May 2, 2005 – BBC Radio 4 News – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
May 2, 2005 – A day of hostage taking, insurgents attacking and terrorism in Iraq. As observed and reported by The BBC, the situation in Iraq was becoming entangled in violence and chaos with seemingly no end in sight. Latest in the string of hostage situations was the kidnapping of Australian contractor Douglas Wood, who pleaded with occupation forces to leave Iraq, as he was facing a truly life-or-death situation. In another kidnapping and hostage situation, British police in Iraq were following up on the discovery of items belonging to British Aid worker Margaret Hassen who was kidnapped and believed murdered the previous year. Three suspects were arrested. In Northern Iraq, at least 25 people were no known to have been killed when a car bomb went off in Mosul. The victims were mourners at a funeral for a murdered official from the Kurdish Democratic Party and the perpetrators were suspected of being insurgents.
Elections were also making the news in Britain this day. With three days left before Poling Day, Labour was sending Tony Blair and Gordon Brown to some of its most marginal contests. Mr. Blair and Mr. Brown were expected to be shifting attention away from the situation in Iraq and trying to prevent Conservatives from gaining any seats in those contests by trying to restore trust in Labour. But the War wasn’t going away and it would remain a big topic of conversation and debate during that election cycle.
And a review began today of the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty. The treaty was designed to stop the spread of nuclear weapons. Representatives from nearly 190 countries met in New York to consider what had become conflicting views on the purpose of the conference. The U.S. and some of its allies were concerned about stopping the spread, or proliferation of weapons. Washington was particularly worried about North Korea, which withdrew from the Treaty and then announced it had nuclear weapons. And about Iran, which it believes was planning to build them, even though Iran denied it.
And that’s a small slice of what went on, this May 2nd in 2005, as reported by BBC Radio 4 as part of their Today program. News as it was going on and how it was affecting the rest of the world.
