Briefly

Washington, D.C.: U.S. plan would divide Iraq into three zones

Bush administration officials have set out a plan for peacekeeping and humanitarian efforts in Iraq that envisions an international military force to stabilize the country. The details include:

  • The division of Iraq into three zones, with the United States, Britain and Poland each controlling a section. Troops in each zone will work to restore and maintain order and supervise humanitarian efforts.
  • Italy, Spain, Ukraine, Denmark, the Netherlands and Bulgaria have committed troops to serve under British or Polish supervision. Other countries have offered logistical and other support.
  • The United States will commit a division — about 20,000 troops — for its sector.
  • At least at the start, the new troops will augment and not replace the 135,000 American troops currently in Iraq.
  • France and Germany are excluded from peacekeeping efforts. The United Nations’ humanitarian role is limited.

Iraq: U.S. names Iraqi to lead Health Ministry

The United States picked a new head of Iraq’s Health Ministry on Saturday — a Baath Party member whose appointment was so critical that U.S. officials designated the announcement “Public Notice No. 1.”

The appointment of optometrist Ali Shnan al-Janabi came as the Americans started paying Health Ministry workers $20 to return to work, and as U.N. officials warned of humanitarian disaster if quick action was not taken to restore vital services.

“Basic services have collapsed or are at the risk of collapsing if we don’t bring them back quickly,” said Ramiro Lopes da Silva, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Iraq.

UNICEF rushed rehydration salts, milk and protein biscuits to poor Iraqi neighborhoods Saturday to help children sickened after drinking tainted water from pipes shattered in the fighting.

Texas: Family buries last missing serviceman

Listed as missing in action for a month in Iraq, Army Spc. Edward John Anguiano was buried Saturday after a funeral Mass at a church that overflowed with more than 500 people.

San Juanita Anguiano stared stoically at her 24-year-old son’s gray casket during the graveside service, but she began to cry after being given the American flag that had draped the casket.

Edward Anguiano, a mechanic in the 3rd Infantry Combat Support Battalion out of Fort Stewart, Ga., was declared missing after the unit he was traveling with, the 507th Maintenance Company from Fort Bliss at El Paso, was attacked March 23 in Iraq.

Anguiano’s remains were found April 24 and positively identified last week.