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Tuesday, September 10, 2002 - Web posted at 16:21:09 GMT Iraqi VP urges Arab attacks on US "material and human interests" AMMAN, Sept 10 (AFP) - Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan called Tuesday on the "Arab masses" to hit at American lives and property in case of a US assault on his country. |
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"We call on the Arab masses to fight against the material and human interests of the aggressors wherever they are," he said after talks with Jordan's King Abdullah II. "It is a human right, in that any aggression against Iraq will constitute an aggression against the Arab nation and humanity because it aims at imposing (US) hegemony and a new colonialism." Asked about an Iraqi response to a US attack and if it would extend to Israel, Ramadan replied: "All in good time." But he added: "Iraq has the right to defend itself, and oppose by all means any attack from wherever it comes and whatever its base." Iraq fired Scud missiles at Israel, causing a number of casualties, after US-led forces launched a successful drive in February 1991 to expel Baghdad's troops from Kuwait, which they had occupied seven months before. Israel, which heeded US calls not to retaliate at the time, has said it will respond next time. Washington is seeking to oust Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and has threatened to attack Iraq unless it gets rid of weapons of mass destruction it is alleged to possess. Ramadan accused the United States of seeking to control Arab oil wealth, which would only be possible if Iraq were "eliminated". He said Washington's "subordinate" Britain, whose prime minister Tony Blair is US President George W. Bush's strongest backer, "hated" Iraq, which it once ruled. Ramadan however praised Germany, which rejects any attack on Iraq, and disclosed that Iraq had asked countries with close to ties to France to persuade Paris to strengthen its own opposition to US strategy. The Iraqi leader dismissed as "shameful" a report issued Monday by the London-based International Institute of Strategic Studies saying that Baghdad still possessed weapons of mass destruction and was seeking to obtain a nuclear arsenal. "UN inspectors who stayed more than seven years in Iraq and searched every corner of the country, including in mosques and churches, in pursuit of weapons of mass destruction, were certainly not fools," he said. Ramadan said he had given King Abdullah a message from Saddam Hussein concerning the latest developments in the situation. "We hope that Jordan will play its role as a neighbouring Arab country", he said, warning: "We are sure that any harm suffered by Iraq will have an impact on the Arab nation, in particular Jordan." Although a close US ally, Amman has so far steadfastly rejected any suggestion it might serve as a key launch-pad for a US-led strike on Iraq, which supplies all Jordan's oil. During a reception for a delegation of Japanese MPs last week, King Abdullah reiterated his opposition to military action. In Baghdad newspapers published Monday, Ramadan warned that the United States would face "failure and humiliation" if it made good on its threat to attack. He also said an eventual resumption of UN arms inspections in Iraq hinged on a "comprehensive settlement" of outstanding issues with the United Nations, in particular a lifting of 12-year-old sanctions, the official INA news agency reported. "Iraq is prepared to comply with UN Security Council resolutions provided the United Nations too honours its commitments," INA quoted him as telling former UN arms inspector Scott Ritter. Statements by US and British officials accusing Iraq of developing weapons of mass destruction were "illogical" and "lacked objectivity", Ramadan added. mk-rh/mb/kir Nampa-AFP WEB story ENDS (NAMPA 101217) |
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