Quotes of the Day

"It was not in conformity with the U.N. charter from our point of view ... it was illegal." KOFI ANNAN, U.N. Secretary-General, commenting on the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in an interview with the BBC

"They have taken their eye off the ball. They took it off in Afghanistan and shifted it to Iraq. They took it off in North Korea and shifted it to Iraq." JOHN KERRY, U.S. Democratic presidential candidate, accusing the Bush Administration of losing focus by invading Iraq

"It is not life. At least the prisoner stays in one place with a guard outside. We are always moving, and only God is watching." ABDUL WAHED HASHIM, Iraqi businessman, after months of sleeping in different houses and constantly changing cars to avoid being kidnapped, on the lack of security in Iraq

"It's beyond pitiful. It's beyond embarrassing. It's now in the zone of dangerous." CHUCK HAGEL, U.S. Senator, referring to numbers showing that less than 6% of the money allocated by Congress last year for the reconstruction of Iraq has been spent

"I don't know bin Laden. I don't get money from him, but I wouldn't turn it down." SHAMIL BASAYEV, Chechen rebel leader, responding to Russian President Vladimir Putin's allegations linking Basayev's group to al-Qaeda

"Look what they tried to do to Richard Clarke. Look what they did to Paul O'Neill ... If they don't like the message, beat up on the messenger." KITTY KELLEY, U.S. writer, whose sensational new book on the Bush family has been widely attacked by Republicans

"I don't think the images are shocking, because that's the first thing you see when you are born." YOKO ONO, Japanese artist, on My Mother Was Beautiful, her display of banners featuring multiple images of a female breast and crotch, to be hung this week at John Lennon Airport in Liverpool, England

• Quotes of the Week