Iraqis Told to Prepare for War

16/07/2002| IslamWeb

HIGHLIGHTS: Iraqi Parliament Supports Saddam & is to Send Delegations to Arab & Islamic Countries||An Iraqi Civilian Killed & Six Others Wounded in Fresh Anglo-American Air Attacks Against Iraq||Jordan Emphatically Denies Reports that its Territory Will Be Used as Launching Pad for Invading Iraq|| STORY: President Saddam Hussein's powerful elder son Uday urged his father's regime, under threat of a US military strike, to prepare the Iraqi population for war. As the Iraqi parliament pledged its full support for Saddam and his steps to defend the country, Uday recalled the Gulf War: (Read map caption)

"The Iraqi population must be ... prepared on the psychological, military and national levels to oppose any enemy attack and support the burden of the war that risks being more ferocious than that of 1991."

In a document presented to parliament at a special session to discuss the threat of US attack, Uday, himself an MP, called for "strict security measures and the satisfaction of the basic needs of citizens" to avoid a repeat of the "treacherous acts" which Iraq witnessed in 1991.

Uday was referring to the Kurdish uprising in northern Iraq and that of Shiites in the south of the country in March 1991, in the wake of the Gulf War which saw a US-led coalition expel Iraqi troops from Kuwait.

MPs said in statement released at the session's end that they were "fully behind the command of President Saddam Hussein and support all steps he has taken or will take in the future to defend the security of Iraq, its independence and its national regime."

Parliament will also send delegations to Arab and Islamic countries as part of an information campaign on the US threats, which represent a "violation of the UN charter," Salem al-Qubaissi, head of the Iraqi parliament's committee for Arab and international affairs, told AFP.

Messages will also be sent to the US Congress, Qubaissi said, not ruling out the possibility of holding talks with senators "if they were ready for a just and fair discussion."

Qubaissi later told reporters the parliament would also propose an extraordinary meeting of the 22-member Arab League to discuss the US threats, as well as a similar meeting of the UN Security Council.

US President George W. Bush has renewed a pledge to use "all tools" at his disposal to oust Saddam, whom Washington accuses of developing weapons of mass destruction.

The prospect of US military action was further heightened after July 4-5 talks between Baghdad and the United Nations on the return of UN weapons inspectors to Iraq broke down.

FRESH ANGLO-AMERICAN AIR ATTACKS

American and British aircraft struck twice in Iraq over the weekend in attacks which Baghdad says left one civilian dead and six others injured.

A senior Pentagon official said that coalition planes patrolling no-fly zones over Iraq had hit air defence facilities on Saturday, while on Sunday they destroyed a mobile radar used for a surface-to-air missile launch.

But Brigadier General John Rosa also insisted that the strikes had been carried out in retaliation for earlier attacks on coalition aircraft, and that they did not mark an increase in US and British military activity in the country.

JORDAN WON'T BE USED AS A LAUNCHING PAD FOR AN ATTACK AGAINST IRAQ

Speaking to reporters at the Moufaq al-Salti Air Force Base in Azraq, 200 kilometers from the Iraqi border Monday, Jordanian Commander Mohammad al-Qouran reiterated Amman's official denial of reports that the country would be used as a launching pad for an invasion of Iraq. The Jordanian Information Ministry arranged a tour for western journalists on the same day to show that there are no American forces at its air bases. Jordanian Prime Minister Ali Abu al-Ragheb warned against attacking Iraq, saying the use of force against the kingdom's eastern neighbor will cause "harmfull" repression in the Middle East.

PHOTO CAPTION

Iraq said seven people were wounded when U.S. and British warplanes struck civilian targets in the south of the country July 13, 2002. An Iraqi military spokesman also said that Iraq's anti- aircraft missile defenses might have hit one of the attacking Western warplanes. (Reuters Graphic)
- Jul 13 2:57 PM