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Your World Today

Fighting Escalates Between Rival Hamas, Fatah Factions; Anatomy of a Conflict; Pakistan Cricket Coach "Not Murdered"

Aired June 12, 2007 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Gaza on the brink of civil war. Fighting between rival factions erupts into a dangerous, deadly free-for-all.
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Unraveling the mysterious death of a world class cricket coach, why police now say he died from natural causes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Security was a bit of a trauma. We -- you know, we found that a bit difficult and a bit long.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLANCY: Customs commotion. Foreign tourists still face the fallout from 9/11 as they try to enter the U.S. for vacations.

CHURCH: And taking a business owner to the cleaners in court. A judge files a $54 million lawsuit over lost pair of pants.

It's 7:00 p.m. in Gaza City, 11:00 a.m. in Kingston, Jamaica.

Hello and welcome to our world broadcast all around the globe.

I'm Rosemary Church.

CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy.

From Gaza, to Kingston, to Washington, wherever you're watching, this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.

CHURCH: Well, mortar and grenade attacks, street gun battles, execution-style shootings. The warfare in Gaza is growing so fierce, some residents say it feels more like Iraq than home.

CLANCY: Palestinian factions, Hamas on one side, Fatah on the other, using increasingly brutal tactics in their fight to control power, killing at least 18 people in the last 24 hours alone.

CHURCH: That's right. Militants are attack rival positions and threatening to assassinate each other's leaders. Fatah head and Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, accuses Hamas of attempting a coup.

CLANCY: As Ben Wedeman reports, many civilians now doing everything they can just to get out of the line of fire.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): At the border with Egypt, an exodus from anarchy. With fighting between Fatah and Hamas growing worse by the hour, people like Gaza resident Abu Rami (ph) say it's time to go.

"Unfortunately, things are so unstable, everybody wants to leave," he says. "You can't move here, you can't do anything. People are being suffocated."

For those who stay behind, scenes like these are becoming ever more common. "Go to hell, Hamas!" screams this woman, mourning the killing by a Hamas gunman of Fatah leader Jamal Abujiyen (ph). His body was riddled with more than 40 bullets.

Somewhere in Gaza a truce was reached between the gunmen of Fatah and Hamas. One of the reasons the truce had been called, to allow high school and college students to take their final exams. The schedules for the exams were posted, but Tuesday most were canceled.

Tuesday, Hamas issued a two-hour ultimatum to Fatah-controlled security forces to vacate their positions in Gaza or face attack. And when the ultimatum expired, they made good on their threat.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who also leads the Fatah movement, appears incapable of halting the bloodshed. "The internal clashes are very unfortunate and harmful to us," he says. "They happen at a time when the two sides are working very hard with Egyptian mediators to put an end to these incidents."

If previous cease-fires are anything to go by, Gaza seems destined to sink into utter chaos.

The house of Palestinian prime minister Ismail Haniyeh, who's also a Hamas leader, was targeted, presumably by Fatah gunmen, who used rocket-propelled grenades. And while the two biggest are busy tearing one another to pieces, others, like these members of Islamic Jihad, are focused on a different foe, Israel. Hitting yet again the Israeli town of Sderot, here a rocket slammed into goods intended ironically for Gaza.

"We send them food," says this worker, "and they send us rockets."

Surveying the damage, an Israeli minister hints of action to come.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They keep launching every day. For more than a year, every day, literally, Kassam rockets towards Sderot. In one way or another, it's going to be solved. And I'm not going to elaborate on it anymore.

WEDEMAN: Normal life in Gaza, to the extent there ever was normal life there, has come to a virtual standstill. (END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And Ben joins us now from Ramallah, on the West Bank, which also has been affected by the fighting.

Ben, what are we dealing with here first in Gaza? Are we looking here at civil unrest or civil war?

WEDEMAN: Well, it's almost gang warfare, really. The two factions are going at one another tooth and nail, and really what you find is most people are caught in the middle of it. Most Gazans I've spoken to say (INAUDIBLE) on both parties.

They're angry at Hamas and they're angry at Fatah for this huge disruption to their lives in the midst of this, you know, bloody power struggle that really does not clearly have the interests of ordinary people in mind. So, exams aren't taking place, the economy has screeched to an utter standstill, and anybody who can get out of Gaza is doing exactly that -- Rosemary.

CHURCH: And we're certainly seeing the pictures of that.

Ben, you're there in the West Bank. Give us an idea of what the factional fighting is like there, what the impact, what's happening in Gaza is going to have there.

WEDEMAN: Well, by and large, the West Bank, relative to Gaza, is calm. We're here in the middle of Ramallah, one of the biggest cities, Palestinian cities in the West Bank. And life does seem to be going on pretty much as normal.

There are more soldiers in the street, there's much more security. But -- and there have been a few incidents today.

In one instance, Fatah-affiliated militiamen closed down the offices of Al Aqsa TV, which is affiliated with Hamas. In another incident much more serious, it appears that Fatah gunmen kidnapped the undersecretary of the Transport Ministry.

But as I said, by and large, the West Bank at the moment is much calmer.

What the difference is between Gaza and the West Bank is, whereas in Gaza, Hamas is very strong, on the West Bank, it's Fatah that has the upper hand. And therefore, we've heard, for instance, Fatah officials saying that if Hamas carries on and continues with its attacks against Fatah officials and members in Gaza, in the West Bank, Fatah will crack down on Hamas -- Rosemary.

CHURCH: And that's certainly the concern.

Ben Wedeman reporting there from Ramallah.

Thanks so much -- Jim.

CLANCY: Well, Rosemary, when it comes to who is fighting whom among the Palestinians, and for what purpose, really, a lot of questions being asked today, the truth is, it's not always easy to sort out.

Isha Sesay joins us now with some "Insight".

ISHA SESAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The latest Palestinian clashes raise the questions, just who is doing the fighting and what exactly are they fighting about? The short answers is that Hamas and Fatah loyalists are battling for control over security forces, but the long answers can get a little more complicated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOUIN RABBANI, INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP: What we have here is a case of growing disintegration and fragmentation, where I think now certainly even for some of the primary militias, like the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade of the Fatah movement, I think it's fair to speak of factions within factions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: The Palestinian security forces at the heart of the dispute number about 70,000, but that number doesn't tell the whole story.

When you begin to break it down, you find the security forces are made up of about a dozen separate divisions, everything from national security forces and intelligence agencies, to presidential security units and an everyday police force. Well, that's the way former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat wanted it -- many branches so none could become too powerful.

Break it down further, and you'll find individuals who are largely loyal to Fatah and its leader, President Mahmoud Abbas. But Hamas is not sitting on the sidelines. It has thousands of militia members who have been operating outside the system as shadow security forces. And now it wants an official role.

Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh is demanding that his Hamas forces be recognized as a new branch of the Palestinian security forces. But President Abbas wants the Hamas militia dismantled and says individual militia members are free to join the existing security forces.

The political leaders' disagreements have set off a number of struggles in the streets, and it's not always easy to tell who is doing the fighting or why. Because in addition to Fatah and Hamas supporters, there are other armed Palestinians with other interests and other loyalties to clans or criminal gangs. It all adds up to multiple factions that are loyal to their individual concerns, but not to the Palestinian leadership.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAEB ERAKAT, PALESTINIAN LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL: I believe it's a vested interest for all of us as Palestinians at this critical juncture of our history to stand firm and to stand tall and extinguish the fire. And we have to start working to restore the one authority, the one gun (ph), the rule of law. If we don't do that, we're all doomed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Ultimately, the battle for influence and power is even more than a battle over just the security forces. While some want a more inclusive government, one that gives both Hamas and Fatah members a place in the security force, others have an entirely different motive, the failure of the fragile unity government itself.

CLANCY: Isha, just looking at it on its face, what's the motive? Why would someone want to see the unity government go down? It was a really tough achievement?

SESAY: Well, some analysts point to the financial embargo that's in place and the political isolation of this Palestinian government that includes Hamas as one of the main reasons motivating at least Fatah hard-liners and why they're pushing for the collapse of the government. On the part of the Hamas hard-liners, there's a sense that they're disgruntled. At least one of the argument's that's out there.

They're disgruntled because they agreed to be a part of a unity government, and yet the economic sanctions haven't been lifted. So there's unhappiness on that score.

There's also the argument that there's a sense a narrower Hamas government would enable them to undermine that fragile Arab League initiative which would offer a comprehensive peace agreement in return for a return to 1967 borders. Just some of the reasons out there.

CLANCY: All right.

Isha Sesay.

A lot of reasons, a lot of people wondering this day. Serious fighting in Gaza.

CHURCH: Well, accusations of murder clouding the death of Pakistan's national cricket team coach have proven unfounded, as it turns out. Bob Woolmer was found dead in hotel room on March 18th as the World Cup championship was under way in Kingston.

Well, days later, Jamaican police began a murder investigation, declaring a postmortem concluded Woolmer had been strangled. But a follow-up investigation that involved British, Canadian and South African medical specialists concluded Woolmer died of natural causes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LUCIOUS THOMAS, POLICE COMMISSIONER: The reports provided by Professor Martin and Dr. Holinan (ph) both concur with Dr. Kerry's (ph) view that Mr. Woolmer died of natural causes. In addition to the provision of the three independent views of the pathologists, we also said that we would await the outcome of toxicology tests. The toxicology tests have now been completed, and no substance was found to indicate that Bob Woolmer was poisoned or in any other way (INAUDIBLE).

The Jamaica (INAUDIBLE) force accepts these findings and has now closed this investigation into the death of Mr. Bob Woolmer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: That may not be the end. Allegation and rumors of corruption and illegal gambling were rampant following Woolmer's death. And many in the sporting world are angry over this whole investigation.

Mark McKay from "World Sport" joins us in the studio to have a look at this case.

And Mark, these accusations of murder, then death caused by natural causes, that's a quantum leap. How did they get it so wrong?

MARK MCKAY, "WORLD SPORT": Well, it started out with a very violent -- what they thought was a crime scene. Mr. Woolmer, his team had just come off a shocking loss to Ireland. This was a team that if not was supposed to win the World Cup, was supposed to go deep in this tournament in the Caribbean.

Instead, the team loses to Ireland. And the very next day the head coach is found in his hotel room initially unconscious. They believe it was a murder investigation because of the initial findings from an autopsy.

Then pathologists are brought in, independent pathologist are brought in, more toxicology tests are determined that it is not a murder investigation. In fact, he dies of natural causes. So a complete reversal on the part of Jamaican police, who they believe in a news conference held about an hour ago, did all they could do. They were complete in this complete investigation.

CHURCH: Now, the thing is that the cricket team itself, I mean, it really was under a cloud for a while there. Interesting to find out about the fallout.

We want to just listen to what Imran Kahn, former cricketer and former opposition leader then, had to say. Let's just listen now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IMRAN KHAN, FMR. PAKISTANI TEAM CAPTAIN: To be implicated somehow in the murder of the coach with insinuations that perhaps it was -- they had thrown the match, and because the coach was going to blow the whistle, they had strangled him. And I think that was what was not directly said, but that's what came across. And I think it went through the worst-ever humiliation ever any cricketer could go through. (END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And Mark, all of that humiliation for the cricket team, also the family of Bob Woolmer, no apology at that news conference, just a very defensive police.

MCKAY: And Pakistan authorities -- first of all, the players went through questioning, fingerprinting, DNA samples. They return home under this cloud that perhaps someone on the team is involved in the death of their coach.

Now there are theories, you know, out there as to whether the Pakistan Cricket Board will have any kind of legal standing with the Jamaican authorities, or do they want just an apology? But it is hard to move on from this even after a news conference that was held in Jamaica turned out to be such a different outcome than we expected.

CHURCH: Indeed. Certainly not the end of this yet. A lot of fallout can be expected.

Our Mark McKay.

Thanks so much. Appreciate it.

CLANCY: All right. We're going to take a short break here, but we've got a lot more to come.

A United Nations war crimes tribunal handing down a sentence for a one-time close ally, a former Yugoslav president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The chamber sentences you to a single sentence of 35 years of imprisonment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: More than a decade after the crime, a wartime leader of Croatia's rebel Serbs is convicted for a brutal ethnic cleansing campaign of non-Serbs in Croatia.

CLANCY: Also ahead, it is not exactly laying out the welcome mat. A report card from international travelers gives the U.S. low marks.

CHURCH: And let us take you also to South Korea, where animal rights campaigners made a statement clad in leafy green.

We'll take a look.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: Hello, everyone, and welcome back to CNN International and YOUR WORLD TODAY.

CHURCH: Now, here's a story that may surprise some people. The United States has been rated the world's most unwelcoming destination for foreign travelers in a recent poll by a business trade organization.

CLANCY: Now, their report finds some burdensome and unfriendly border controls are really putting people off, and it's costing. It's costing the tourist trade billions of dollars.

CHURCH: All right. So let's survey what exactly is in that report.

Here's our Jill Dougherty.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Take a stroll on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., and it's obvious, visitors from abroad seem to be everywhere. Overall travel to the U.S., especially from Canada and Mexico, is finally bouncing back after 9/11. But the number of overseas travelers from places like Europe and Japan still hasn't recovered, down about 17 percent since 2001.

SUE BESSELL, BRITISH TOURIST: Going through security was a bit of a trauma. We -- you know, we found that a bit difficult and a bit long.

DOUGHERTY: Security measures put in place after 9/11 are affecting perceptions among international travelers, according to a poll taken by a U.S. travel industry association.

GEOFF FREEMAN, DISCOVER AMERICA PARTNERSHIP: They rank the U.S. as having the world's worst entry process. Now, that may or may not be true, but the perception is certainly out there, that long waits, long lines and poor treatment of travelers are the norm in the U.S. And we needed to do everything we can to change that perception.

DOUGHERTY: Losing tourists means losing money -- $94 billion dollars in visitor spending, nearly $16 billion in taxes, and 194,000 U.S. jobs lost in the past six years, according to the Travel Industry Association.

The head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, part of the Department of Homeland Security, admits finding the right balance between being welcoming and having strong security measures is an enormous challenge.

ROBERT JACKSTA, U.S. CUSTOMS & BORDER PROTECTION: Unfortunately, at certain times these may create the perception that the United States is being too security-minded. I would argue and debate and say that these security procedures have actually allowed us to move forward with more people feeling comfortable with traveling because of better security protocols in place.

DOUGHERTY: But some of those measures like travel forms are confusing. Even for a professor from London.

RALPH MCCREADY, BRITISH TOURIST: For example, I live in London. What country do you think I'm from?

DOUGHERTY: I would say the U.K.

MCCREADY: You said the right answer. We would say England. We put England down (ph).

DOUGHERTY (on camera): Customs and Border Protection say they're taking steps to improve the arrival experience for international visitors, creating what they call model ports.

(voice over): Houston, Texas, is the first to come on line, featuring new videos explaining how to get through passport control and Customs. But more controls are on the way. Travelers will have all 10 fingers fingerprinted, not just index fingers.

Jill Dougherty, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: Something to look forward to with being fingerprinted there. But, you know, it is difficult.

We do a lot of traveling, and there are other places that are difficult, too. There's a need for security, and there's just no way around it.

CHURCH: That's right. And, I mean, really they're saying it's unwelcome because of the authorities at the airport. They're not saying the people of America are unfriendly.

But the question that we're asking you, have you had any problems with U.S. border control?

We would like to get your e-mails in as soon as you can to yourviews@cnn.com. And let us know who you are and where you're writing from.

CLANCY: And we're going to read some of them on the air, aren't we? I think so.

CHURCH: Yes, we'll definitely do that before the end of the show.

All right. Better late than never, as the saying goes.

CLANCY: Yes, but for automaker Toyota it turns out that it was earlier, not later. We'll have more on that in our business update.

CHURCH: That's right.

Also coming up next, the man who led Croatian Serbs during the Balkans War now faces prison for his role in mass atrocities.

CLANCY: And one man may be taken to the cleaners, even though he's already running one. More on the trouser verdict when we come back. (NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: And a warm welcome back to our viewers joining us from more than 200 countries and territories all around the globe, including the United States.

CLANCY: This is YOUR WORLD TODAY. I'm Jim Clancy.

CHURCH: And I'm Rosemary Church.

And here are some of the top stories we've been following. A Jamaican police investigation has determined that Pakistani cricket team coach, Bob Woolmer, died from natural causes and was not murdered, as initially thought. Woolmer was found in his hotel room unconscious on March 18th, the day after the Pakistani National Team was defeated in World Cup play. An initial post-mortem ruled Woolmer died of manual strangulation, launching that murder investigation.

CLANCY: Palestinian president and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas is accusing Hamas militants of attempting a coup amid a sharp escalation of factional violence. He is expected to hold emergency meetings to decide whether Fatah will stay in the unity government.

Terrified residents in Gaza meantime, trying to flee the fighting, they are heading south along the border that crosses into Egypt.

Now, for more perspective on what is happening in this Palestinian crisis, we are joined by Palestinian legislator Hanan Ashrawi. She is live from Ramallah on the West Bank.

As you look forward, as you look at this Hanan, what are we seeing happen to the Palestinians today?

HANAN ASHRAWI, PALESTINIAN LEGISLATOR: I'm sorry, I can't hear you, Jim. There's lots of static again.

CLANCY: OK, well, we've got to -- can you hear me now? I'm going to try ...

ASHRAWI: Yes.

CLANCY: ...one more time.

ASHRAWI: OK, now I can hear you, OK.

CLANCY: Just ask you, what is happening on the ground today? How should we describe these events?

ASHRAWI: I think we are entering a slippery slope of a civil war again. It's -- Mahmoud Abbas described it as some sort of coup d'etat against the legitimacy Palestinians -- legitimate. So, I would say that all the elements of an insurrection here, the mutiny of armed military wings trying to take over, dictating their will by power, resorting to the use of force, and the Palestinian people are paying the price as well as the integrity of the Palestinian cause.

So, it looks like a very dangerous situation and what (ph) compounds the tragedy is the fact that the Palestinians are under occupation and are suffering still from all the measures, the repressive measures of the occupation such as the seige, the incursions, the assassinations, the abductions and so on.

And this makes the Palestinians feel absolutely despondent because there's no way out. And unfortunately, unless there are clear decisive decisions to impose the rule of law and to hold people accountable for taking the law into their own hands, the situation is liable to escalate.

CLANCY: All right, the efforts are under way, I understand that the negotiator hasn't even been able to talk to the two sides, to either Fatah or Hamas, at least up to this minute. And Hanan, what I'm really looking at here and just asking you about is whether, what are the Palestinian people want here? Is this selfish action by the leadership, power-hungry action by the leadership, of both sides here, Hamas and Fatah?

ASHRAWI: Well, there certainly are elements of a power struggle, Jim, yes, but there are also elements of an ecological struggle and of course, it's fighting over pittance, I mean minuscule spoils. And power is definitely limited because they are still under occupation and we still have no sovereignty.

So, in a sense, it is a fight over who controls parts of Palestine and a fight over legitimacy and a fight over geology, whether we're going to have a Palestinian state that is a national, largely secular state or is this going to become an Islamic state with a more closed geological society.

CLANCY: Is this about ...

ASHRAWI: And of course, rather than resorting to Democratic means, they're resorting to violence, so it undermines also democracy and our national institutions.

CLANCY: Who do you blame for the fighting?

ASHRAWI: Pardon?

CLANCY: Who do you blame for the fighting?

ASHRAWI: I think I blame both sides. I blame both Fatah and Hamas. I blame the history of Fatah, the mis-management and so on. And abrogation of responsibility in many cases, but now Hamas suddenly seems to be taking the lead in the physical fighting and the -- just the viciousness and the violence of this fighting. The wanton killing of innocents as well as the targeting of the security forces.

And I blame the political leadership that seems to be standing by helpless, unable to take decisions, claiming positions and privilege and so on, and yet allowing the military wings to run amok, to destroy the lives and security and livelihood of the Palestinian people as a whole and more importantly, to destroy the standing of the Palestinian cause itself.

CLANCY: That cause, in fulfilling the dreams, Hamas is saying the only way to do that is by war, by staying at war, resisting Israel at every juncture. Fatah believes you've got to negotiate your way out. Is that what we're seeing here? The definition of whether the Palestinian struggle will go ahead as an arms struggle or go ahead as a political one?

ASHRAWI: Well, partly yes, but not entirely, because the struggle now, the fight, is not against whose approach is better towards Israel, the struggle more is internally over power and control and geology and what kind of state and what kind of institutions.

So, this is one, the idea of a negotiated settlement has been adopted by the so-called National Unity Government. There is a national agenda and that agenda, for the National Unity Government has mandated the presidency and the PLO to negotiate, to achieve an negotiated settlement on the basis of the two state solution and Hamas has actually made the serious compromises at the political level in terms of accepting the two state solution and negotiations.

The question now is there are currents both within the military wings of Fatah and Hamas, but primarily Hamas, that do not want to see such changes and that also want to claim control over society and over resources. And of course, do it by violence rather than by democracy.

And it seems to me the only way out is to go back to the people and to say, we failed, we're unable to handle the situation and we would like a new mandate or by consensus, new elections.

CLANCY: All right, Hanan Ashrawi, joining us there live from Ramallah. As always Hanan, thank you very much for being with us. I'm sorry we had some audio problems.

All right, stay with CNN. We're going to continue to follow developments there in Gaza. You can follow the situation as well in the Middle East by logging onto our Web site. If you have access to the Internet, go to CNN.com.

CHURCH: Now we all know that Iraq is a dangerous place, and the most dangerous place in Iraq is the Sunni Triangle. And at the heart of the Sunni Triangle, perhaps the most dangerous place in all of Iraq, is the U.S. military outpost known as "Firebase Red."

And that's where our Hala Gorani went to get a close-up look at what affect the surge in U.S. forces is having on the ground in Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HALA GORANI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These are the faces of what the U.S. military calls its surge strategy in Iraq: a couple of dozen soldiers in an isolated house deep in the Sunni heartland that's come to be called the "Triangle of Death." It is one of the most dangerous areas in Iraq.

The commanding general of the Third Infantry Division, Major General Rick Lynch, toured the base.

MAJOR GEN. RICK LYNCH, U.S. ARMY: We're in an extremely risky business. This is indeed combat operations, what we're experiencing out here right now.

GORANI: The U.S. strategy to increase security here put more boots on the ground and spread them out. It means establishing small patrol bases like this one, and forming alliances with Iraqi army units to patrol this volatile farmland and fight insurgents. But, there's a snag.

(on camera): There is no Iraqi security force presence here. So, how do you solve that problem?

LYNCH: That is indeed the problem, troops to task is the problem. So, an area that we're in right now, which I contend is indeed an enemy sanctuary area, that's why we're out here, to take this land and this area away from the enemy, you need to have a persistent presence, and that persistent presence can't be coalition (INAUDIBLE), it has to be Iraqi security force presence.

GORANI (voice-over): Home for these units is a few bedrooms with cots, a living area, a kitchen, their small size makes them more vulnerable. Last week, these soldiers were attacked by 30 to 40 insurgents.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The bomb went off -- and it pretty much rocked our world, sir.

GORANI: Eight men were wounded, three seriously enough to be sent back to the U.S.

On the roof of this house-turned-patrol base, soldiers are always on guard. As this new strategy rolls out, the mood is sometimes somber. Specialist Gerald Leeks saw his friend die in an attack last month. The grief and the anger are still raw.

SPECIALIST GERALD D. LEEKS, U.S. ARMY: You want to scream out loud, you want to go home. I mean, you want to kill every (EXPLETIVE DELETED) you see out here, excuse my language but that's the truth of it. You just hate seeing these people every day after one of your buddies die. I mean, you start to go numb again, you start to be able to do your missions, but it takes a while to get back in it, so.

GORANI: As these soldiers face the long, hot summer here, the success of this new American strategy rests squarely on their shoulders.

Hala Gorani, CNN, embedded with the Third Infantry Division in Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: Well, turning now to the former Yugoslavia, from regional president to long-term prison sentence, the former leader of Croatian Serbs during the Balkans War got 35 years Tuesday for his role in mass atrocities.

Alessio Vinci has more on the latest conviction by the U.N. War Crimes Court.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A former policeman, Milan Martic liked to be called "the inspector." He eventually traded his uniform for camouflage fatigue and became the leader of one of the most ruthless and terrifying rebel groups in the 1991-95 war between Serbs and Croats.

Known as the Marticifzi (ph), they fought against Croatia's independence from Yugoslavia, looting and destroying non-Serb properties, killing hundreds. Under his command, Serb rebels seized control of the largely Serb Krajina region, cutting Croatia in half and declaring the region a republic.

In 1994, he was appointed it's president, but it was a short- lived presidency. Croats reclaimed the region the following year. Antiga Tofina (ph), the Croatian general who drove the Serbs out, is also on trial.

Now, more than a decade later, judges at the U.N. War Crimes Tribunal at the Hague have found Martic guilty on 16 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

BAKONE MOLOTO, PRESIDING JUDGE: The evidence shows that attacks were carried out in order to connect Serb villages and areas across non-Serb areas. During these attacks, the crimes of murder, destruction, plunder, detention, torture and cruel treatment were committed against the non-Serb population.

VINCI: Martic was also found responsible for a two-day indiscriminate shelling of Zagreb in May 1995, killing seven civilians and wounding more than 200 when rockets, loaded with cluster bombs, hit a school, a children's hospital, and the capital's national theater.

Two months later, Martic was indicted and eventually turned himself in to the U.N. Court in 2002, where he was put on trial. He pleaded not guilty, saying he only wanted to protect the citizens of Serb Krajina regardless where they were from.

MOLOTO: The trial (INAUDIBLE) sentences you to a single sentence of 35 years of imprisonment.

VINCI: Judges also said evidence linked Martic to Radovan Carovich (ph), Rakom Lavich (ph), and Sloebodan Milosovich (ph), who all shared the vision to create a Serb-dominated state. Milosovich died in his cell at the Hague last year. Carovich and Lavich are still on the run.

Alessio Vinci, CNN, Rome.

(END VIDEOTAPE) CHURCH: All right, we're going to take a short break now. Still ahead though, a customer takes the cleaner to the cleaners.

CLANCY: That's right, it's all about a pair of pants lost at a dry cleaners.

CHURCH: But is it worth $54 million?

CLANCY: You can watch and you can be the judge.

CHURCH: And more repair jobs for the space shuttle astronauts. They'll get more time to enjoy the view.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. You're watching YOUR WORLD TODAY here on CNN International.

CLANCY: Seen live now in more than 200 countries and territories all across the globe.

CHURCH: Well, a Washington, D.C. dry cleaner stands to lose his shirt because he lost a customer's pants.

CLANCY: Love this story. He's being sued for $54 million. That's $27 million a pant leg.

Kyung Lah takes this story on for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There's no shortage of opinions about the multi-million dollar pants.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He should not be suing for $65 million.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's just greedy.

LAH: The lawsuit begins with part of a suit, pants to be exact. Roy Pearson, seen on the left here, is a Washington, D.C. administrative law judge. According to the complaint, he dropped off the pants at Custom Cleaners. Pearson claims the owners, Jin and Sue Chung (ph), lost them and these gray pants aren't his.

When he complained, Pearson says the Chungs wouldn't honor their "Satisfaction Guaranteed" sign. He's alleging fraud, suing for $54 million, lowered from the initial $67 million complaint.

CHRISTOPHER MANNING, ATTORNEY FOR CHUNGS: This is quite possibly the most amazing example of frivolous and ridiculous litigation.

LAH: That may be, but the case is set to be tried in district court. The Chungs, on the hook for tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees so far, have even started a Web campaign to help raise money to keep their business afloat. The non-profit group American Tort Reform wants Pearson fired from his job as a judge. SHERMAN JOYCE, AMERICAN TORT REFORM: We'd even consider raising the money to buy him a new suit.

LAH: The Chungs' attorney says they've offered to settle for $12,000 but Pearson's declined the offer. Some customers say that's even outrageous.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I asked him to replace the pants, that's it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: Wow, what a story.

CHURCH: It's raised a few eyebrows, hasn't it? I mean, it is sort of ridiculous.

CLANCY: You know, $67 million. Why did he decide to lower it down then to 54?

CHURCH: Yes. No, it's really taking it to the extreme, and that trial starts today.

CLANCY: And it's already costing the dry cleaner. You can see them, they don't have a whole lot of money, but it's costing them dearly just for the attorneys' fees.

CHURCH: Everybody has an opinion about it.

CLANCY: We're going to be reading out some of your comments on that story coming up, but right now, we're going to take you to space. That's where the shuttle astronauts have been given a little more time in orbit. There we get to enjoy the view along with the astronauts. They've got a lot of repair jobs on there to-do list, rosemary.

CHURCH: They certainly have. Atlantis blasted off last Friday, of course, you will remember, on what was supposed to be an 11-day mission to the International Space Station.

CLANCY: Now the astronauts are going to be staying an extra two days up there. What a view. You talk about a picture window. They're going to be fixing a thermal blanket that's near the tail of this shuttle. It peeled back before launch, so they want to have that back on before they re-enter.

CHURCH: Absolutely. Work out just how bad that is.

CLANCY: All right, we're going take a short break here, as we watch the astronauts having a good time out in orbit. A couple more days, guys, then back home.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: All right now. Here'S a view that is meant to grow on you. PETA activists in South Korea are showing off, well, they're showing off their lettuce. It was the organization's way of encouraging Koreans to go vegetarian. CHURCH: Now, it may take some time for that seed of activism to grow because Koreans love their barbecue, which they call "kelby (ph)," and I think Jim's liking the view there.

CLANCY: Well, I'm sure that -- you know, well, look at that, there's a the lot of people that like the view, and it gets the message out, eat your salad.

CHURCH: Absolutely. Always eat your greens.

CLANCY: All right. So we want to go now to our question of the day.

CHURCH: Yes. And we've been asking if you have had a problem with U.S. border control. Now we have been getting quite a few e- mails here and some great e-mails, too. Here's one of those answers.

Natasha from Germany writes, "I always feel like I'm going to jail every time I go through the American immigration. They make you feel like you're not welcome at all."

CLANCY: Yes, there's a couple other countries I could tell you about.

Rob is Australian. He said he frequently travels to the U.S. for business, but would never do it again if he had a choice. He writes, "U.S. customs could learn much from Australian customs, who make you feel welcome while doing just as good a job at security."

CHURCH: And as an Aussie I can vouch for that, you nearly cry when you arrive there.

Well, Lea is an American living in Germany, and she says, "I'm extremely thankful that the U.S. has these checks to get into the country. We should be grateful that they are protecting us like this!"

CLANCY: All right, thank you for writing in. We love to hear from you. Now if you would like to share your thoughts, write to us at yourviews@CNN.com.

And it reflected people's views pretty accurately there.

CHURCH: Yes, I think so.

And just remember to get your name and where you're writing from, because that's interesting. I think maybe there are problems all over the globe, and it's important to realize, too, that that unwelcome feeling is not with the people of the United States; it's with the authorities.

CLANCY: There's often a feeling the lines are just too long.

CHURCH: It's a nightmare.

CLANCY: All the airlines, they arrive at the same time and everybody has to queue up.

All right, we're going to one last time take you and give you an update on what's going on in Gaza right now. I believe these are live pictures, and we just want to listen a little bit to what is going on there. There's fierce fighting today between Hamas and Fatah gunmen.

All right, you can see what's going on there, smoke above the skies of Gaza.

CHURCH: And fear that that factional fighting could very well verge on civil war.

And that's it for this hour. I'm Rosemary Church.

CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy. Stay with CNN.

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