March 2003

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This article covers breaking news and events in March 2003.

Daily events

Saturday March 1, 2003

Sunday March 2, 2003

Monday March 3, 2003

Tuesday March 4, 2003

Wednesday March 5, 2003

Thursday March 6, 2003

Friday March 7, 2003

Saturday March 8, 2003

Sunday March 9, 2003

Monday March 10, 2003

Tuesday March 11, 2003

Wednesday March 12, 2003

Thursday March 13, 2003

Friday March 14, 2003

Saturday March 15, 2003

Sunday March 16, 2003

Monday March 17, 2003

Tuesday March 18, 2003

Wednesday March 19, 2003

Thursday March 20, 2003

  • Afghanistan : At the same time as the attacks on Iraq , the USA started the largest offensive in a year against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda in the southeast of the country near Kandahar, with 1,000 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division .
  • Berlin / Germany : The Bundestag passes the 2003 budget with the majority of the red-green coalition.
  • Berlin / Germany : Several radicalized Islamist men are arrested in the city who, according to the investigating authorities, were preparing bomb attacks.
  • Iraq : 3:30 CET beat the first US bombs and cruise missiles in Baghdad and miss their target, the Iraqi leadership. Iraq fired around 10 R-17 missiles at US positions near Kuwait City during the day that missed their target. The American ground offensive begins in the evening.
  • Netherlands : A passenger train collided with a freight train near the border with Germany . The driver of the passenger train was killed and 38 people were injured.
  • Paris / France : According to the French interior ministry, traces of the highly toxic substance ricin are found in the "Gare de Lyon" station .
  • Spain : Numerous demonstrations against the government's Iraq policy form.
  • United States : Shortly after the attack, US President George W. Bush announces the start of the war. The US imposes a news blackout; they themselves release selected information from a " media pool from the right sources".

Friday March 21, 2003

  • Afghanistan : US soldiers arrested at least 12 extremists in raids in the south of the country .
  • Berlin / Germany : Defense Minister Peter Struck sent more than 100 additional NBC defense forces to the Camp Doha in Kuwait .
  • Berlin / Germany : Daniel Coats , the US ambassador in Berlin, renews the allegations against the federal government that Germany is to blame for this war with its stance against a new Iraq resolution.
  • Bern / Switzerland : The country rejects the blocking of Iraqi accounts requested by US Treasury Secretary John Snow . Accounts can only be blocked if the UN has decided.
  • Iraq : Iraq should have set fire to 30 oil fields during the day, according to Allied information. In the evening the number was corrected to seven. Iraq rejects this accusation. Bombs dropped on Baghdad from 7 p.m. CET . Live TV images from CNN show an accumulation in the government district. In addition, the cities of Mosul and Kirkuk in the north of the country and the cities of Basra and Nasiriya in the south of the country were attacked. According to British information, 250 Iraqis defected during the advance on the port city of Umm Qasr . According to Donald Rumsfeld, the city is taken and controlled by the Allies after several hours of fighting. The Iraqi information minister confirms hit on the presidential palace. According to him, Saddam Hussein and his family are unharmed. It is reported from intelligence circles that Saddam Hussein is said to have stayed with two of his sons in the bunker that was bombed yesterday. There is speculation that he is said to be injured. British troops encounter strong resistance as they advance towards Basra. The US troops advanced about 200 kilometers in Iraq on the advance towards Baghdad. The Faw peninsula in the south of the country was taken by the Allied forces.
  • Jordan : So far, more than 400 foreign refugees have arrived in the reception centers.
  • Cairo / Egypt : In Cairo, after Friday prayers, violent clashes broke out between the police and opponents of the war in Iraq.
  • Kuwait : A US military helicopter crashes twelve soldiers, both British and US Americans.
  • Madrid / Spain : In the course of a peace demonstration, riots break out in the city, 50 people are injured.
  • Moscow / Russia : Foreign Minister Igor S. Ivanov accuses the US of planning the "illegal occupation" of Iraq.
  • Sanaa / Yemen : There have been deaths in protests in the capital of Yemen. There are different numbers: some say two people were shot by the police, others said it was four.
  • Stuttgart / Germany : In front of the command center of the US Forces in Europe (EUCOM) in Stuttgart-Vaihingen , the police broke a sit-in blockade at the driveway.
  • United Kingdom : In the morning, 8 US B-52 bombers set off for Iraq in the west of the country . These machines can shoot up to 20 cruise missiles at the same time.

Saturday March 22, 2003

  • Ankara / Turkey : The country releases overflight rights for US fighter jets.
  • Baghdad / Iraq : There are heavy air strikes all day and there are thick clouds of smoke hanging over the city. The Iraqis set fire to oil in trenches to make it difficult for the attackers to navigate .
  • Berlin / Germany : The federal government is violently attacked by the opposition from the FDP and Union parties for their plan to withdraw the AWACS reconnaissance planes when the Turks have invaded Iraq.
  • Iraq : Seven British and one American are killed in the crash of two helicopters . According to information from Turkish military circles and the CNN , a commando unit from Turkey with around 1,500 soldiers has advanced into northern Iraq. The Turkish government contradicts this report in the course of the day.
  • Umm Qasr / Iraq : According to the Iraqi Defense Minister Sultan Haschem Ahmed , the city that was captured yesterday is still contested.
  • United States : Britney Spears and Madonna have to share the golden raspberry , the worst actress award .
  • All over the world there are again demonstrations against the war. In the United States, up to 250,000 people take to the streets on Broadway . In Germany there are 150,000 participants, 40,000 to 50,000 in Berlin, 300,000 in London, 30,000 in Rome and around 20,000 in Finland.
  • In Lake Tanganyika between Burundi and Congo, more than 100 people drowned when the ferry "MV Kashombwe" sank during a storm. 41 passengers are rescued.

Sunday March 23, 2003

  • Afghanistan : According to the military, an HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter of the US Air Force with six occupants crashed in the evening.
  • Baghdad / Iraq : The day began with heavy bombing today too. There are also attacks again and again throughout the day.
  • Basra / Iraq : According to the Iraqi government, 77 civilians are said to have been killed and 337 injured in the city. The Allies are said to have used cluster bombs in the attack.
  • Grozny / Russia : A constitutional referendum is being held in the breakaway Caucasus republic of Chechnya . The republic is to be given limited autonomy rights but to be more firmly integrated into the federation.
  • Iraq : A British tornado fighter is believed to be accidentally shot down with a US Patriot missile . There is fierce opposition across the country. According to the Allies, the strategically important site of Nasiriya was captured after the most violent fighting to date. Several thousand Iraqi soldiers are said to have surrendered. According to the television channel Al Jazeera, 50 people were killed in the attack on the southern Iraqi city of Basra . According to CNN, Umm Qasr is still fiercely contested. The television station contradicts the statements of the US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld , according to which the city is controlled by the Allies. The Iraqis also disagree with the attackers claiming that the Faw peninsula has been taken. Journalists criticize the US military's obstruction to independent reporting. According to their statements, reporters with a critical point of view are systematically kept away from information.
  • Qatar : The Al Jazeera TV station is showing recordings of presumably captured and killed US soldiers in the war in Iraq for the first time .
  • Kuwait : One soldier was killed and at least 12 others injured in an explosion in the US camp "Camp Pennsylvania". One soldier likely lost his nerve and threw three hand grenades.
  • Los Angeles / United States : With Nirgendwo in Afrika by director Caroline Link , at the 75th Academy Awards for the first time in 23 years, a German film will be awarded an Oscar ( best foreign film ).
  • Ljubljana / Slovenia : In a referendum , a majority is in favor of joining the EU and NATO .
  • Manama / Bahrain : In the capital of the country in the Far East there are riots between the police and demonstrators. Previously there were demonstrations against the Iraq war .
  • Pakistan : 50,000 people demonstrate against the Iraq war in Lahore . They burn dolls of US President George W. Bush.
  • Turkey : In an interview with the US magazine "Newsweek", Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that the US Secretary of State Colin Powell had agreed to the invasion of Iraq in return for the opening of Turkish airspace.

Monday March 24, 2003

  • Baghdad / Iraq : Saddam Hussein calls on the Iraqis in a speech for “ holy war ”. Baghdad has been the target of heavy air strikes for the fifth night in a row.
  • Hamburg / Germany : A peace demonstration by more than 20,000 schoolchildren in front of the US consulate develops into riots in which several people are injured.
  • India : In Kashmir -Gebirge be police said in Nadimarg , about 50 kilometers south of Srinagar , at least 24 in an attack Hindus killed.
  • Iraq : According to media reports, Iraqi units are still resisting in Basra and Umm Qasr, and in Faw the Allied soldiers are involved in street fighting, according to the broadcaster Al Jazeera . US units are said to have advanced to the city of Karbala about 80 kilometers from Baghdad and bypassed enemy formations. The Iraqi resistance and sandstorms are hindering the advance on Baghdad , according to reporters for the BBC broadcaster .
  • Kuwait : According to the Defense Ministry, an Iraqi missile was intercepted over the country .
  • United States : According to a report by the science magazine New Scientist , a working artificial synapse is being made in the laboratory for the first time .

Tuesday March 25, 2003

Wednesday March 26, 2003

Thursday March 27, 2003

  • Baghdad / Iraq : The heavy bombing raids on the city continued. Another apartment block is hit in the south. According to Defense Minister Sultan Hashim Ahmed, the Iraqi leadership expects the US and its allies to enclose Baghdad within five to ten days.
  • Germany : According to a ruling by the Federal Labor Court, employers may, in exceptional cases, monitor their employees with hidden video cameras if there is a concrete suspicion that the employees are committing criminal acts.
  • Iraq : Allied ground forces encounter strong resistance from Iraqi forces. The cities of Karbala and Najaf are particularly hotly contested. In the north of the country, about 50 kilometers northeast of Erbil , about 1,000 US parachutists landed to conquer an airfield near Baschur . A northern front is to be built from there.
  • Nasiriya / Iraq : Tallil Airport near the city has been reopened by US troops. It should become an important base for supplies.
  • United States : British Prime Minister Tony Blair was in Camp David to visit US President George W. Bush to discuss how to proceed in the war. When asked how long the war will last, Bush replied, “It's not a question of timing. The war will last until Iraq is defeated. "
  • United States : There is a dispute in the UN Security Council over the management of the money from the revenues of the Iraqi oil wells. Russia is opposed to the demand to leave the practical implementation of the "Bread for Oil" aid program to the USA and Great Britain.
  • Four months after the sinking of the "Prestige" tanker off the Spanish coast, the transport ministers of the member states of the European Union agreed on a ban on single-hull tankers for the transport of heavy fuel oil. The directive will come into force once the European Parliament has given its approval.

Friday March 28, 2003

  • Baghdad / Iraq : The Iraqi capital was hit by the heaviest bomb attacks in days. American B-2 stealth bombers have dropped two "bunker buster bombs" (bombs that break bunkers) on the east bank of the Tigris . The attacks were mainly directed against the Republican Guards and telephone exchanges.
  • Basra / Iraq : The humanitarian situation in the city deteriorated dramatically.
  • Erbil / Iraq : Airplanes are said to have landed continuously in the vicinity of the city last night . A new front is to be erected there.
  • Frankfurt am Main / Germany : The district court imposed a fine of 59.3 million euros on Deutsche Bank for aiding and abetting tax evasion .
  • Iran : For the first time, major demonstrations against the war in Iraq are taking place in the country . Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in the capital Tehran . Stones were thrown at the British embassy.
  • Istanbul / Turkey : A Turkish Airbus with 196 passengers, including three Turkish parliamentarians, is hijacked after take-off in Istanbul. The machine later lands in the Greek capital Athens , where the kidnapper surrenders to the authorities.
  • Japan : For the first time, two spy satellites from the Tanegashima Space Center were launched into space with an H2-A launcher to monitor the North Korean missile program from a height of 400 to 600 kilometers regardless of the weather. Two more spy satellites are to follow.
  • Kuwait City / Kuwait : A rocket struck the city . The government blames Iraq. But there are also voices who doubt it, since no launch pads have yet been found in southern Iraq.
  • Nasiriya / Iraq : Heavy fighting with tanks and artillery pieces took place around the city . According to CNN , 12 soldiers are missing and 14 are said to be injured. A power station and other buildings went up in flames.
  • Umm Qasr / Iraq : The first British ship with relief supplies docked in the port city .
  • United States : General William Wallace admitted the enemy was underestimated. Another 100,000 more soldiers are to be sent to Iraq.

Saturday March 29, 2003

  • Baghdad / Iraq : The capital continued to be heavily bombed. On Saturday night, many civilian buildings are said to have been hit. The Ministry of Information, where numerous journalists work, was also damaged. A market square was hit in the west of the city , leaving numerous dead and injured. The US troops are about 80 kilometers from the city. There were rumors that the US Central Command in Qatar denied that the advance was stopped because there were problems with supplies. Meanwhile, the government has announced that it is opposed to the "Oil for Bread" program adopted by the UN Security Council.
  • Basra / Iraq : A building with 200 Iraqi fighters is said to have been hit in a bomb attack.
  • Germany : Around 50,000 people gather at Berlin's Victory Column to protest the war in Iraq . Between the town halls of Osnabrück in Lower Saxony and Münster in North Rhine-Westphalia there was a 50-kilometer-long peace chain in which around 40,000 people were involved. The US command center ( EUCOM ) in Stuttgart-Vaihingen was surrounded by a human chain in which around 7,000 to 10,000 people were involved. Further demonstrations took place in Hamburg , Rostock , Bremen , Hanover and Frankfurt am Main .
  • Geresk / Afghanistan : 2 soldiers were killed near the city in an attack on the US protection force (ISAF) contingent.
  • Kandahar / Afghanistan : According to a police spokesman, US attack helicopters and B-52 bombers were used north of the city to drive away suspected Taliban fighters.
  • Qatar : The US military leadership admits that Tomahawk cruise missiles have hit Saudi Arabia , but it has not yet been clarified where they came from.
  • Najaf / Iraq : Four US soldiers are killed in a suicide attack by a taxi driver at a checkpoint near the city . The Iraqi government has announced further attacks.

Sunday March 30, 2003

  • Baghdad / Iraq : A district and positions of the Republican Guards are bombed.
  • Iraq : Further fighting took place in Najaf , Nasiriya and Basra in the south of the country and in Mosul and Kirkuk in the north. The people there are not only threatened by weapons, the water shortage is also taking on dramatic proportions. The Iraqi side corrects the number of dead and injured. There are said to have been 357 (so far 580) dead and 3,650 (so far 4,500) injured civilians . The Pentagon reports the crash of a helicopter in the south of the country. Three soldiers are said to have died and one was injured.
  • Israel : At least 30 people were injured in a suicide attack near Netanya .
  • Jakarta / Indonesia : More than 300,000 people protested against the war in Iraq in the capital of Indonesia.
  • Kabul / Afghanistan : A rocket struck the headquarters of the international protection force ISAF . However, nobody was injured in the process.
  • Beijing / China : The leadership allowed demonstrations against the war for the first time. The officially limited number of 200 foreigners moved to the residence of the US ambassador. There was also a demonstration by Chinese people in a park.
  • Rabat / Morocco : 200,000 people demonstrated against the war in Iraq in the capital of Morocco .
  • Seoul / South Korea : 30,000 opponents of the war were counted in Seoul, who also demonstrated against the government's decision to participate in the war in sanitary and maintenance work.
  • United Kingdom : Robin Cook , former Foreign Secretary, calls for the withdrawal of all British soldiers from Iraq.

Monday March 31, 2003

See also

Web links

Saxony in March 2003
Commons : March 2003  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ UAE proposes Saddam exile to avert was. In: wam.ae, Emirates News Agency. March 1, 2003, accessed November 22, 2018 .
  2. ↑ USA dismayed about Turkey no. In: rp-online.de . March 1, 2003, accessed November 30, 2018 .
  3. ^ The election of the Prime Ministers in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein. In: nomos.de , material from NordÖR . September 2013, accessed on October 21, 2017 : "Day of the Prime Minister's Election, Name of the Prime Minister"
  4. ↑ Looss viru blénken d'Fräiheetsfritten. In: land.lu . April 3, 2003, accessed April 28, 2019 .
  5. ↑ boerse.de : Strongest indices since the Dax low on March 12, 2003 ( Memento from April 22, 2019 in the Internet Archive )
  6. ↑ onfocus.com: Disinfopedia ( Memento from September 26, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) (English)
  7. ↑ Short bio of presidential candidate in Turkey elections. In: hurriyetdailynews.com . July 24, 2018, accessed April 28, 2019 .
  8. ^ The 75th Academy Awards. In: oscars.org . Retrieved February 1, 2017 .
  9. ^ Text of Saddam Hussein's Speech. In: nytimes.com . March 24, 2003, accessed November 10, 2018 .
  10. ^ Synapse chip taps into brain chemistry. In: newscientist.com . March 24, 2003, accessed September 17, 2016 .
  11. ↑ Passengers Freed After Turkey Hijacking. In: cbsnews.com . March 28, 2003, accessed April 28, 2019 .