4-17-2003 Thursday

4-17-2003 Thursday

Dressed for the occasion
President Bush meets pilots and crew members of the aircraft carrier USS Abrahan Lincoln after his plane landed on its deck Thursday. Bush used the occasion to declare major fighting over in Iraq.

Dust to dust
Iraqi Ali Majid Mohammed, 30, cries Thursday over the grave of his brother Walid, who disappeared in 1993. Walid's remains were unearthed shortly after this picture was taken, at a cemetery for political victims of Saddam Hussein's regime in Abu Ghraib, outside Baghdad. Like many others, Mohammed's family only discovered recently he was buried here, in one of hundreds of numbered graves. A list which matches numbers to names has just been made available, allowing for proper burial.

Curbside chat
An Iraqi man talks with a U.S. soldier as they sit on the curb at a checkpoint in Baghdad on Thursday.

Presidential icon
A student holds a picture of President Bush that she wears around her neck during a party at the Tahama Primary School in Kirkuk, Iraq, on Thursday. Students returned to school for the first time since the war in Iraq ended.

Baghdad smolders
Plumes of thick smoke mark Baghdad's skyline Thursday. U.S. forces have begun to crack down on lawlessness in the Iraqi capital amid criticism that they have not done enough to protect the city. Click "Play" to learn more.

Passed over
Iraqi Jews Jakob Yusef, 70, and niece Khalda Salih, 38, stand Thursday in their home in Baghdad's tiny Jewish enclave. The city's Jews are not formally celebrating Passover this year due to a lack of electricity and food and other problems associated with the war. The Jewish community there has dwindled to approximately 60 members from around 400,000 in the 1960s.