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Your World Today
Abbas Emergency Government to Receive Economic Lifeline; Bush Pledges Support to Palestinian President; War Criminal's Work Release Fuels Outrage in Italy
Aired June 18, 2007 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EHUD OLMERT, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: We will cooperate with this government.
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MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: As Israel's prime minister offers something of an olive branch, Western nations open the aid spigot for the new Palestinian government. But questions remain over who is really in charge.
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Justice upended. Angry protesters want to know why a convicted Nazi mass murderer can leave his home in Italy to go to work.
HOLMES: And Chad's nightmare. The spillover from the Darfur crisis leaves an already poor African nation desperate for help.
CHURCH: And sealed with a win. David Beckham's roller-coaster season ends in victory as he eyes a new adventure in the United States.
It's 6:00 p.m. in Rome, 7:00 p.m. in Ramallah.
Hello and welcome to our report broadcast around the world.
I'm Rosemary Church.
HOLMES: And I'm Michael Holmes.
From Rome to Ramallah, and from the Madrid to Atlanta, wherever you are watching, this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.
Welcome, everyone. The Palestinian territories, long separated by Israeli territory, are now looking more and more firmly separated politically.
CHURCH: They certainly are. The Islamic Hamas faction is digging in in Gaza while Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah group are trying to assert full control over the West Bank.
HOLMES: Yes. As his emergency government struggles to overcome Hamas domination in Gaza, the international community appears ready to throw it something of an economic lifeline. CHURCH: Ben Wedeman looks at all the funds that could soon flow to the government of President Abbas now that Hamas is no longer a part of it.
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BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The new Hamas-free government is in place, meeting for the first time in Ramallah Monday. And already, promises of support are pouring in.
Israel may free up hundreds of millions of dollars in withheld tax revenues.
OLMERT: We will cooperate with this government. We will de- freeze moneys that we kept under our control because we didn't want these moneys to be taken by Hamas in order to be used as part of the terrorist action.
WEDEMAN: The European Union says it will resume direct aid. And the United States may soon follow suit.
All that money will go to the West Bank government of Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, and not a penny to the Hamas administration in Gaza. But in the past, money was the root of much evil. The Fatah movement, which dominates in the West Bank, is synonymous with corruption. An unsavory reputation Hamas has easily exploited.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Clearly, the United States and its Western allies don't want to be in a position where they're seen as filling up new Fatah slush funds that will only weaken the Fatah movement rather than turn it into a possible counterweight to the growing power of Hamas.
WEDEMAN: The same Fatah leaders who lost to Hamas in elections last year and then lost Gaza to Hamas' gunmen will have to show results and break some very old habits.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, people will look for the deeds. If you show me security, stability, development, I can trust you and work with you.
WEDEMAN: It's a tall order, especially at a time when many Palestinians are losing faith in their leaders. The political meltdown has some like Ramallah sandwich shop owner Mohammed Siuri (ph) seething with frustration.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, I might as well, a person like me, if you can get out of here, you should. OK? Where there will be some values and some respect to democracy and respect to each other.
WEDEMAN: At the moment, there is scant respect and plenty of bad blood between Hamas and Fatah.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WEDEMAN: All the funds set to flow to the government in Ramallah are intended to show that there are very real benefits to following a line of moderation and compromise. But if Fatah's track record of corruption is anything to go by, it may be simply a case of throwing good money after bad -- Michael.
HOLMES: Ben, on another but related issue in Gaza, Allen Johnston, the BBC journalist who's been held now since the second week of March, some developments there.
WEDEMAN: Yes. We have heard Mahmoud Zahar (ph), who is a senior official in the Hamas movement, saying basically today is the last day for the people who are holding Allen Johnston, who have been holding him since the 12th of March. He said that if they don't release Allen Johnston today, they will use, in his words, all means to free him.
Now, we are not quite sure what he means by "all means," but certainly the indications are that Hamas has really run out of patience and wants to see Allen Johnston free. This is an important way for them to show the world that they can establish law and order in Gaza, a place that hasn't really had much law and order in quite some time -- Michael.
HOLMES: Indeed.
Ben, thanks.
Ben Wedeman reporting there.
CHURCH: All right. Well, U.S. President George W. Bush is extending his personal support to the new Palestinian government. He phoned Mr. Abbas promising to address the Palestinian crisis and broader issues of Middle East peace when he meets Tuesday with Israel's prime minister.
Ed Henry is following this part of the story from the White House.
Ed, just give us an idea, how much support can the Palestinian Authority president expect to receive from both the U.S. and Israel?
ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, President Bush, in this phone call -- he initiated the phone call this morning. It lasted about 15 moneys, according to White House aides. And they insist that President Bush pledged his full support to President Abbas, his emergency cabinet, the new government. And specifically, senior administration officials saying that the White House now ready to change its policy to lift the economic and diplomatic embargo that has been on the Palestinian government, lifting that embargo because of the fact that Hamas, the terrorist group, has essentially now been ousted from the Palestinian government.
The official announcement expected from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice here in Washington in the next hour. And White House aides say the key there is that they want to see aid start flowing to innocent Palestinian people who are really caught in the crossfire. A real concern about electricity, food, not getting to Palestinian people who need it. And the U.S. Does not want those people to bear the brunt of the violence and the situation, the crisis that's developing there -- Rosemary.
CHURCH: Ed, is that going to be the main topic of discussion between these two leaders? Will they have time to cover anything else?
HENRY: It will be pretty much the only topic they can cover. In addition to this aid issue, you can also expect a lot of talk between President Bush and Prime Minister Olmert of Israel tomorrow here at the White House, talking also about whether or not they're going to resort officially peace talks in the Mideast.
In this phone call today, we're told President Abbas raised that with President Bush. Said he thinks now is the time to strike, to restart those peace talks. President Bush demurred for now, saying he wants to raise this with Prime Minister Olmert before moving forward.
U.S. officials insisting the president does want to move forward in any way at all that will help the situation, but he doesn't want to get ahead of the meeting with Prime Minister Olmert -- Rosemary.
CHURCH: All right. Our Ed Henry reporting there from the White House.
Just a reminder for all of you. Condoleezza Rice, U.S. secretary of state, will be holding a news conference next hour on U.S. support for the Abbas government in the West Bank. And we will, of course, bring that to you on both CNN International and on CNN USA.
All right. Let's check some of the stories now making news around the world this hour.
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CHURCH: Well, like millions of Italians, he goes to work each day on a scooter, stepping out of the office for lunch. Only he's no ordinary man. Ninety-three-year-old Erich Priebke is a convicted Nazi war criminal, and critics say he belongs locked up for life.
Alessio Vinci reports on outrage over his case in Rome.
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ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): From Nazi captain responsible for the massacre of 335 Jews, to office clerk working as a translator, this is a story of Erich Priebke, the man who during World War II ordered the execution of hundreds of men and boys near Rome. An order issued in retaliation for a partisan attack on German troops occupying Italy.
In 1998, Priebke was sentenced to life in prison by a military court, but because of his age, he was allowed to serve his time under house arrest. Now, the same court has ruled that Priebke will be allowed to leave home each day to work at the office of a lawyer who has been campaigning for his freedom.
"The law says that after a period of prison, inmates have the right to certain benefits," his lawyer said, "because the detention here in Italy isn't just punitive, but tries to reeducate those who have been condemned."
Shouting "Assassin!" about 100 protesters gathered outside Priebke's new office, where he arrived on the back of a scooter. "The protests will last for as long as we have breath," says this Jewish Roman resident. We are here for justice. We don't forget, and I hope also the rest of the civilized world won't forget."
Another protester said no one should forget Priebke's crimes.
"It is an absolute shame. People do forget," he says. I have heard people say, It's enough now.'"
"Enough of what? Nothing should be enough. There can never be enough grief. There were people killed. It wasn't a joke. It wasn't a joke."
Priebke is now allowed to move from his house arrest to the office freely, and he can go out for a lunch break. Not bad for someone who was convicted of participating in the execution of innocent men. Too much for those who want to keep the victims' memory alive.
Alessio Vinci, CNN, Rome.
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CHURCH: Welcome back to CNN International and YOUR WORLD TODAY.
HOLMES: Yes. We're covering the news the world needs to know, giving you some perspective, going a little deeper into the stories of the day.
Let's go now to the latest efforts to end the conflict in Darfur.
CHURCH: Sudan's foreign minister says his government is ready to attend peace talks mediated by the African Union and the U.N.
HOLMES: Yes, that comes not a moment too soon, of course. The fighting in Sudan's Darfur region already spilling out across the border and threatening to ignite a larger conflict across really a swathe of northeastern Africa.
CHURCH: That is right.
Now, one of the countries already feeling the heat is neighboring Chad.
HOLMES: Yes. The fighting there has driven tens of thousands of people from their homes, making them refugees in their own country. Relief agencies call people in that situation internally displaced. But their numbers are skyrocketing. So far, however, they have received very little aid.
CHURCH: But that has started to change now with the arrival of a French cargo plane carrying the first international military assistance for the displaced people of Chad.
HOLMES: Yes. Nic Robertson was there when it arrived.
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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Landing on a remote Chadian airstrip near the border with Darfur, the French military are rushing urgently needed humanitarian supplies to the growing number of Chadians who fed violence similar to that racking Darfur.
COL. JEAN-BRUNO VAUTREY, FRENCH CHIEF OF STAFF IN CHAD: At the request of the Chadian government, first, to help the displaced people in this area.
ROBERTSON: On this flight, seven tons of blankets, more than 150 tons of food, plastic sheeting for tents, and other supplies, all paid for by the Chadian government, to follow.
(on camera): This is the first international military mission to help Chad's internally displaced people, forced out of their homes by fighting. Deteriorating security has been rocketing their numbers from a few thousand last year to more than 150,000 now.
(voice over): At a nearby malnutrition clinic for refugees from Darfur, doctors seeing a rapid rise in case of malnourished internally displaced, or IDP, Chadian children.
MORY SANGARE, COOPERAZIONE INTERNAZIONALE (through translator): In this past month, we've seen a notable increase in the IDP Chadian admissions to the point that 80 percent of our current caseload is IDPs.
ROBERTSON: Wards that were once quiet are now full. The problem, he explains, is refugees who have food entitlements from international aid agencies eat more than the internally displaced that do get some international help, but are far more dependent on their own government.
SANGARE (through translator): Access to land is the big issue for the displaced. That they do not have access to land to cultivate to bridge the gap between the rations they receive and the nutrition that they need. Unless people get access to land, or get greater food distributions, they'll be caught in the vicious cycle and be back suffering from the same malnutrition.
ROBERTSON: And it's not just malnutrition that threatens these people. Many don't have the protection they need for the coming rainy season, and that's adding even more urgency to the French mission.
VAUTREY: Soon the (INAUDIBLE) should be obstructed by the rain. So we have to do fast to bring everything before the rain.
ROBERTSON: Despite having months to prepare ahead of the rains and get aid from the capital, a thousand kilometers, 600 miles to the west, the Chadian government appears slow to move. They blame a lack of experience.
ALI MAHMAT MAHEMOUDI, CHADIAN NATIONAL COMM. FOR DISPLACED (through translator): It's a huge operation, and the Chad government does not have a lot of experience. And it was very difficult for us. But thanks to the French, we have been able to make up some time.
ROBERTSON: It may not be enough. The rains are already starting.
Nic Robertson, CNN, Gothbieda (ph), Chad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, Britain says it welcomes an agreement by the Sudanese government to allow peacekeepers into Darfur.
Senior United Nations Correspondent Richard Roth standing by with the latest on this diplomatic effort -- Richard.
RICHARD ROTH, CNN SR. U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Michael, the U.N. Security Council will come back from its trip to Khartoum, Sudan and other parts of Africa, and then prepare to try to pay for what they agreed to. And the U.N. peacekeeping department will have to come up with a list of countries who are willing to contribute troops to get to this Sudan-Darfur region under this United Nations-African Union umbrella, a unique joint hybrid force.
They need thousands, maybe 17,000 to 23,000 troops there. The talks between the Security Council and the government of Sudan highly anticipated after many breakdowns in previous agreements. The British ambassador, one of the leaders of this tour, said even with peacekeeping, you're going to need a political agreement there between the government and rebels.
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EMYR JONES PARRY, BRITISH AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: The government is fully committed to it. And we both recognized the heavy responsibility on those who are outside the Darfur peace agreement to come within it and to embrace an agreement very quickly.
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ROTH: Last week, U.N. Secretary-General Ban called the agreement a milestone. A step forward, said the U.N. peacekeeping department. But others who watched the situation in Darfur are skeptical and want to see the Sudan government really live up to this agreement -- Michael.
HOLMES: And what it's going to take for them to do that? As you say, I mean, there's been words and very little deeds as this has dragged on and on, 200,000 people dead. What's it going to take for everyone to actually say this is a success?
ROTH: I think you're going to have to see peace agreements, and you're going to have to see troops on the ground, not all of them African, as the Sudanese government initially wanted. You're going to have to see the command and control structure of the United Nations and the Africans working together.
China may be supplying troops. It is possible that Chinese pressure finally got the Sudanese government to give a little on this agreement as pressure built up over the Olympics coming up next year.
We will have to keep checking back on this, as with other issues. From North Korea to Iran, you never really feel like the agreement is there until the agreement works in the field, and even then you are not sure.
HOLMES: Excellent. All right, Richard. Thanks for that.
Richard Roth there in New York -- Rosemary.
CHURCH: Now, the U.N. high commission on refugees estimates that there are more than five million refugees in Africa today. Christiane Amanpour hosts a special one-hour report to World Refugee Day. "Passage to Hope focuses on the personal stories behind the numbers. You won't want to miss it.
HOLMES: We're going to take a look at business news when we come back.
CHURCH: We'll certainly do that.
Plus, in a flash, deadly flooding turns a town into a muddy lake.
HOLMES: Also, advice from one German-speaking immigrant to millions of Spanish speakers. Unplug that television.
Don't you take that advice, though.
We'll be right back.
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Meanwhile, YOUR WORLD TODAY continues right after a quick break. I'm Betty Nguyen.
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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: And a warm welcome back to our viewers joining us from more than 200 countries and territories around the globe including the United States.
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Good to have you with us.
CHURCH: I'm Rosemary Church. HOLMES: I'm Michael Holmes. Let's update you now on the top stories of this day. Mediators from the African Union and the United Nations are hoping to restart efforts to end that long-going, long- time conflict in Darfur. At a meeting in Khartoum on Sunday, delegates put the finishing touches on a new agreement that could see peace talks begin perhaps around August.
CHURCH: Western nations are throwing an economic lifeline to the emergency government of Mahmoud Abbas. The U.S. and European Union are expected to restore crucial aid to the Palestinian authority now that it no longer includes Hamas. President Abbas dissolved the Fatah-Hamas unity government and installed add new cabinet, after Hamas militants took over Gaza last week.
HOLMES: We'll, you've got to wonder how this Palestinian split is going to affect the peace process if it can be called that. Right now, some Israelis are hoping it is going to help. The Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, of course, is in the United States. He is going to be meeting with Secretary of State Rice in the hours to come. And as we have been reporting, the Israeli Prime Minister sees this impasse as an opportunity of sorts. Here's Jonathan Mann with some insight.
JONATHAN MANN, CNN, REPORTER: It took years for many Palestinians and Israelis to agree that peace in the Middle East would require a two-state solution. Now, just days after the dramatic Gaza takeover by Hamas, some people are looking at a different wrinkle (ph), a three-state solution. There would be Israel, of course, a Fatah-run West Bank on its way to independence and Islamists in the Gaza strip that people are already calling Hamasistan.
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DENNIS ROSS, FORMER U.S. MIDDLE EAST ENVOY: If you can make or help Fatah to be successful in the West Bank and you create a model of success for moderates, that could stand in contrast to Islamists who otherwise seem to be on the march.
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MANN: Gaza and the West Bank are separated by about 20 miles of Israel but by a great deal besides. Gaza has just 1.5 million people, but it's one of the most densely populated places on earth, and it is crushingly poor. Israel withdrew troops two years ago, and for the most part they are relieved to be gone. Hamas gets a chance to govern in a place that has too many people, too many problems and few friends in the West.
Egypt is across the border and it's been a big influence there, but right now even Egypt has closed the border. The West Bank, in the meantime, is both larger and with a population at 2.5 million people it has more people. For decades, it was run by Jordan right across the Jordan River. Right now, it is poor, still. But compared to Gaza, more affluent, more secular and more Western. Unlike Gaza, it is landlocked with no access to the sea, but it does have the asset of a potential of a capital in Arab East Jerusalem. It has the goodwill of the west, and soon it will have a lot more of its money, too. Could it move ahead towards independence and leave Gaza behind? Right now, the two competing Palestinian prime ministers are still officially talking about unity.
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ISMAIL HANIYA, HAMAS LEADER (through translator): Gaza and the West Bank is one land and one homeland and the people of Gaza and the West Bank are one people, not two.
SALAM FAYYAD, PALESTINIAN PRIME MINISTER, (through translator): I want to say a few words for the people in Gaza, and I say to them, you are in our hearts and number one priority and still in our plans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MANN: Even Palestinians who want peace and support Mahmoud Abbas say the West Bank cannot move ahead on its own. For one thing, the Palestinians have lost so much of their land they have seen so many of the people displaced, they aren't about to give up on Gaza or the people who live there. This may look like an opening to some people in Israel and in Washington, but to a lot of Palestinians the split is a set back and that is all.
HOLMES: This notion of giving some of the money, the tax receipts back to the Fatah side of things, Mahmoud Abbas, of course that becomes problematic. How much of that money is going to changes things for Palestinians and how complicated does it get?
MANN: Well, it's going to change, at least something. Life is going to get a little easier in the West Bank. People there are -- they haven't got jobs, they haven't got the means to buy or sell. The tax money will make an enormous difference, but it is problematic and for this reason. While the Palestinian Authority is using the money to help the people of the West Bank, what does it do about the people in Gaza?
They are still officially cut off. The borders are closed. Israel and the United States don't want to see any of that tax money going to Hamas, so they have a terrible choice, either they cooperate with Hamas which means they'll be cut off from the west again, or they're going to cooperate with the west and continue this punishing embargo on their own people. In a way, it's no favor at all to Mahmoud Abbas that he's being given this money. Because now, he's between a rock and a hard place. Damned if he does, damned if he doesn't.
HOLMES: Exactly. Catch 22. You can have the money, but you can't spend it on all Palestinians. Good to see you, Jon. Thanks.
CHURCH: Well, a quintessential English town is struggling with an issue that transcends national boundaries. The minority Muslim population wants to acquire a place of worship, but there is a small problem with the building they have in mind.
Paula Newton reports.
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PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Despite eight centuries of history and change, Clithereo Castle still presides over a small town that from its church spires to rolling hills, is English to the core. But soon, this cross will come down, challenging the very notion of what that means.
SHERAZ ARSHAD: It was a battle on all fronts, really between the wider community, people in authority.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This wall will come down.
NEWTON: Shearaz Arshad and Faruque Hussein (ph) led a difficult cause and a painful debate here, trying to turn this old, abandoned Methodist church in this northern English town of 14,000 into a mosque for its 300 Muslims.
ARSHAD: I think there is this sort of entrenched resistance to having a mosque, and that was very sort of difficult to come to terms with for us, having been -- as I say been born and raised here thinking that this is our home we are accepted.
NEWTON: Acceptance has been tough to come by. Muslims lived here for more than 40 years without a mosque. Locals just wouldn't give it to their blessing.
MOHAMMED SARFRAZ, CLITHEROE RESIDENT: Their treated as a threat for some reason, because you don't know anything about it. The same way you hear on the media about, you know, religion and Muslims and all this terrorism.
NEWTON: So, home remained the house of worship until now. When even local church leaders started supporting the mosque.
PHILIP DARDEN, ST. MARY MAGDALENE CHURCH: It is all part and parcel of sharing in each others history, and differences. And that seems to be the proper thing to do.
NEWTON: It may be godly, but some residents here say it just isn't English.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's just not right for here if think that's basically at the top of all of it.
NEWTON: But for others, the issue is simple.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't believe anyone should not have the right to worship in their hometown.
NEWTON: Some here say political correctness hijacked the debate, the issue so sensitive. What do you think about it?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm not prepared to say.
NEWTON: Not prepared to say?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
NEWTON: All of this underscores a new reality in Britain, fewer church going Christians while mosques are filling up. This place still evokes dramatic symbolism even though it hasn't even been a church in many years.
(on camera): There's no denying the look and feel of this place on the inside, it was a factory for decades. Still, the Muslim community here understands a sensitivity of trying to convert a church into a mosque.
FAROUK HUSSAIN, MOSQUE CAMPAIGNER: We will sit down around the table and discuss with them constructively how we can move things forward. You know, we don't regard people as being out and out racists. You know? There are people out there who are perhaps misunderstood.
NEWTON (voice over): Misunderstood, they say, because they want their neighbors to ease into this and get comfortable with it.
(on camera): What's going to happen down at this level?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, down here we will have the main prayer hall.
NEWTON: The main fear here seems to be that the mosque will be the tipping point that will turn the Clithero from a solidly English town to an Asian one. Those building this mosque know there's no hiding from that sentiment if their house of worship is ever to find a home here.
Paula Newton, CNN, Clithero, England.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Alright, in the United States, the immigration debate may be making a come back on Capitol Hill. Another related issue being tossed around is making English the official language. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is making some comments on that subject that may come to haunt him in the Hispanic immigrant community. Casey Wian explains.
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CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Is this what's preventing Spanish-speaking immigrants from learning English? California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger says so.
ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, C.A. GOVERNOR: You have got to turn off the Spanish television set. It's simple. You have to learn English. You have to listen, and know this sounds odd, and is politically not the correct thing to say, but here I'm getting myself into trouble, but I know -- I know that when I came to this country, I did not or very rarely spoke German to anyone. Not that I didn't like Austria. My heart always in Austria but wanted to as quickly as possible learn the English language.
WIAN: Schwarzenegger has never been afraid to speak his mind, but even for a former action hero, it took guts to tell an audience of Hispanic journalists that non-English speaking Latinos should turn off Spanish tv.
Raphael Olmeda, President of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists told the Associated Press: "Most people I've spoken to walked away believing that he was trying to say that we must learn English to succeed in American society. Most of our members would agree with that statement."
Univision, the dominant Spanish language network in the United States released this statement. "Spanish language media plays the essential roles of providing the Hispanic community with the news and information they need and care about, and keeping them connected to their cultural heritage."
A 2005 Pew Hispanic Center study found 73 percent of foreign born Hispanics in the United States do not speak English very well. Versus 54 percent of other foreign born immigrants.
One panelist on stage with Governor Schwarzenegger offered this explanation.
PILAR MARRERO, LA OPINION: They're busy working. They don't have time to learn.
WIAN (on camera): Governor Schwarzenegger says turning off Spanish language TV is not the only answer. He also supports after school programs to teach English to students who don't speak the language.
Casey Wian, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Well, applause and sizable relief from some aviation onlookers in New Zealand.
HOLMES: Yes, take a look at this. A small plane carrying 17 passengers forced to make an emergency landing without its landing gear at an airport on the South Island. The twin engine airplane, as you can see there, landed on its belly, skidded down the runway, came to a stop about halfway down. The pilot, credited with a job well done. Little round of applause and why wouldn't you?
CHURCH: Absolutely. Just in time, too, it seemed.
HOLMES: A nice job.
Alright. Hard to wear your enemy down sometimes, especially when you your enemy is hard to find. CHURCH: Alright, that's the reaction, of course, of troops in Iraq trying to defeat insurgents. That story coming up.
HOLMES: And there is no way, or no better away, to get ready for a new start in Hollywood than with a Hollywood-style ending. Details next on David Beckham's picture perfect finish.
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HOLMES: Well the Australian Defense Ministry has just released this video of a black hawk helicopter that crashed during a training mission in Fiji. As you see there, it made a hard landing on the deck of a ship, last year and then went into the water. Two people, including the pilot were killed.
CHURCH: That's right. The black hawk sank to the bottom of the ocean. You can see those pictures there, but in March a remote controlled submersible retrieved the wreckage and one of the bodies. The video was released during an inquiry into the cause of that crash.
Extraordinary there. Welcome back. You're watching YOUR WORLD TODAY on CNN international.
HOLMES: Seen live in more than 200 countries and territories right across the globe.
OK. Let's continue on with our coverage. At least 20 militants have been killed in Iraq after coalition raids on the flow of weapons and fighters to and from Iran. This all happened in two Shiite cities in Maysan province, bordering Iran. That are reportedly safe havens and smuggling routes for terrorists. The U.S. military says, aircraft repelled fighters loyal to Muqta Alsadamin (ph) who were attacking coalition troops. The raids involved Iraqi and British troops. British troops recently handed over security in the province to Iraqi security forces.
CHURCH: Well, U.S. commanders say Baquba has become a stronghold for al Qaeda insurgents. Urban guerrilla warfare is typically a case of one side wearing down the other side and in this case, the enemy is illusive.
Karl Penhaul reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The dawn revere and attack helicopter blasts insurgent positions across the palm grove. Shock and awe dissolves as a guerrilla sniper targets U.S. troops this combat outpost in Baquba.
UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER: He shot one of our sergeants in the head. I'd say he is pretty accurate.
PENHAUL: This soldier searches for a ghostly enemy he rarely sees.
UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER: It's kind of the guessing game.
PENHAUL: Its' sniper versus sniper. Each scouring the battered cityscape for a gap in the concrete or a chink in the glass.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You look for every loophole there is out there. Most of the time it's shooting through loopholes.
PENHAUL: It's a war of attrition. The slow pace of fighting and the steady march of death seems to be grinding down these soldiers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Feeling that after so many people die, you just kind of lose, you know, it's a natural occurrence. It just happens, and it's kind of like a dream; it's not reality.
PENHAUL: He says six friends have been killed in the last few months, then a shot at a hole 400 yards away.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right on the money?
PENHAUL: It's the only shot these soldiers will take for much of the day, not knowing if the gunman was ever even there.
(on camera): U.S. military commanders say Baquba it now one of the most dangerous places in all Iraq, and they say that in the coming weeks they plan major offensive operations to root out al Qaeda fighters.
(voice-over): As the day fades, a prayer call wails from a minaret. Soldiers call this the witching hour, dusk, when insurgents often ramp up their fight.
As night envelopes the outpost...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's the forecast? Is it all right?
PENHAUL: The radio's ominous crackle.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sounded like a big ass IED, right there on gold (ph).
PENHAUL: A roadside bomb under a U.S. patrol has exploded 600 yards away. Soldiers head to the rescue. Out in the palm groves, a sentry spooked by the shadows. Illumination flares cut through the dark.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Start shooting the palm groves.
PENHAUL: A machine gun spits into the black. The GI's nightmare by day or night, a ghostly enemy he rarely sees.
Karl Penhaul, CNN, Baquba, Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Karl Penhaul continuing his fine reporting there from Iraq. All right. Let's switch gears. Football fans in Madrid had a lot to celebrate this day.
CHURCH: They did. And one thing to cry about. When YOUR WORLD TODAY returns, find out who kicked his last for the new Spanish league champions.
There's a little hint there.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: Well, David Beckham's Spanish football career is over, but he's going out on a high note.
HOLMES: Yes, he did rather well. Beckham's heading to the United States of course next month to play for the Los Angeles galaxy, getting well paid to do so, too.
But as Harry Forset (ph) reports, he gets to claim a lot of credit for Real Madrid's 30th league title.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HARRY FORSET (ph), CNN CORRESPONDENT: Just a few months ago, Real Madrid's president was deriding David Beckham as half an actor, a B-movie actor at that. With his young sons in tow, he was saying farewell to a Burnabow (ph) Stadium full of grateful, even adoring, fans, a. key force in Madrid's late surge to take a first championship title in four years. It all threatened to end very differently, with the visitor, Real New Yorker (ph), taking an early lead, Beckham limping off with ankle injury midway through the second half. But his replacement, Jose Antonio Reyes, scored twice. Madrid won 3-1, and the club's 30th title was secured, much more the climax that his wife, and friends Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, eyes shaded against the floodlights, had come to see.
The streets outside erupted in joy, the fans soon joined by their heroes. Beckham at times taking the lead, at other seemingly overwhelmed.
The celebrations turned to trouble in some parts. Although no arrests or serious injuries were reported. Nothing, though, could sour the occasion for the man on the way to Los Angeles. The cameras will follow him there, but David Beckham must know that there won't be any nights like this in America's Major League Soccer.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: And Beckham's five-year deal with the Los Angeles team is valued at a quarter-billion dollars.
HOLMES: Poor darling. He's going to have to live on that. He's expected to play his first game, by the way, for Galaxy, July 21.
CHURCH: Right. And that's it for this hour.
I'm Rosemary Church.
HOLMES: I'm Michael Holmes. Back in a bit.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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