REGINA - Poverty erodes a person's health more than smoking, drinking or lack of exercise, a Statistics Canada study suggests.

Education and income were more important for middle-aged health than acting healthy, said the study, released on Monday.

"Among middle-aged adults aged 45 to 64, socio-economic characteristics such as the education level and household income were more important determinants of healthy aging than healthy behaviours," it said.

The eight-year study of middle-aged adults found that only after the age of 65 does healthy living impact health more than financial well-being.

Some older people are simply too poor to live a healthy life, said Wally Coates, a board member of a Saskatchewan seniors group.

"A lot of them are eating cheaper foods," Coates said. "They're not necessarily getting a balanced diet with fruits and vegetables. Because that all adds up to more money, eh? It's just not a lot of money, if you have to live in the neighbourhood of 12,000 a year."

The Statscan researchers warned, however, that it's too early to determine the consequences of unhealthy living for the middle-aged segment of the study, which is continuing.

And it suggested that people benefit in the long term by healthy living.

As in previous studies, the government research also suggests that moderate drinking could protect against illness.

Norm O'Rourke, a gerontology professor at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, objected to the finding. He called it "crude."

"Moderate alcohol consumption is very strongly tied to socio-economic status," O'Rourke said. "If you're sitting down each night for a dinner with a glass of wine, the likelihood is that you don't have Wendy's take-a-way."

He said the study didn't pay nearly enough attention to the crucial role of attitude, noting a person's outlook on life is very important as they get older.

ONE of Australia's leading scientists and a pioneering policewoman are among the 15 victims of the nation's worst plane crash in almost 40 years.

Police today said all aboard the Fairchild Metroliner III aircraft were killed when it crashed and exploded in flames yesterday near the Lockhart River Aboriginal community in Cape York, in far north Queensland.

The plane smacked into a 500m high, tree covered hillside on approach to Lockhart River airstrip on a flight from Bamaga at the tip of Cape York.

Although there was rain, low cloud and strong wind at the time, the two pilots had not reported problems. Investigators said it was too early to determine the cause of the crash.

The aircraft's flight recorder has been recovered and it will be taken to Canberra for analysis.

Among the dead was Dr David Banks, 55, the principal scientist with quarantine authority Biosecurity Australia.

He was in north Queensland doing work for the northern Australian quarantine strategy, which aims to protect the country from pests and diseases that can enter the country from more northern nations.

Constable Sally Urquhart, a police officer at the Aboriginal community of Bamaga, also died in the crash.

Queensland Police Minister Judy Spence said the 28-year-old pioneered policing in indigenous communities.

"She has served in Cairns and Bamaga and Aurukun (and) was one of the female police officers who really pioneered policing in these remote Aboriginal communities," Ms Spence said.

"She volunteered for these positions and so she is highly respected by all her colleagues and will be sadly missed."

Constable Urquhart was due to be married to fiance Trad Thornton, who was also a police officer at Bamaga, within a few weeks.

Her father Shane Urquhart said the family had "lost our beautiful daughter Sally forever".

"As you all know, Sally touched the hearts of everyone with whom she came in contact, from her childhood to the present, in the many parts of Queensland where we have lived," he said as he broke down several times through a short address in Cairns.

Other victims were pilot Brett Hotchkins, 40, co-pilot Tim Downs, 21, Mardie Bowie, 30, Fred Bowie, 25, Helena Woosup, 25, Gordan (Gordan) Kris, 37, Frank Billy, 21, Captain Paul Norris, 34, Rob Brady, 36, Kenneth Hurst, 55, and Arden Sonter, 44.

The names of two male passengers, 35 and 46, have been withheld at request of their families.

The twin-engined aircraft, operated for Aero-Tropics by Trans Air, crashed about 11km north-west of the Lockhart River airport about 11.45am (AEST) yesterday.

It is the worst plane crash in Australia since December, 1968, when 26 people – 21 passengers and five crew – died near Port Hedland in north-west Western Australia.

Three police officers were winched down to the crash site today, using chainsaws and machetes to a path through dense bush to reach the bodies.

Police expect to retrieve them at first light tomorrow.

Aero-Tropics owner Ric Lippmann (Ric Lippmann), said three staff members were aboard the plane – the two pilots and another staffer, who was a passenger.

"The captain (Hotchkins) has been on that service for a number of years and the co-pilot was recently recruited," Mr Lippmann said.

He said staff and management of Aero-Tropics were "floored" by the tragedy. [...]

Excerpted from Gator Press.com -

"The insurance industry uses scientific tables to accurately predict death rates. Based on the 1997 CSO Mortality Tables, the odds that all of these men could collectively die during a 30 month period is a staggering 14,000,000,000:1

This makes it logically impossible for any reasonable person to deny that the world's leading microbiology researchers are being murdered, beginning with the anthrax attacks thru last month.

The question is why are they being killed, and by whom?"

Dead Scientists And Microbiologists - Master List

Compiled by Mark J. Harper
mjharper712@hotmail.com
2-5-2005

Marconi Scientists Mystery

In the 1980's over two dozen science graduates and experts working for Marconi or Plessey Defence Systems died in mysterious circumstances, most appearing to be suicides., The MOD denied these scientists had been involved in classified Star Wars Projects and that the deaths were in any way connected. Judge for yourself...

March 1982: Professor Keith Bowden, 46

-- Expertise: Computer programmer and scientist at Essex University engaged in work for Marconi, who was hailed as an expert on super computers and computer-controlled aircraft.

--Circumstance of Death: Fatal car crash when his vehicle went out of control across a dual carriageway and plunged onto a disused railway line. Police maintained he had been drinking but family and friends all denied the allegation.

--Coroner's verdict: Accident.

April 1983: Lt-Colonel Anthony Godley, 49

-- Expertise: Head of the Work Study Unit at the Royal College of Military Science.

--Circumstance of Death: Disappeared mysteriously in April 1983 without explanation. Presumed dead.

March 1985: Roger Hill, 49

-- Expertise: Radar designer and draughtsman with Marconi.

--Circumstance of Death: Died by a shotgun blast at home.

--Coroner's verdict: Suicide.

November 19, 1985: Jonathan Wash, 29

--Expertise: Digital communications expert who had worked at GEC and at British Telecom's secret research centre at Martlesham Heath, Suffolk.

--Circumstance of Death: Died as a result of falling from a hotel room in Abidjan, West Africa, while working for British Telecom. He had expressed fears that his life was in danger.

--Coroner's verdict: Open.

August 4, 1986: Vimal Dajibhai, 24

--Expertise: Computer software engineer with Marconi, responsible for testing computer control systems of Tigerfish and Stingray torpedoes at Marconi Underwater Systems at Croxley Green, Hertfordshire.

--Circumstance of Death: Death by 74m (240ft.) fall from Clifton Suspension Bridge, Bristol. Police report on the body mentioned a needle-sized puncture wound on the left buttock, but this was later dismissed as being a result of the fall. Dajibhai had been looking forward to starting a new job in the City of London and friends had confirmed that there was no reason for him to commit suicide. At the time of his death he was in the last week of his work with Marconi.

--Coroner's verdict: Open.

October 1986: Arshad Sharif, 26

--Expertise: Reported to have been working on systems for the detection of submarines by satellite.

--Circumstance of Death: Died as a result of placing a ligature around his neck, tying the other end to a tree and then driving off in his car with the accelerator pedal jammed down. His unusual death was complicated by several issues: Sharif lived near Vimal Dajibhai in Stanmore, Middlesex, he committed suicide in Bristol and, inexplicably, had spent the last night of his life in a rooming house. He had paid for his accommodation in cash and was seen to have a bundle of high-denomination banknotes in his possession. While the police were told of the banknotes, no mention was made of them at the inquest and they were never found. In addition, most of the other guests at the rooming house worked at British Aerospace prior to working for Marconi, Sharif had also worked at British Aerospace on guided weapons technology.

--Coroner's verdict: Suicide.

January 1987: Richard Pugh, 37

--Expertise: MOD computer consultant and digital communications expert.

--Circumstance of Death: Found dead in his flat in with his feet bound and a plastic bag over his head. Rope was tied around his body, coiling four times around his neck.

--Coroner's verdict: Accident.

January 12, 1987: Dr. John Brittan, 52

--Expertise: Scientist formerly engaged in top secret work at the Royal College of Military Science at Shrivenham, Oxfordshire, and later deployed in a research department at the MOD.

--Circumstance of Death: Death by carbon monoxide poisoning in his own garage, shortly after returning from a trip to the US in connection with his work.

--Coroner's verdict: Accident.

February 1987: David Skeels, 43

--Expertise: Engineer with Marconi.

--Circumstance of Death: Found dead in his car with a hosepipe connected to the exhaust.

--Coroner's verdict: Open.

February 1987: Victor Moore, 46

--Expertise: Design Engineer with Marconi Space and Defence Systems.

--Circumstance of Death: Died from an overdose.

--Coroner's verdict: Suicide.

February 22, 1987: Peter Peapell, 46

--Expertise: Scientist at the Royal College of Military Science. He had been working on testing titanium for it's resistance to explosives and the use of computer analysis of signals from metals.

--Circumstance of Death: Found dead allegedly from carbon monoxide poisoning, in his Oxfordshire garage. The circumstances of his death raised some elements of doubt. His wife had found him on his back with his head parallel to the rear car bumper and his mouth in line with the exhaust pipe, with the car engine running. Police were apparently baffled as to how he could have manoeuvred into the position in which he was found.

--Coroner's verdict: Open.

April 1987: George Kountis age unknown.

--Expertise: Systems Analyst at Bristol Polytechnic.

--Circumstance of Death: Drowned the same day as Shani Warren (see below) - as the result of a car accident, his upturned car being found in the River Mersey, Liverpool.

--Coroner's verdict: Misadventure. (Kountis, sister called for a fresh inquest as she thought 'things didn't add up.')

April 10, 1987: Shani Warren, 26

--Expertise: Personal assistant in a company called Micro Scope, which was taken over by GEC Marconi less than four weeks after her death.

--Circumstance of Death: Found drowned in 45cm. (18in) of water, not far from the site of David Greenhalgh's death fall. Warren died exactly one week after the death of Stuart Gooding and serious injury to Greenhalgh. She was found gagged with a noose around her neck. Her feet were also bound and her hands tied behind her back.

--Coroner's verdict: Open. (It was said that Warren had gagged herself, tied her feet with rope, then tied her hands behind her back and hobbled to the lake on stiletto heels to drown herself.)

April 10, 1987: Stuart Gooding, 23

--Expertise: Postgraduate research student at the Royal College of Military Science.

--Circumstance of Death: Fatal car crash while on holiday in Cyprus. The death occurred at the same time as college personnel were carrying out exercises on Cyprus.

--Coroner's verdict: Accident.

April 24, 1987: Mark Wisner, 24

--Expertise: Software engineer at the MOD.

--Circumstance of Death: Found dead on in a house shared with two colleagues. He was found with a plastic sack around his head and several feet of cling film around his face. The method of death was almost identical to that of Richard Pugh some three months earlier.

--Coroner's verdict: Accident.

March 30, 1987: David Sands, 37

--Expertise: Senior scientist working for Easams of Camberley, Surrey, a sister company to Marconi. Dr. John Brittan had also worked at Camberley.

--Circumstance of Death: Fatal car crash when he allegedly made a sudden U-turn on a dual carriageway while on his way to work, crashing at high speed into a disused cafeteria. He was found still wearing his seat belt and it was discovered that the car had been carrying additional petrol cans. None of the normal, reasons for a possible suicide could be found.

--Coroner's verdict: Open.

May 3, 1987: Michael Baker, 22

--Expertise: Digital communications expert working on a defence project at Plessey; part-time member of Signals Corps SAS.

--Circumstance of Death: Fatal accident owhen his car crashed through a barrier near Poole in Dorset.

--Coroner's verdict: Misadventure.

June 1987: Jennings, Frank, 60.

--Expertise: Electronic Weapons Engineer with Plessey.

--Circumstance of Death: Found dead from a heart attack.

--No inquest.

January 1988: Russell Smith, 23

--Expertise: Laboratory technician with the Atomic Energy Research Establishment at Harwell, Essex.

--Circumstance of Death: Died as a result of a cliff fall at Boscastle in Cornwall.

--Coroner's verdict: Suicide.

March 25, 1988: Trevor Knight, 52

--Expertise: Computer engineer with Marconi Space and Defence Systems in Stanmore, Middlesex.

--Circumstance of Death: Found dead at his home in Harpenden, Hertfordshire at the wheel of his car with a hosepipe connected to the exhaust. A St. Alban's coroner said that Knight's woman friend, Miss Narmada Thanki (who also worked with him at Marconi) had found three suicide notes left by him which made clear his intentions. Miss Thanki had mentioned that Knight disliked his work but she did not detect any depression that would have driven him to suicide.

--Coroner's verdict: Suicide.

August 1988: Alistair Beckham, 50

--Expertise: Software engineer with Plessey Defence Systems.

--Circumstance of Death: Found dead after being electrocuted in his garden shed with wires connected to his body.

--Coroner's verdict: Open.

August 22, 1988: Peter Ferry, 60

--Expertise: Retired Army Brigadier and an Assistant Marketing Director with Marconi.

--Circumstance of Death: Found on 22nd or 23rd August 1988 electrocuted in his company flat with electrical leads in his mouth.

--Coroner's verdict: Open

September 1988: Andrew Hall, 33

--Expertise: Engineering Manager with British Aerospace.

--Circumstance of Death: Carbon monoxide poisoning in a car with a hosepipe connected to the exhaust.

--Coroner's verdict: Suicide.

Above list compiled by Raymond A. Robinson in 'The Alien Intent'
(A Dire Warning) - (Note: link above is dead)

Date?: Dr. C. Bruton

--Expertise: He had just produced a paper on a new strain of CJD. He was a CJD specialist who was killed before his work was announced to the public.

--Circumstance of Death: died in a car crash.

1994/95?: Dr. Jawad Al Aubaidi

--Expertise: Veterinary mycoplasma and had worked with various mycoplasmas in the 1980s at Plum Island.

--Circumstance of Death: He was killed in his native Iraq while he was changing a flat tire and hit by a truck.

Source: Patricia A. Doyle, PhD

1996: Tsunao Saitoh, 46

--Expertise: A leading Alzheimer's researcher

--Circumstance of Death: He and his 13 year-old daughter were killed in La Jolla, California, in what a Reuters report described as a "very professionally done" shooting. He was dead behind the wheel of the car, the side window had been shot out, and the door was open. His daughter appeared to have tried to run away and she was shot dead, also.

Dec 25, 1997: Sidney Harshman, 67

--Expertise: Professor of microbiology and immunology.

"He was the world's leading expert on staphylococcal alpha toxins," according to Conrad Wagner, professor of biochemistry at Vanderbilt and a close friend of Professor Harshman. "He also deeply cared for other people and was always eager to help his students and colleagues."

--Circumstance of Death: Complications of diabetes

July 10, 1998: Elizabeth A. Rich, M.D., 46

--Expertise: An associate professor with tenure in the pulmonary division of the Department of Medicine at CWRU and University Hospitals of Cleveland. She was also a member of the executive committee for the Center for AIDS Research and directed the biosafety level 3 facility, a specialized laboratory for the handling of HIV, virulent TB bacteria, and other infectious agents.

--Circumstance of Death: Killed in a traffic accident while visiting family in Tennessee

September 1998: Jonathan Mann, 51

--Expertise: Founding director of the World Health Organisation's global Aids programme and founded Project SIDA in Zaire, the most comprehensive Aids research effort in Africa at the time, and in 1986 he joined the WHO to lead the global response against Aids. He became director of WHO's global programme on Aids which later became the UNAids programme. He then became director of the Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights, which was set up at Harvard School of Public Health in 1993. He caused controversy earlier this year in the post when he accused the US National Institutes of Health of violating human rights by failing to act quickly on developing Aids vaccines.

--Circumstance of Death: Died in the Swissair Flight 111 crash in Canada.

April 15, 2000: Walter W. Shervington, M.D., 62

--Expertise: An extensive writer/ lecturer/ researcher about mental health and AIDS in the African American community.

--Circumstance of Death: Died of cancer at Tulane Medical Hospital.

July 16, 2000: Mike Thomas, 35

--Expertise: A microbiologist at the Crestwood Medical Center in Huntsville.

--Circumstance of Death: Died a few days after examining a sample taken from a 12-year-old girl who was diagnosed with meningitis and survived.

December 25, 2000: Linda Reese, 52

--Expertise: Microbiologist working with victims of meningitis.

--Circumstance of Death: Died three days after she studied a sample from Tricia Zailo, 19, a Fairfield, N.J., resident who was a sophomore at Michigan State University. Tricia Zailo died Dec. 18, a few days after she returned home for the holidays.

May 7 2001: Professor Janusz Jeljaszewicz

--Expertise: Expert in Staphylococci and Staphylococcal Infections. His main scientific interests and achievements were in the mechanism of action and biological properties of staphylococcal toxins, and included the immunomodulatory properties and experimental treatment of tumours by Propionibacterium. November 2001: Yaacov Matzner, 54 --Expertise: Dean of the Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School in Jerusalem and chairman of the Israel Society of Hematology and Blood Transfusions, was the son of Holocaust survivors. One of the world's experts on blood diseases including familiar Mediterranean fever (FMF), Matzner conducted research that led to a genetic test for FMF. He was working on cloning the gene connected to FMF and investigating the normal physiological function of amyloid A, a protein often found in high levels in people with blood cancer.

--Circumstance of Death: Professors Yaacov Matzner and Amiram Eldor were on their way back to Israel via Switzerland when their plane came down in dense forest three kilometres short of the landing field.

November 2001: Professor Amiram Eldor, 59

--Expertise: Head of the haematology institute, Tel Aviv's Ichilov Hospital and worked for years at Hadassah-University Hospital's haematology department but left for his native Tel Aviv in 1993 to head the haematology institute at Ichilov Hospital. He was an internationally known expert on blood clotting especially in women who had repeated miscarriages and was a member of a team that identified eight new anti-clotting agents in the saliva of leeches.

--Circumstance of Death: Professors Yaacov Matzner and Amiram Eldor were on their way back to Israel via Switzerland when their plane came down in dense forest three kilometres short of the landing field.

November 6, 2001: Jeffrey Paris Wall, 41

--Expertise: He was a biomedical expert who held a medical degree, and he also specialized in patent and intellectual property.

--Circumstance of Death: Mr. Walls body was found sprawled next to a three-story parking structure near his office. He had studied at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Nov. 16, 2001: Don C. Wiley, 57

--Expertise: One of the foremost microbiologists in the United States. Dr. Wiley, of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Harvard University, was an expert on how the immune system responds to viral attacks such as the classic doomsday plagues of HIV, ebola and influenza.

--Circumstance of Death: Police found his rental car on a bridge outside Memphis, Tenn. His body was found Dec. 20 in the Mississippi River.

Nov. 21, 2001: Vladimir Pasechnik, 64

--Expertise: World-class microbiologist and high-profile Russian defector; defected to the United Kingdom in 1989, played a huge role in Russian biowarfare and helped to figure out how to modify cruise missiles to deliver the agents of mass biological destruction.

--Background: founded Regma Biotechnologies company in Britain, a laboratory at Porton Down, the country¥s chem-bio warfare defense establishment. Regma currently has a contract with the U.S. Navy for "the diagnostic and therapeutic treatment of anthrax".

--Circumstance of Death: The pathologist who did the autopsy, and who also happened to be associated with Britain's spy agency, concluded he died of a stroke. Details of the postmortem were not revealed at an inquest, in which the press was given no prior notice. Colleagues who had worked with Pasechnik said he was in good health.

Dec. 10, 2001: Robert M. Schwartz, 57

--Expertise: Expert in DNA sequencing and pathogenic micro-organisms, founding member of the Virginia Biotechnology Association, and the Executive Director of Research and Development at Virginia¥s Center for Innovative Technology in Herndon.

--Circumstance of Death: stabbed and slashed with what police believe was a sword in his farmhouse in Leesberg, Va. His daughter, who identifies herself as a pagan high priestess, and several of her fellow pagans have been charged.

Dec. 14, 2001: Nguyen Van Set, 44

--Expertise: animal diseases facility of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization had just come to fame for discovering a virulent strain of mousepox, which could be modified to affect smallpox.

--Circumstance of Death: died at work in Geelong, Australia, in a laboratory accident. He entered an airlocked storage lab and died from exposure to nitrogen.

January 2002: Ivan Glebov and Alexi Brushlinski.

--Expertise: Two microbiologists. Both were well known around the world and members of the Russian Academy of Science.

--Circumstance of Death: Glebov died as the result of a bandit attack and Brushlinski was killed in Moscow.

January 28, 2002: David W. Barry, 58

--Expertise: Scientist who codiscovered AZT, the antiviral drug that is considered the first effective treatment for AIDS.

--Circumstance of Death: unknown

Feb. 9, 2002: Victor Korshunov, 56

--Expertise: Expert in intestinal bacteria of children around the world

--Circumstance of Death: bashed over the head near his home in Moscow.

Feb. 14, 2002: Ian Langford, 40

--Expertise: expert in environmental risks and disease.

--Circumstance of Death: found dead in his home near Norwich, England, naked from the waist down and wedged under a chair.

Feb. 28, 2002: Tanya Holzmayer, 46

--Expertise: a Russian who moved to the U.S. in 1989, focused on the part of the human molecular structure that could be affected best by medicine.

--Circumstance of Death: killed by fellow microbiologist Guyang (Matthew) Huang, who shot her seven times when she opened the door to a pizza delivery. Then he shot himself.

Feb. 28, 2002: Guyang Huang, 38

--Expertise: Microbiologist

--Circumstance of Death: Apparently shot himself after shooting fellow microbiologist, Tanya Holzmayer, seven times.

March 24, 2002: David Wynn-Williams, 55

--Expertise: Respected astrobiologist with the British Antarctic Survey, who studied the habits of microbes that might survive in outer space.
--Circumstance of Death: Died in a freak road accident near his home in Cambridge, England. He was hit by a car while he was jogging.

March 25, 2002: Steven Mostow, 63

--Expertise: Known as "Dr. Flu" for his expertise in treating influenza, and a noted expert in bioterrorism of the Colorado Health Sciences Centre.

--Circumstance of Death: died when the airplane he was piloting crashed near Denver.

Nov. 12, 2002: Benito Que, 52

--Expertise: Expert in infectious diseases and cellular biology at the Miami Medical School

--Circumstance of Death: Que left his laboratory after receiving a telephone call. Shortly afterward he was found comatose in the parking lot of the Miami Medical School. He died without regaining consciousness. Police said he had suffered a heart attack. His family insisted he had been in perfect health and claimed four men attacked him. But, later, oddly, the family inquest returned a verdict of death by natural causes.

April 2003: Carlo Urbani, 46

--Expertise: A dedicated and internationally respected Italian epidemiologist, who did work of enduring value combating infectious illness around the world.

--Circumstance of Death: Died in Bangkok from SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) - the new disease that he had helped to identify. Thanks to his prompt action, the epidemic was contained in Vietnam. However, because of close daily contact with SARS patients, he contracted the infection. On March 11, he was admitted to a hospital in Bangkok and isolated. Less than three weeks later he died.

June 24, 2003: Dr. Leland Rickman of UCSD, 47

A resident of Carmel Valley

--Expertise: An expert in infectious disease who helped the county prepare to fight bioterrorism after Sept. 11.

--Circumstance of Death: He was in the African nation of Lesotho with Dr. Chris Mathews of UCSD, the director of the university's Owen Clinic for AIDS patients. Dr. Rickman had complained of a headache and had gone to lie down. When he didn't appear for dinner, Mathews checked on him and found him dead. A cause has not yet been determined.

July 18, 2003: Dr. David Kelly, 59

--Expertise: Biological warfare weapons specialist, senior post at the Ministry of Defense, an expert on DNA sequencing when he was head of microbiology at Porton Down and worked with two American scientists, Benito Que, 52, and Don Wiley, 57.

--Helped Vladimir Pasechnik found Regma Biotechnologies, which has a contract with the U.S. Navy for "the diagnostic and therapeutic treatment of anthrax"

--Circumstance of Death: He was found dead after seemingly slashing his wrist in a wooded area near his home at Southmoor, Oxfordshire.

Oct 11 or 24, 2003: Michael Perich, 46

--Expertise: LSU professor who helped fight the spread of the West Nile virus. Perich worked with the East Baton Rouge Parish Mosquito Control and Rodent Abatement District to determine whether mosquitoes in the area carried West Nile.

--Circumstance of Death: Walker Police Chief Elton Burns said Sunday that Perich of 5227 River Bend Blvd., Baton Rouge, crashed his Ford pickup truck about 4:30 a.m. Saturday, while heading west on Interstate 12 in Livingston Parish. Perich's truck veered right off the highway about 3 miles east of Walker, flipped and landed in rainwater, Burns said. Perich, who was wearing his seat belt, drowned. The cause of the crash is under investigation, Burns said.

"Mike is one of the few entomologists with the experience to go out and save lives today." ~ Robert A. Wirtz, chief of entomology at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

November 22, 2003: Robert Leslie Burghoff, 45

--Expertise: He was studying the virus that was plaguing cruise ships until he was killed by a mysterious white van in November of 2003
--Circumstance of Death: Burghoff was walking on a sidewalk along the 1600 block of South Braeswood when a white van jumped the curb and hit him at 1:35 p.m. Thursday, police said. The van then sped away. Burghoff died an hour later at Memorial Hermann Hospital.

December 18, 2003: Robert Aranosia, 61

--Expertise: Oakland County deputy medical examiner

--Circumstance of Death: He was driving south on I-75 when his pickup truck went off the freeway near a bridge over the Kawkawlin River. The vehicle rolled over several times before landing in the median. Aranosia was thrown from the vehicle and ended up on the shoulder of the northbound lanes.

January 6, 2004: Dr Richard Stevens, 54

--Expertise: A haematologist. (Haematologists analyse the cellular composition of blood and blood producing tissues eg bone marrow)

--Circumstance of Death: Disappeared after arriving for work on 21 July, 2003. A doctor whose disappearance sparked a national manhunt, killed himself because he could not cope with the stress of a secret affair, a coroner has ruled.

January 23 2004: Dr. Robert E. Shope, 74

--Expertise: An expert on viruses who was the principal author of a highly publicized 1992 report by the National Academy of Sciences warning of the possible emergence of new and unsettling infectious illnesses. Dr. Shope had accumulated his own collection of virus samples gathered from all over the world.

--Circumstance of Death: The cause was complications of a lung transplant he received in December, said his daughter Deborah Shope of Galveston. Dr. Shope had pulmonary fibrosis, a disease of unknown origin that scars the lungs.

January 24 2004: Dr. Michael Patrick Kiley, 62

--Expertise: Ebola, Mad Cow Expert, top of the line world class.

--Circumstance of Death: Died of massive heart attack. Coincidently, both Dr. Shope and Dr. Kiley were working on the lab upgrade to BSL 4 at the UTMB Galvaston lab for Homeland Security. The lab would have to be secure to house some of the deadliest pathogens of tropical and emerging infectious disease as well as bioweaponized ones.

March 13, 2004: Vadake Srinivasan

--Expertise: Microbiologist.

--Circumstance of Death: crashed car into guard rail and ruled a stroke.

April 12, 2004: Ilsley Ingram, 84

--Expertise: Director of the Supraregional Haemophilia Reference Centre and the Supraregional Centre for the Diagnosis of Bleeding Disorders at the St. Thomas Hospital in London.

--Circumstance of Death: unknown

May 5, 2004: William T. McGuire, 39

--Expertise: NJ University Professor and Senior programmer analyst and adjunct professor at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark.

--Circumstance of Death: Body found in 3 Suitcases floating in Chesapeake Bay.

May 14, 2004: Dr. Eugene F. Mallove, 56

--Expertise: Mallove was well respected for his knowledge of cold fusion. He had just published an open letter outlining the results of and reasons for his last 15 years in the field of new energy research. Dr. Mallove was convinced it was only a matter of months before the world would actually see a free energy device.

--Circumstance of Death: Died after being beaten to death during an alleged robbery.

May 25, 2004: Antonina Presnyakova

--Expertise: Former Soviet biological weapons laboratory in Siberia

--Circumstance of Death: Died after accidentally sticking herself with a needle laced with Ebola.

July 21, 2004: Dr. John Badwey 54

--Expertise: Scientist and accidental politician when he opposed disposal of sewage waste program of exposing humans to sludge. Biochemist at Harvard Medical School specializing in infectious diseases.

--Circumstance of Death: Suddenly developed pneumonia like symptoms then died in two weeks.

June 22, 2004: Thomas Gold, 84

--Expertise: He was the founder, and for twenty years the director, of the Cornell Center for Radiophysics and Space Research, where he was a close colleague of Planetary Society co-founder Carl Sagan. Gold was famous for his provocative, controversial, and sometimes outrageous theories. Gold's theory of the deep hot biosphere holds important ramifications for the possibility of life on other planets, including seemingly inhospitable planets within our own solar system. Gold sparked controversy in 1955 when he suggested that the Moon's surface is covered with a fine rock powder.

--Circumstance of Death: Died of heart failure.

June 24, 2004: Dr. Assefa Tulu, 45

--Expertise: Dr. Tulu joined the health department in 1997 and served for five years as the county's lone epidemiologist. He was charged with tracking the health of the county, including the spread of diseases, such as syphilis, AIDS and measles. He also designed a system for detecting a bioterrorism attack involving viruses or bacterial agents. Tulu often coordinated efforts to address major health concerns in Dallas County, such as the West Nile virus outbreaks of the past few years, and worked with the media to inform the public.

--Circumstance of Death: Dallas County's chief epidemiologist, was found at his desk, died of a stroke.

June 27, 2004: Dr Paul Norman, Of Salisbury, Wiltshire, 52

--Expertise: He was the chief scientist for chemical and biological defence at the Ministry of Defence's laboratory at Porton Down, Wiltshire. He travelled the world lecturing on the subject of weapons of mass destruction.

--Circumstance of Death: Died when the Cessna 206 crashed shortly after taking off from Dunkeswell Airfield on Sunday. A father and daughter also died at the scene, and 44-year-old parachute instructor and Royal Marine Major Mike Wills later died in the hospital.
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/wiltshire/3860995.stm

June 29, 2004: John Mullen, 67

--Expertise: A nuclear research scientist with McDonnell Douglas.

--Circumstance of Death: Died from a huge dose of poisonous arsenic.

July 1, 2004: Edward Hoffman, 62

--Expertise: Aside from his role as a professor, Hoffman held leadership positions within the UCLA medical community. Worked to develop the first human PET scanner in 1973 at Washington University in St. Louis.

--Circumstance of Death: unknown

July 2, 2004: Larry Bustard, 53

--Expertise: A Sandia scientist who helped develop a foam spray to clean up congressional buildings and media sites during the anthrax scare in 2001. Worked at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque. His team came up with a new technology used against biological and chemical agents.

--Circumstance of Death: unknown

July 6, 2004: Stephen Tabet, 42

--Expertise: An associate professor and epidemiologist at the University of Washington. A world-renowned HIV doctor and researcher who worked with HIV patients in a vaccine clinical trial for the HIV Vaccine Trials Network.

--Circumstance of Death: Died of an unknown illness

July 21, 2004: Dr Bassem al-Mudares

--Expertise: He was a phD chemist

--Circumstance of Death: His mutilated body was found in the city of Samarra, Iraq and had been tortured before being killed.

August 12, 2004: Professor John Clark

--Expertise: Head of the science lab which created Dolly the sheep. Prof Clark led the Roslin Institute in Midlothian, one of the world's leading animal biotechnology research centres. He played a crucial role in creating the transgenic sheep that earned the institute worldwide fame.

--Circumstance of Death: He was found hanging in his holiday home.

September 5, 2004: Mohammed Toki Hussein al-Talakani

--Expertise: Iraqi nuclear scientist. He was a practising nuclear physicist since 1984.

--Circumstance of Death: He was shot dead in Mahmudiya, south of Baghdad.

October 13, 2004: Matthew Allison, 32

Fatal explosion of a car parked at an Osceola County, Fla., Wal-Mart store was no accident, Local 6 News has learned. Found inside a burned car. Witnesses said the man left the store at about 11 p.m. and entered his Ford Taurus car when it exploded. Investigators said they found a Duraflame log and propane canisters on the front passenger's seat.

November 2, 2004: John R. La Montagne

--Expertise: Head of US Infectious Diseases unit under Tommie Thompson. Was NIAID Deputy Director.

--Circumstance of Death: Died while in Mexico, no cause stated.

December 21, 2004: Taleb Ibrahim al-Daher

--Expertise: Iraqi nuclear scientist

--Circumstance of Death: He was shot dead north of Baghdad by unknown gunmen. He was on his way to work at Diyala University when armed men opened fire on his car as it was crossing a bridge in Baqouba, 57 km northeast of Baghdad. The vehicle swerved off the bridge and fell into the Khrisan river. Al-Daher, who was a professor at the local university, was removed from the submerged car and rushed to Baqouba hospital where he was pronounced dead.

December 29, 2004: Tom Thorne and Beth Williams

--Expertise: Two wild life scientists, Husband-and-wife wildlife veterinarians who were nationally prominent experts on chronic wasting disease and brucellosis

--Circumstance of Death: They were killed in a snowy-weather crash on U.S. 287 in northern Colorado.

January 7, 2005: Jeong H. Im, 72

--Expertise: A retired research assistant professor at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Primarily a protein chemist.

--Circumstance of Death: He was stabbed several times and his body was found in the trunk of his burning white, 1995 Honda inside the Maryland Avenue parking garage.

Flashback:

MOSSAD (Israels Secret Service) Liquidates 310 Iraqi Scientists

Israeli Secret Agents Liquidate 310 Iraqi Scientists

Mathaba.net
10-31-4

More than 310 Iraqi scientists are thought to have perished at the hands of Israeli secret agents in Iraq since fall of Baghdad to US troops in April 2003, a seminar has found.

The Iraqi ambassador in Cairo, Ahmad al-Iraqi, accused Israel of sending to Iraq immediately after the US invasion 'a commando unit' charged with the killing of Iraqi scientists.

"Israel has played a prominent role in liquidating Iraqi scientists. The campaign is part of a Zionist plan to kill Arab and Muslim scientists working in applied research which Israel sees as threatening its interests," al-Iraqi said.

Thanks to Steve Quayle

Thanks to the HAL TURNER SHOW

Thanks to Patricia Doyle and to those who sent numerous emails to help correct this file and a special thanks to the members of my forum who inspired me to compile it all.

File started on Nov 28 2003
 http://www.puppstheories.com/forum/index.php...

Dead Scientists Summary List
 http://www.puppstheories.com/forum/index.php...

Mark J. Harper
Feb 4, 2005

 http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2005/01/309675.shtml

TEHRAN - Iran plans to restart nuclear-fuel activities within days despite warnings that such a move would be referred to the UN Security Council.

"We will relaunch in the next few days uranium-conversion installations at Isfahan," the head of Iran's atomic energy organization, Mohammad Saeed, said on Monday.

The plant at Isfahan is used to convert raw uranium into a gas. It can then be enriched and purified into fuel for nuclear power reactors or the core of a nuclear bomb.

Tehran has insisted it only wants nuclear reactors to generate energy, despite American accusations that it's trying to make atomic weapons.

A spokesman for the U.S. State Department, Tom Casey, reacted Monday by warning Iran that any resumption of its nuclear drive would have "consequences."

Casey didn't say what those consequences might be.

Iran agreed to suspend its nuclear-fuel production in November 2004 as a show of faith while undertaking talks about its nuclear program with Britain, France and Germany.

The three countries are negotiating on behalf of the European Union.

But after talks last month, Iran accused the Europeans of dragging out negotiations and said it would resume its activities.

The EU trio has offered economic incentives in exchange for promises that Iran will not develop weapons.

Both the European Union and the United States have threatened to refer the case to the UN Security Council if an agreement isn't reached.

TEHRAN - In a sign of both historical déjà vu and Chomskyian "manufacturing consensus", the US media is nowadays filled with news on Iran's nuclear threat, thus preparing the American public for yet another Middle East conflict without, however, maintaining a modicum of balance by reflecting the Iranian point of view.

This much is clear in a Fox News special, titled "Iran: The Nuclear Threat", that aired on Sunday, May 8. Hosted by Chris Wallace (with whom this author worked as an Iran expert at Wallace's previous home, ABC News), this program lacked the minutest evidence of objectivity, displaying instead piles of prejudice on top of prejudice reminding one of the Iraq weapons of mass destruction threat played up by the right-wing, sensationalist, network during 2002 and early 2003, duping millions of American viewers about the authenticity of the Bush administration's allegations against the regime of Saddam Hussain.

The Fox program on Iran is simply the latest example of how the US media has traded political favoritism to the White House, and its fierce demonization of Iran, for objective news. No Iranian official was interviewed for this program, which covered the Iran-Europe nuclear talks, only the European officials nowadays joining Washington's chorus for United Nations Security Council action against Iran, or with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon calling an Iran bomb the biggest "existential threat" to the Jewish state.

On May 9, former chief United Nations weapons inspector Hans Blix spoke at the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review conference in New York and proposed a Middle East ban on uranium enrichment, covering both Iran and Israel, as a compromised solution to the so-called Iran threat. His comments were completely ignored by the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and cited only by the LA Times. Clearly, the more Israel presses on Iran, the more it draws the international spotlight on itself.

A clue to the biased nature of the Fox program, it dealt with Iran's efforts to hide its nuclear activities for several years, yet without bothering to mention that even the UN's atomic watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), while critical of Iran, did not find it in material breech of its obligations to the NPT since Iran had some 187 days prior to the commencement of those hidden facilities to declare them to the IAEA. Also, it should be mentioned that Iran's secrecy was a logical reaction to Washington's refusal of Iran's right to nuclear technology and conscientious attempt to block Iran's access to this technology contrary to Article IV of the NPT.

Presently, Iran has put on the table in the Iran-European Union talks a "phased approach" whereby it could resume low-enriched uranium production under full international inspection, thus offering a technical solution to the thorny issue of "objective guarantees" mentioned in the Iran-EU agreement signed in Paris last November.

Somehow, the Iranian proposal was leaked to the press, and ABC News published it on its website, thus making a mockery of the Europeans' claim of sincerity and trustworthiness with respect to their Iranian co-negotiators. In comparison, Fox News did not even bother with such nuances and simply went for the recycling of the Manichean demonization of Iran as a "terror-sponsoring" state whose possession of bombs would "threaten millions of people and the security of the United States", not unlike Vice President Dick Cheney's pre-Iraq war alarm about "mushroom clouds" over American cities caused by Iraq's imminent possession of nuclear weapons.

What was equally absent in the Fox report mentioned above was the fact that for two years now Iran has signed the intrusive Additional Protocol, allowing unfettered inspection of its nuclear sites to the IAEA, whose chief has repeatedly gone on record stating that there is no evidence Iran is developing nuclear weapons. A centerpiece of Iran's offer to Europe is the immediate conversion of low-enriched uranium to fuel rods, verified under IAEA inspections beyond even what the Additional Protocol calls for, which would, in turn, address the Western fears about a re-enrichment aimed at weapons grade (ie, 90% as opposed to 3.5% to 11% required for peaceful purposes). Again, neither Fox nor ABC, nor any other US media outlet, has so far bothered to delve into the specifics of the Iranian proposal, preferring to stick with abstract generalities and cliche accusations instead.

Such an approach may "sell the news" better and make the networks appear more "patriotic" in the current conservative political milieu in the United States, yet it hardly qualifies for the high standards of independent media self-priding as the "fourth branch" in the political system. On the contrary, as both the examples of Iraq, and increasingly, Iran demonstrate, the main, and mainstream, media in the US is better viewed as an appendage of the executive branch manipulating it, and its agenda, almost at will.

A caricature of the American media? Hardly, especially when considering the fact that in that same program, when dealing with the issue of "America's options", there was not even a passing reference to the importance of IAEA inspections and the option of monitored, contained Iranian enrichment, together with Iran's political, security, and economic integration with the West, an option echoed by a very limited number of Iran experts in the US, including a former National Security aid, Gary Sick.

Unfortunately, voices of reason such as Sick's are too few and too often neglected by the media, whose pundits such as Chris Wallace choose to tread the safe political waters of toeing the official line instead of introducing a dent in the carefully-constructed regime of truth on Iran on the part of Washington's pro-Israel policy-makers, who are filling the TV news hours with their concerted calls for Security Council action against Iran.

Yet, what this army of anti-Iran pundits consistently overlook is the lesson from the Iraq fiasco, that is, the world's unwillingness to fall in the trap of disinformation causing war via UN actions serving as a legitimating precursor to war. After all, the role of the UN is pacific settlement of disputes, not as a negative surrogate of closet unilateralism or, worse, pre-emptive warfare, right?

Furthermore, another major shortcoming of the current US media coverage of Iran's nuclear issue is that such coverage give little insight on what would happen if the US and Europe hurl the issue to the UN Security Council. It is hardly given that in the light of Iran's cooperation with the IAEA, fulfilling its NPT obligations, the Security Council would impose sanctions on Iran and, in case it chooses to do so, that would mean an oil embargo, causing higher oil prices hardly affordable by the global economy; short of oil embargo, a UN sanction would be practically toothless and a continuation of the present, decade-long US sanctions, which have proven a failure in deterring foreign investments in Iran, as the Iran-China mega deal worth US$100 billion clearly demonstrates. In all likelihood, China would veto any Security Council sanctions on Iran as long as no smoking gun on Iran's alleged weapons program has been found.

The slight chance of successful UN action against Iran has, in turn, fueled alternative options by Israel and the US, chiefly the military option, which is where the sensationalist US media can be found working overtime to produce the necessary requirement of a public blessing for the next military gambit of the Western superpower, without presenting the slightest clue that any lesson has been learnt from the Iraq blunder.

JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel must withdraw from the Gaza Strip, no matter how well Islamic militants do in Palestinian parliament elections a month before the pullout, Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz said Tuesday.

Mofaz spoke in response to Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom's suggestion that Israel consider calling off the pullout if Hamas militants win the July 17 vote. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon confirmed on Monday that the withdrawal would be delayed by three weeks until mid-August.

On Tuesday, he reiterated that Israel would hold on to major West Bank settlement blocs, where most of the 240,000 Jewish settlers live. "Settlement blocs will be part of the state of Israel and contiguous with Israel," Sharon said.

Sharon embarked upon the unilateral withdrawal of soldiers and settlers from Gaza after concluding it was not in Israel's interests to retain an enclave of 8,500 Jews among 1.3 million Palestinians. He has pushed ahead with it despite fierce opposition from settlers and their right-wing supporters in parliament, and the threat of intensified violence from Gaza militants after Israel withdraws.

Mofaz told Israel Army Radio on Tuesday that "the disengagement will not be cancelled" even if Hamas, building on gains in recent local elections, captures a large chunk of the vote in parliamentary balloting.

"The disengagement is a complex, historic and heartbreaking move that puts the Israeli government to a very difficult test, but is vital to its future," Mofaz said. "I think we must carry out the disengagement under any circumstances."

Hamas, which has killed hundreds of Israelis in suicide bombings and is sworn to Israel's destruction, is expected to make a strong showing in its first run for the Palestinian parliament, but is not expected to rout the ruling Fatah party. It is honouring a de facto truce with Israel, but has rejected calls by Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to disarm after the vote.

Shalom, who has been lukewarm in his support of the Gaza withdrawal, questioned whether Israel could evacuate Gaza if Hamas were to win the parliamentary election.

"Would there be any way to negotiate peace when their main goal is the destruction of Israel?" he asked. "Would there be any way to go ahead with disengagement?"

Speaking at the International Bible Quiz in Jerusalem, Sharon said that although the settlement enterprise is being rolled back in Gaza, it has allowed Israel to fulfil "a very significant part of its dream."

"Not the entire dream, but a very important part of this dream, which is significant both historically and in terms of security - this part of our dream is in our hands and will remain in our hands," he said.

Major settlement blocs, such as Maaleh Adumim outside Jerusalem and Ariel, deep inside the West Bank, will remain part of Israel, forming a territorial link, he said.

Sharon has said the pullout plan would help Israel maintain control over large blocs of West Bank settlements. He has U.S. support on this matter, with U.S. President George W. Bush reiterating last month that Israel will hold on to large West Bank settlement blocs under a final peace accord.

The Palestinians reject this policy, saying it crushes their hopes for a viable, contiguous state.

In Moscow on Monday, international peace negotiators for the Mideast issued a statement affirming that "a new Palestinian state must be truly viable, with contiguity in the West Bank.

"A state of scattered territories will not work and emphasizes that no party should take unilateral actions that prejudge final status talks," the statement said.

On Monday, Sharon told TV interviewers that the pullout from Gaza and four small northern West Bank settlements would start between Aug. 15 and Aug. 17.

Sharon pinned the delay on religious sensitivities: The original timetable would have coincided with a three-week period in which observant Jews mourn the destruction of the biblical Temples in Jerusalem.

Many Jewish authorities have ruled that there is no religious prohibition for carrying out the evacuation during this period, so critics say Sharon is using the religious argument because the government is unprepared for the formidable task of relocating some 9,000 settlers.

The government insists it is ready.

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat complained that the Israelis are going it alone. "We want to co-ordinate but we find ourselves waiting for the next Israeli dictate, the next unilateral decision," he said.

Sharon said no decision has been made on whether to destroy the homes settlers are to evacuate. "The only situation where we do not destroy them is if there is full co-ordination with the Palestinians, and that co-ordination is not yet complete," he said.

The current official decision is to demolish the buildings to spare settlers the sight of their homes being taken over by jubilant Palestinians. But many Cabinet ministers think the homes should be left intact because destroying them would breed ill will, extend the pullout and cost tens of millions of dollars.

Israeli army bulldozers on Tuesday removed cement barriers on a main road linking the West Bank's largest city, Nablus, with the nearby town of Jenin to the west and the Jordan Valley to the east.

The barriers had been put in place in 2002, at the height of Israel's military offensive against Palestinian militants. The road barriers, along with a network of army checkpoints, forced tens of thousands of area residents to take bumpy backroads and severely disrupted daily life.

South American and Arab leaders gathering for a summit in Brasilia, Brazil, are expected to adopt a declaration condemning Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory.

According to a draft of the document approved by ministers on Monday, the first Summit of South American-Arab Countries will demand that Israel disbands settlements "including those in East Jerusalem" and withdraw to its borders before the 1967 Middle East war.

The draft lashes out at US economic sanctions against Syria and denounces terrorism, but asserts the right of people "to resist foreign occupation in accordance with the principles of international legality and in compliance with international humanitarian law".

In the two-day summit starting on Tuesday, leaders and top government officials from 34 South American, Arab and North African countries will also support sweeping political and economic efforts to tighten links between the regions, the draft says.

"The document is a very good one, and deals with all the issues that are important to the two sides," said Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit. "This has been a long time coming."

Boosting ties

The summit, hosted by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, is a move to promote South-South cooperation among developing countries, and is aimed at countering the dominance of the United States in the global political arena.

Officials on Monday said the leaders will also sign an agreement between oil-rich Arab countries and a key South American economic bloc, leading to negotiations for a free trade area linking the two regions.

The trade zone would eventually link the six Arabic member nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council with South America's Mercosur bloc, said GCC Secretary-General Abdulrahman al-Attiyah. Mercosur's fully-fledged members are Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. The GCC's members are Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain and Qatar.

Speaking to Arab and South American business executives and government officials ahead of the summit, al-Attiyah said the two regions were a natural fit for each other because millions of people of Arabic descent lived in South America.

Bright prospects

Luiz Furlan, Brazil's minister of industry and development, acknowledged that trade was paltry now between the two regions, but said there were strong indications it would grow rapidly.

Brazil, South America's largest economy, exports just $4 billion annually to Arabic countries and imports $4.1 billion mostly in petroleum.

But Brazil's exports have risen 50% over the last several years, and overall two-way trade of $8.1 billion could nearly double to $15 billion within three years, Furlan said.

"Today we are beginning a new stage in the trajectory in the relations of South America and the Arab world," Furlan said.

Jack-booted Thug: An Israeli protester lies on the ground by the foot of an Israeli soldier during a joint demonstration by Israelis and Palestinians against Israel's controversial barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin.

The two teenagers were shot dead near the village of Beit Likia, west of Ramallah, during a protest against the construction of the separation fence in the area.

Thursday's protest started opposite the Defense Ministry's Kirya compound in Tel Aviv and from there demonstrators walked to Likud Party headquarters on King George Street. Some 200-300 people attended the rally.

Once the protest left the Kirya compound, the police announced that it was illegal and begin arresting protesters. At least six people were taken in by police. Police said they were arrested for blocking roads.

MK Mohammed Barakeh addressed the rally and told them that "on the day of [remembrance for] the big Holocaust, we must make sure that there is no 'little holocaust' of Palestinians." He also said that the relatively large number of participants, given the short notice of the rally, proves that the "radical left is waking up."

Earliers Thursday, IDF Central Command chief Yair Naveh suspended a senior Combat Engineering Corps officer who commanded the force that shot dead the two Palestinians.

Naveh said the conduct of the deputy company commander was defined as "unreasonable."

Oudai A'asi, 14, and his 15-year-old cousin Kamal A'asi, both from the West Bank village of Beit Lakia, were shot dead while throwing stones together with dozens of other protestors at a separation fence work site next to a village north of Highway 443.

Around 6 P.M., some 200 youths arrived on the scene and began throwing rocks at bulldozers and at the five soldiers who arrived on the scene in a jeep.

Palestinians on the scene said the soldiers initially opened fire with rubber bullets and tear gas grenades and at a certain point began firing live ammunition in the air.

Palestinian sources said the cousins were hit by live ammunition.

Ramallah hospital officials said Uday was hit in the hip and thighs and Kamel was hit in the chest.

One IDF soldier was lightly wounded by Palestinian stone-throwers.

Nineteen-year-old Karem Yusuf, who was near the two casualties, described the scene.

"I saw two soldiers but it is possible there were more," he said. "Near the soldiers was a group of 10 youths and around them were some 200 more. The distance from the first group to the soldiers was about 20 meters. Kamel and Uday were next to me when they were shot. A soldier fired several shots and I saw that Kamel was wounded in his chest."

The IDF said that "according to an initial investigation, a small IDF force securing the separation fence work site was surprised when hundreds of youths attacked them. The force made use of riot control weapons but at a certain point there was a danger to their lives and the force's commander ordered they fire first in the air [with live ammunition] in an attempt to disperse the demonstrators. When this had no effect, he opened fire at the legs of several demonstrators in an attempt to disperse them. The circumstances of the event will be examined."

"This is a violation of the cease-fire," Nabil Abu Rudeineh, advisor to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, told Reuters. "Israel is looking for excuses to raise tensions and to depart from implementing the Sharm (el-Sheikh) understandings."

GAZA - The latest figures released by the Israeli army revealed that Israeli settlers have notably increased their attacks against Palestinians, especially in the cities and villages located near the illegal settlements of the West Bank.

The Israeli newspaper Maariv reported that settler attacks on Palestinians soared by 52 percent, pointing out that from January to April, 2005 more than 265 cases were opened against settlers for being suspected of disturbing order and exercising violence against Palestinian civilians in different levels, compared with 174 cases against settlers opened against them between January and April, 2004.

The most recent of these assaults came from the settlers of the illegal Israeli settlement 'Qidomim', established on the lands of Kufor Qaddoum, east of Qalqilya City, where settlers poisoned the wells of the town to harm civilians and their livestock.

The demand by the US Congress to divert $50 million of President George W. Bush's $200-million pledge of aid to the Palestinian Authority for Israeli checkpoints is something like requiring the Vatican to contribute air-conditioners to abortion clinics or divorce lawyers' fees as part of its policy of easing the plight of Catholic women.

The new motto of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) is very simple and direct: "From the American People." Recent conditions tacked onto a planned US grant from the American people is adding insult to Palestinian injury.

Diverting to Israel millions from monies promised to the Palestinian Authority in order to reinforce Israeli checkposts deep inside Palestinian territories is a multiple insult to Palestinians. Not only is it a reduction from the meager (in comparison to the billions given to Israel) grant to Palestinians; but to divert money earmarked for Palestinians to strengthen the Israeli army's occupation is a moral and political scandal. [...]