Papers hail arrival of Iraq aid

Papers hail arrival of Iraq aid

The arrival of the first shipload of humanitarian aid in Iraq is widely covered in Saturday's papers.

The Guardian says that the coalition high command was determined that nothing should prevent the arrival of the Sir Galahad being anything but a public relations triumph.

It notes that the dockside at Umm Qasr was a sea of television vehicles with satellite dishes sprouting from their roofs, while dozens of journalists were bussed in from Kuwait.

The Independent says the event was choreographed to send a message to the world and the hungry people of Iraq that the UK and the United States were making aid an issue.

Whether they were successful in convincing either, says the paper, has yet to be seen.

The Daily Telegraph says no Iraqi civilians witnessed the scenes.

It reports that fear of a suicide attack by Saddam Hussein loyalists meant that the dock was a no-go area for locals.

However, the Sun, which headlines its story "Ship, Ship Hooray" says that ecstatic Iraqis cheered the Sir Galahad.

Baghdad bombs

Suzanne Goldenberg, who is in Baghdad for the Guardian, wonders how long the residents will continue to welcome the presence of people like her.

"It is easy to imagine a time when sentiments could harden," she writes, "as the bombardments go on and the civilian casualties mount".

The Daily Star - which styles itself the paper to cheer us up - has a jaunty front page headline: "Wham Bam!" above a report on the bombing of a communications building in Baghdad.

The Daily Mail columnist, Simon Heffer says the coalition forces are fighting with one hand tied behind their backs because of the desire not to kill civilians.

Heffer says that Baghdad must be attacked in a way that shows the coalition means to win.

Chemical Sally

A number of papers profile the woman known as "Chemical Sally" who is said to be Saddam Hussein's top biological weapons expert.

The Daily Mirror reports that fears of a chemical attack on coalition troops grew when Dr Huda Salih Mahdi Ammash was shown sitting close to the Iraqi leader at a meeting of his war cabinet.

The Sun claims that coalition commanders are braced for a chemical assault in the next 72 hours.

The Daily Express says that Dr Ammash - who was seen wearing green battle dress and black headscarf - is the only woman ever to sit on the country's Revolutionary Command Council.

During the 1970s she studied microbiology in Britain. She was also a student in President Bush's home state of Texas.

Dolphin defection

The Times says that one of the US Marines' most prized investigators may have defected.

Takoma, an Atlantic bottle-nosed dolphin, had been in Umm Qasr to check for mines.

Despite being one of the most pampered creatures in the US military, he has gone AWOL during his first mission.