April 15 - Tuesday
Reconstruction
A city council and police force were being formed in Diwaniyah, a leadership council was established in Karbala, and coalition forces were working with local experts to restore power in Nasiriyah, which could help jump-start an adjacent grid in Basra.
Palestinian Abu Abbas, wanted for the hijacking of the Achille Lauro cruise ship in 1985, is reported captured by US-led forces in Baghdad, Iraq.
Dozens of civilians have been killed in Kirkuk since 10 April, and looting and forced expulsions continue. The report says US-led forces contravene Geneva Convention by failing to bring law and order.
Rallies take place in Baghdad, calling for law and order to be restored in Iraq

Interim Government
Delegates at an Iraqi opposition meeting held at the Tallil air base near the ancient Mesopotamian city of Ur issue a 13-point plan on the future of Iraq, including the dissolution of the former ruling Baath party.
Iraqi factions end meeting in Ur with agreement to convene again in 10 days.
Thousands of Shiite Muslims whose representatives boycotted the meeting demonstrated in nearby Nasiriya against the gathering. Many of those who did not attend said they opposed United States plans to install the retired Lt. Gen. Jay Garner to run an interim administration in Iraq.
The American-led interim administration could begin handing power back to Iraqi officials within three to six months, but forming a government will take longer

Weapons of Mass Distraction?
Several of the plants named before the war as potential places for chemical and biological warfare manufacture were inspected by the UN teams and found not to be incriminating.
None of the 12 to 20 Scud missiles Iraq was accused of retaining have been found.
Nor have the mobile biological warfare laboratories have been found
The United States and Britain have started to look for evidence on the ground. They are currently unwilling to let the UN do the job.

Rhetoric vs. Syria
Bush administration officials continued to accuse Syria of helping members of Saddam Hussein's family and leadership circle to escape to Syria and allowing some members of Hezbollah to travel from Syrian-controlled southern Lebanon to Iraq.
US Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says US forces have blocked a pipeline used to pump Iraqi oil to Syria in a volume that allegedly violated UN sanctions.
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar says Syria is a friend of his country and will not be the target of any military action.