Iraq war diary: 26 March, 2003

Iraq war diary: 26 March, 2003: 

"A subsidiary of Halliburton, vice-president Dick Cheney's old company, has been awarded a contract by the US army to put out fires and repair damaged infrastructure in the Iraqi oil industry. The value of the deal has not been officially disclosed, but is said to be in the region of $1bn.
Mr Cheney was chief executive of Halliburton until 2000 but gave up his stake in the company on becoming US vice-president. He reportedly still gets about $1m a year "compensation" from the company.
The British prime minister, Tony Blair, is due to meet President Bush in the US today. Apart from reviewing progress of the war, the two leaders are expected to discuss ways of patching up relations between the US and Europe once the war is over.
The UN security council has also scheduled an emergency meeting which is due to begin later today, possibly continuing until tomorrow. This is in response to calls from Arab and non-aligned countries for an end to the war and the withdrawal of US-led troops. It is unclear whether there will be any attempt to table a resolution to this effect – though such a move would almost certainly be vetoed by the US and Britain."