& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Life goes low in city of peace

AFP, Baghdad
Ruling Baath Party cadres patrolled the otherwise deserted streets of the Iraqi capital Thursday after the United States launched strikes to end the quarter-century rule of President Saddam Hussein.
Clusters of officers wearing the dark green uniform of the Baath could be seen at every intersection in downtown Baghdad.
On the popular shopping street Saadun, party officers, some of them wearing helmets and clutching Kalashnikov assault rifles, were pacing the streets flanked by policemen in blue.
In front of public buildings, armed men took up positions behind sandbags.
Only Ihasan Salman could be seen in front of his shop.
"I normally open at 10 a.m. but today I opened at 6:30 just after the bombing," the 52-year-old hand-
bag salesman said.
"God rewarded me. I sold three today," he added with a smile.
Not far away on Karada Street, people clustered around the few bakeries that were open and left quickly, carrying the still-hot bread.
Three bombing raids in the early morning hours hit several sites. The sirens screamed in the sleeping capital at about 5:35 a.m. local time (0235 GMT), then the sky lit up with the bombing just as the sun was rising.
Two explosions came on their heels on the outskirts of this city of some five million inhabitants. Half an hour later, a second series of bombings struck the south-east of Baghdad. AFP journalists saw an enormous ball of fire and black smoke rising up from the site.
The downtown area was spared by the missiles which seemed to strike the city perimeter but it was impossible to determine the targets from the vantage point of town.
As soon as calm returned to the city, wailing sirens announced the end of the alert.
Most families seemed to have remained indoors, their ears glued to radios in a country where the population does not have access to satellite TV channels, which are prohibited by the regime.
Um Mustapha, a housewife who had remained awake overnight to hear the expected outbreak of the war on her small radio, told AFP: "We were not scared because we expected it, but we are scared of what is to come."
Some stands were selling fruit and vegetables while half-empty double-decker buses in imperial red were following their normal routes.
Garbage trucks began making their rounds but raced to safety as soon as a the sirens sounded.
Boys played ball in the streets, taking advantage of the lack of traffic.
But most people took shelter,
knowing that massive raids were on their way.
On normally bustling Rasafi Street, the market was deserted. Only two men were there, in front of cart filled with plastic sandals and waiting for the next raid.
"I have to keep living even if there is a war. I sold one pair since this morning but I will stay here, maybe once the fear passes, more people will come to buy," said Adnane.
Sellers of gas tanks were doing a brisker business after setting up a trailer on Midane Street.
Anxious about the length of the war, Baghdadis were stocking up on everything they could.
"The beginning of the day was good. In the hour after the first bombs, we sold 180 -- that is
extraordinary," Hihab said.
Little by little, the city began moving again. Party militia began to stand down and sat on the sidewalk for a cup of tea while women, covered in traditional long black dress, went shopping.
Near a bus station, Mr. Hanna's pharmacy was open.
"There are many people, particularly the poor, who need us. That is why I decided to open today," he said.
He added that demand had been particularly high for medication against diarrhoea, migraine and spasms, a common sign of anxiety," he said.