Reporters on the Job

• MOONLIGHTING SURGEON: The Monitor's Peter Ford arrived at the Al Kindi hospital at 10 p.m. Wednesday and stayed until 8:30 a.m. the next day before going back to his hotel to write today's story on disorder in Baghdad. But he says his Iraqi interpreter put in a more grueling shift. "He's a heart surgeon who's moonlighting. He wasn't on duty at the hospital last night. But as we were interviewing someone and he'd catch sight of someone bleeding in a corner and suddenly dash off to perform surgery. He saved at least two lives last night," says Peter. "It's the first time I've had a heart surgeon as an interpreter."

• GALLOWAY DOCUMENTS: The Mail on Sunday, a British newspaper, reported earlier this week that it had "uncovered a plot to sell forged documents incriminating" George Galloway, a member of Parliament.

The Mail said its investigation "cast serious doubts" over the Monitor's April 25 report that it had official Iraqi documents authorizing more than $10 million in payments to Mr. Galloway between 1992 and 2003.

The Mail on Sunday paid £1,500 ($2,434) to Gen. Salah Abdel Rasool for documents showing payments to Galloway. An expert said the Galloway signature on the documents purchased in Iraq appeared to be forged. "This is a pile of rubbish," Galloway told the Mail. "It would be absolutely reckless for any newspaper to accept these as authentic."

The Mail has apparently purchased a different set of documents from the ones used in the Monitor story. The Monitor documents do not contain Galloway's signature. The Monitor did not pay for any of the Iraqi documents in its possession, nor was any payment ever discussed. The Monitor is continuing to examine the documents and has found nothing yet to cast doubt on their authenticity.

David Clark Scott
World editor