International pranksters The Yes Men have carried out an elaborate hoax, handing out over one million 'special edition' copies of The New York Times.

The fake newspaper announced that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan had ended and directed readers to an online spoof of the NYTimes.com website at www.nytimes-se.com.

The paper, dated 4 July, 2009, was handed out to commuters on the east and west coasts of the US. "Iraq War Ends", read the front page headline, mimicking the style and tone of the paper.

Other stories announced that "Court Indicts Bush On High Treason Charge" and "Public Universities To Be Free" as well an admission by Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice that the US Government had known Iraq did not have access to weapons of mass destruction.

The website, set up by The Yes Men, is also an alarmingly good copycat. Stories from the 14-page newspaper are all online as well as an advert for De Beers announcing that the diamond company will donate a "prosthetic for an African whose hand was lost in the diamond conflict".

The Yes Men have been in operation for several years. The core group have managed to remain secret while highlighting issues such as the 1984 Bhophal disaster in which three thousand people were killed mostly through elaborate acts involving hijacking conferences and staging pranks such as the one yesterday.

Their mission is to impersonate "big-time criminals in order to publicly humiliate them" according to their website. Targets include public leaders and large corporations.

One of The New York Times' online commentators, replying to the spoof, wrote: "Sorry, folks, the paper isn't free. And the Iraq war isn't over, at least not yet."

www.nytimes-se.com
www.theyesmen.org
www.nytimes.com

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