Amongst refugees staying in camps, the

AMMAN, 13 December (IRIN) - The Iraq Out-of-Country-Voting (OCV) programme for the 30 January elections was launched on Sunday in the Jordanian capital, Amman, by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

"There is a big time challenge with 48 days before polling and 34 days until registration opens," Peter Erben, head of the Iraq-OCV operation, said at a press conference, adding that Iraqis would benefit from the scheme.

The Independent Electoral Commission

1. Overview of the situation

Intensive aerial and ground control operations are underway against immature swarms in Morocco and Algeria that continue to arrive from West Africa and move into the valleys and plateaux of the Atlas Mountains including the Souss Valley in Morocco, an important agricultural area. The majority of the swarms will stay immature until spring, providing a good opportunity to reduce locust numbers significantly before they lay eggs in about March.

Locust swarms that arrived recently in

Explanatory Memorandum

1 - Rationale, needs and target population.

1.1. - Rationale

The present funding decision must be regarded as being complementary to previous decisions adopted by the European Commission, in particular the one of May 2004(1), insofar as it: a) addresses humanitarian needs, like shelter rehabilitation, that were not covered under that funding decision; b) addresses humanitarian needs of Palestine

A meeting was held at the armed forces headquarters in the presence of the country's agricultural officials to discuss preparation and coordination between concerned parties to face the locust plague, the report said.

About 60 different kinds of vehicles and planes from Jordanian Air Force are mobilized in the campaign against

Speaking at a news conference in Baghdad, Allawi said U.S. and Iraqi forces had killed 38 insurgents when they took control of Fallujah hospital during the night at the start of a long-awaited offensive to clear the city of insurgents.

"Taking over the Fallujah hospital is a central target and it happened quickly and forcefully,'' Allawi said.

The interim prime minister said insurgents

Appeal Target: US$7,074,557
Balance Requested from ACT Alliance: US$ 3,293,032

Geneva, 27 July 2004

Dear Colleagues,