The faded port was spruced up before its liberation anniversary at the end of March, and a new bridge across the Han river is almost complete.

CNN: Stops and Starts

And for years before the liberation of Iraq, they worked to thwart his efforts to bring it about and to preclude his broadly representative umbrella group, the Iraqi National Congress, from becoming a powerful and legitimate alternative to Saddam.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: I.S.O. a scapegoat

In the wake of the recent revelation of a National Ground Intelligence Center (NGIC) report about the discovery in Iraq of some 500 chemical weapons, the House Armed Services Committee took testimony from military intelligence and civilian experts about the threat posed - both before and after Iraq's liberation - by these and other weapons of mass destruction (WMD) amassed by the regime of Saddam Hussein.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Gaffney gives 'just the facts' on Iraqi WMD

Before long, Reverend Banana became enthused with the ideals of liberation politics, and started to denounce the white racist regime of what was then called Southern Rhodesia from the pulpit.

ECONOMIST: Canaan Banana

But if Israel is willing to include the Palestinians, he argues, Mr Abbas could still play the negotiating role - as Yasser Arafat did before him - in his role of leader of the Palestine Liberation Organisation.

BBC: NEWS | Middle East | Carter: Don't punish Palestinians

"I am not seeking any positions - my job will end with the liberation of Iraq from Saddam's rule, " he said before the start of the US-led war.

BBC: Profile: Ahmed Chalabi

One witness said he had trained in the Philippines at a camp of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), a local Muslim secessionist group, before bombing a McDonald's restaurant in Indonesia.

ECONOMIST: A spreading menace | The

But the camp's liberation meant both were to survive the ordeal and return to Anka's native Prague before relocating to Wales.

BBC: News