Slow day
KARNI CROSSING, -: Israeli soldiers practice the evacuation of a wounded soldier at the Karni crossing between the Gaza Strip and Israel 12 May 2004. The radical Islamic Jihad group claimed five crew members of an Israeli armoured vehicle were killed Wednesday in a bomb attack in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah. Islamic Jihad, along with Hamas, claimed a similar attack on an Israeli armoured personnel carrier in Gaza City a day earlier which left six soldiers dead. AFP PHOTO/YOAV LEMMER
KARNI CROSSING, -: An Israeli soldier directs tanks at the Karni crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip 12 May 2004. Israeli troops were combing Gaza City's Zeitun neighbourhood this morning for the remains of six soldiers killed a day earlier in a bomb attack which militants threatened to use as bargaining chips. Meanwhile an Israeli helicopter fired a missile at a house in Zeitun, as Palestinian security sources said Egyptian diplomats were talking with the Islamic Jihad group for the return of the missing body parts. The deaths of the soldiers, blown up in their APC as they took part in a heavy Israeli raid into Zeitun, sparked a crisis in the Israeli government amid plans by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to pull out of the Gaza Strip. AFP PHOTO/Yoav LEMMER
GAZA CITY, GAZA STRIP - MAY 12: Masked Palestinian militants check a rifle during a gun battle with Israeli troops May 12, 2004 in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City, the Gaza Strip. According to witnesses, an Israeli helicopter gunship fired a missile near a mosque in Gaza City killing one Palestinian and injuring several others. Israeli troops were combing the Gaza City neighborhood of Zeitun for the remains of six soldiers killed a day earlier in a bomb attack. (Photo by Getty Images)
BAGHDAD, IRAQ: A US captain Simon (L), of the US 1st Cavalry, 91th Engineer Battalion helps a soldier as he comes out from an underground bunker they found, 12 May 2004, during patrol in the outskirts of Baghdad. Twenty five militiamen loyal to wanted Iraqi cleric Moqtada Sadr were killed in heavy overnight clashes with US forces in Karbala, according to US military and local hospital sources. Seven US soldiers were wounded, four of them slightly, the US sources added. AFP PHOTO/ Antonio SCORZA
BAGHDAD, IRAQ: US soldiers of the 1st Cavalry, 91th Engineers Battalion, talk 12 May 2004 with Iraqi couple to explain to them why their father and two brothers were arrested two days ago. The three Iraqi men were arrested after a convoy had been attacked with rocket propelled grenade (RPG) launched from the house in the outskirts of Baghdad. AFP PHOTO Antonio SCORZA
BASRA, IRAQ: A British soldier adjusts machineguns before the start of Iraqi navy training session at the port of the southern city of Basra 12 May 2004. British Prime Minister Tony Blair insisted that there is no evidence of "systematic abuse" of Iraqi prisoners by British troops in Iraq, as the furore over photographs depicting the abuse refused to die down. AFP PHOTO/Hani AL-OBEIDI
An armed Iraqi man shouts anti-U.S. slogans during the funeral of two Shi'ite Mahdi Army members in Najaf, May 12, 2004. Rebel Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr vowed Wednesday to press on with his fight against the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq, but said he would disband his Mahdi Army militia if Shi'ite leaders asked him to. REUTERS/Faleh Kheiber
GROZNY, RUSSIAN FEDERATION: A Chechen soldier patrols a street in central Grozny, Chechnya, 11 May 2004. Russian President Vladimir Putin made a surprise lightning visit, 11 May, to the rebel Chechen capital Grozny two days after the assassination of the republic's pro-Moscow leader to award bravery medals to his family. AFP PHOTO/MAXIM MARMUR
DUBLIN, IRELAND: Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China H.E. Mr. Wen Jiabao (C) inspects the guard before meeting with Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern at Dublin Castle, Dublin 11 May 2004 Photo AFP/NEWSFILE/FRAN CAFFREY