Valentinas Mite

Also by Valentinas Mite

• July 12, 2004

  Iraq: Years Of Ba'athist Rule Leave Legacy Of Indifference To Books

  The Ba'athist regime that ruled Iraq for decades discouraged people from reading books. Iraqis were once known as voracious readers, but today interest in literature is at an all-time low. RFE/RL correspondent Valentinas Mite reports from Baghdad that Iraq's culture minister has warned the indifference to books may have dire social consequences.

• July 09, 2004

  Iraq: New Security Measures Meet With Support, Concern Persists Over Possible Abuses

  New security measures approved by Baghdad are being welcomed by many ordinary Iraqis, who are tired of the unending violence in the country. However, some fear the new laws might lead to the abuse of power and human rights violations.

• July 08, 2004

  Iraq: Female Police Officers Challenge Themselves And Society

  Ready for women in the ranks? Iraqi women are slowly making inroads into the country's public life. Several women serve as ministers or as minor officials in the interim government. Others, however, are choosing more unconventional occupations such as serving in the country’s security services. Female police officers say they not only want to serve their country but to challenge themselves and Iraqi society.

• July 07, 2004

  Iraq: In Capital, Local Police Show Signs Of Greater Effectiveness

  Iraq's interim government today unveiled its plan for tough new security measures. After more than a week of Iraqi sovereignty, the security situation in the Iraqi capital already appears better. Outbreaks of violence continue, but not on the massive scale seen just a few weeks ago. The Iraqi police force is hoping to ensure the relative calm continues, and law-enforcement personnel appear to be growing more effective.

• July 06, 2004

  Iraq: Tiny Ethnic-Armenian Community Survived Hussein, Making It In Postwar Times

  The ethnic Armenian community is one of the smallest in Iraq. It is not involved in the country's political life and is doing its best to survive the country's postwar hardships. The community has learned the art of survival and keeps a low profile amid the strife engulfing Iraq's other ethnic and religious groups. RFE/RL correspondent Valentinas Mite visited with members of the ethnic Armenian community in Baghdad and filed this report.

• July 05, 2004

  Iraq: Deputy Foreign Minister Says Baghdad Seeks New Links With International Community

  A week after the handover of sovereignty to Iraq's new interim government on 28 June, diplomats there say they are working to restore the country's international ties. But it is a delicate process. Baghdad has already rejected offers from several neighbors to send peacekeepers to Iraq, saying such a move could add to the country's unrest. RFE/RL spoke with Iraq's deputy foreign affairs minister about the issue.

• July 02, 2004

  Iraq: No Carefree Summers for Baghdad's Idle Youth

  Life is dull for young people in Baghdad. They usually stay at home because of security fears. When they do venture out, they go to a mosque, or look for relatively safe places to hang out with their friends, like an Internet cafe. Sport clubs, discos, and theaters are practically nonexistent.

• June 30, 2004

  Iraq: Handover -- Reconciliation Seen As Fundamental For Stable Future (Part 5)

  Iraqis say national reconciliation will be as important to the future of Iraq as security or economic prosperity. The country is riven by religious factionalism and political divisions, between those who supported the former regime and their opponents. In the final feature of a five-part series on the handover of sovereignty, RFE/RL correspondent Valentinas Mite heads out onto the streets of Baghdad to speak with ordinary Iraqis about how willing they are to put the past behind them.

• June 29, 2004

  Iraq: Independent Baghdad Radio Station Sets Standards For Journalists

  There are many things lacking in newly sovereign Iraq, but freedom of expression isn't one of them. Radio Dijla, a private talk-radio station, offers Baghdadis a chance to participate in frank, open discussions on a variety of topics ranging from electricity blackouts to Iraq's political future. The formula works -- after just two months on the air, Radio Dijla is already the most popular station in Baghdad.

• June 28, 2004

  Iraq: Are Local Police Ready To Provide Security For The Handover? (Part 2)

  Today's transfer of power will be a challenge to Iraq's fledgling police force. Officials say many in the police are badly trained, corrupt, and have links to criminals. Iraq's Interior Ministry plans to fire many of them now that the power transfer is complete. But even this move is unlikely to make the police efficient and capable of ensuring security without the help of the coalition forces.

• June 28, 2004

  Iraq: Voices Of Baghdad -- Iraqis Hold Great Hopes For Sovereignty

  Prime Minister Iyad Allawi and former CPA head L. Paul Bremer Iraqis hope that today's transfer of power by the United States to the interim Iraqi government will give them more security and a better life. They say their new Iraqi leaders are better prepared to cope with the difficulties the country is facing. RFE/RL speaks with Iraqis on the streets in the capital, Baghdad.

• June 25, 2004

  Iraq: No End in Sight To The Challenges Of National Health System

  Doctors in Iraq complain about the lack of new medical equipment and drugs, and say the situation is getting worse. They say though some international help is coming, it is a drop in the ocean for a country exhausted by a decade of sanctions and by unending conflicts.

• June 24, 2004

  Iraq: Kurds Still Hopeful Autonomy Claims Will Be Respected

  The Kurd's 75,000 peshmerga fighters might seek avenues other than negotiation. For Iraqi Kurds, one question remains more important than any other: will their goal of political autonomy be realized in a new federal Iraq? Their hopes were dealt a blow earlier this month when a United Nations resolution failed to address the Kurdish issue, but Kurds remain optimistic that negotiations with Iraq's new interim government will bear fruit.

• June 23, 2004

  Iraq: Kidnappers Preying On Wealthy Locals, Not Just Foreigners

  It's not just foreigners being targeted Dozens of foreigners have been taken hostage in Iraq over the past few months. Most have been freed. Many are still missing, and at least seven have been killed, including a South Korean who was beheaded by Islamic militants this week. But foreigners are not the only targets of kidnappers in Iraq. Wealthy Iraqis are also becoming victims, and many are paying thousands of dollars in ransom to regain their freedom.

• June 22, 2004

  Iraq: Relatives Of Slain Drivers Say Foreign Fighters, Radical Clerics Have Upper Hand In Al-Fallujah

  Foreign fighters and radicals in control (file photo) Relatives of six Iraqi truck drivers abducted earlier this month in Al-Fallujah accuse foreign fighters and Muslim radicals of torturing and then killing their loved ones. They say local Iraqi police and Iraqi troops based in the town did nothing to stop the killings.

• June 21, 2004

  Iraq: New NGO Helps Street Children In Baghdad

  Broken families? A father and son looting in Iraq (file photo) Thousands of homeless children are living on the streets of the Iraqi capital Baghdad. They are begging, stealing, selling, or using drugs, rooting through garbage for food, and sleeping on the pavement. Some of them have been living this way for just days, but others have been on the street for more than a year since leaving state-run orphanages after the collapse of the regime. RFE/RL correspondent Valentinas Mite is in Baghdad and reports the problem is causing mounting concern among new Iraqi NGOs.

• June 10, 2004

  Iraq: Kurds Threatening To Walk Away From Government (Part 2)

  Mahmud Uthman Iraqi Kurds are threatening to walk away from the Iraqi government if they are not given any guarantees on their autonomous status. Kurdish leaders were dealt a setback this week when the United Nations Security Council opted not to mention Iraq's interim constitution -- with its strong protection of Kurdish rights -- in its new resolution on the country's sovereignty. Iraq's Shi'a majority has hotly opposed the Kurds' demands for autonomy.

• June 08, 2004

  Belarus: Growing Number Of Hunger Strikers Demanding Election Reforms

  Two of the hunger strikers, Syarhey Skrabets (left) and Valery Fralou Three Belarusian parliamentarians and several opposition activists are continuing a hunger strike in protest of the policies of President Alyaksandr Lukashenka. While the case is attracting the attention of Western institutions and politicians, it is not known how much popular support the protesters enjoy in the country -- or if ordinary Belarusians are even aware of the vigil.

• June 03, 2004

  Russia: Moscow Clamps Down On Chechnya Coverage, But No Solution In Sight For Republic

  Russian officials have fired a prominent telejournalist after he publicly criticized orders not to broadcast his interview with the wife of former acting Chechen President Zelimkhan Yandarbiev, who was assassinated in Qatar earlier this year.

• June 01, 2004

  Eastern Europe: EU Standards Narrowing Market For Inferior-Quality Drugs

  Latvia has terminated all sales of medicine made by a Belarusian company after patients developed serious health problems. Other new members of the European Union are also halting the importation of medicine that does not comply with European standards. However, low-quality drugs are still being sold in the black markets of new EU member states and in former Soviet republics, which do not have strict production controls.

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