News stories by Karlos Zurutuza, page 4

KIRKUK, Iraq, Sep 09 (IPS) - Reminders of the last occupants of camp K1 in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk are only visible on the murals at the main gate leading into the compound: Iraqi soldiers saluting the flag, pointing their weapons or being cheered on by grateful families.

LAAYOUNE, Occupied Western Sahara, Aug 23 (IPS) - Ahmed Ettanji is looking for a flat in downtown Laayoune, a city 1,100 km south of Rabat. He only wants it for one day but it must have a rooftop terrace overlooking the square that will host the next pro-Sahrawi demonstration.

LAAYOUNE, Occupied Western Sahara, Jul 17 (IPS) - Ten women are gathered to discuss how to transmit Sahrawi culture and tradition to the younger generations. As usual, it´s a secret meeting. There is no other way in the capital of Western Sahara.

GENEVA, Apr 17 (IPS) - Nasser Boladai is the spokesperson of the Congress of Nationalities for a Federal Iran (CNFI), an umbrella movement aimed at expanding support for a secular, democratic and federal Iran. IPS spoke with him in Geneva, where he was invited to speak at a recent conference on Human Rights and Global Perspectives in his native Balochistan region.

ZARANJ, Afghanistan, Mar 18 (IPS) - Balochistan, divided by the borders of Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan, is a vast swathe of land the size of France. It boasts enormous deposits of gas, gold and copper, untapped sources of oil and uranium, as well as a thousand kilometres of coastline near the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz.

SARLAT MOUNTAINS, Afghanistan-Pakistan border, Dic 24 (IPS) - The media tend to portray Balochistan as "troubled", or "restive", but it would be more accurate to say that there´s actually a war going on in this part of the world.

TRIPOLI, Libya, Dic 18 (IPS) - It's easy to spot Saani Bubakar in Tripoli´s old town: always dressed in the distinctive orange jumpsuit of the waste collectors, he pushes his cart through the narrow streets on a routine that has been his for the last three years of his life.

ZWARA, Libya, Dic 05 (IPS) - It could be a squat house anywhere: music is playing non-stop and there is also a radio station and an art exhibition. However, weapons are also on display among the instruments, and most here wear camouflage uniform.

ERBIL, Iraqi Kurdistan, Nov 16 (IPS) - There is daily news broadcasting at 9 in the evening and a live programme every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. For the time being, that is what Mosul´s only TV channel has to offer from its headquarters in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan.

KIRKUK, Iraq, Nov 08 (IPS) - "Going  back home? That would be suicide. The Islamists would cut our throats straight away," says Khalil Hafif Ismam. The fear of this Mandaean refugee sums up that of one of the oldest yet most decimated communities in Mesopotamia.