials in English and Arabic. The decision was taken after a meeting between Ashraf Kadhi, the special representative of UN Secretary General Kofi Anan, and Dindar Zeebari, the Kurdistan coordinator with the UN. (Addustour is an independent daily published by former journalist Basim

al-Sheikh.)

STAFF OF DISSOLVED MINISTRY TO BE ADDED TO CULTURE MINISTRY

(Al-Sabah) - A special committee at the Council of Ministers has decided to attach the staff of the dissolved Ministry of Information to the Culture Ministry to make use of their experiences. The holders of high degrees will be attached to the universities and colleges, while elder staff will put into retirement. The properties of the dissolved ministry will be added to the properties of the Culture Ministry. (Al-Sabah is a daily, independent, publicly-owned newspaper.)

HEALTH MINISTRY TO USE ELECTRONIC SMART CARDS

(Al-Mutamar) - The Health Ministry has decided to use electronic smart cards for patients who are treated in hospitals and other medical centers. The Health Minister said the ministry will use the modern techniques and technology in the health sector to better serve the patients. They started using the smart card initially in Sadr City and the Karkh side of Baghdad as a trial before using it at all health organizations in Iraq. The ministry has allocated 10 billion Iraqi dinars to execute this program, which will be applied by the beginning of 2006. (Al-Mutamar is issued daily by the Iraqi National Congress.)

Iraqi Press Monitor is published by the Institute for War & Peace Reporting, an independent non-profit organisation supporting regional media and democratic change.

IWPR cannot vouch for the accuracy of the reports. The views represented by the stories are not necessarily those of IWPR.