- Russia has condemned the latest US and British air raids
in Iraq, urging Washington and London to use their energies in the cause
of peace.
-
- "Any actions that violate Iraq's sovereignty and
territorial integrity, which must be respected according to UN resolutions,
are not to be allowed," the foreign ministry said in a statement issued
late Friday.
-
- "Our efforts should rather be concentrated on quickly
restoring Iraq's cooperation with the UN inspectors, so that the Iraq issue
could be resolved," the statement continued.
-
- US and British forces have recently stepped up their
air attacks in the no-fly zones that cover large swaths of northern and
southern Iraq.
-
- The zones were imposed by western powers after the 1991
Gulf War to contain Iraq militarily and help protect minority Kurd and
Shiite populations from reprisals by Saddam's forces.
-
- Baghdad does not recognize the air exclusion zones, which
are not sanctioned by any UN resolution.
-
- Iraq said on Friday that its ground defenses fired on
US and British warplanes raiding the south of the country, forcing them
to "flee" to their bases in Kuwait.
-
-
-
- Copyright © 2002 AFP. All rights reserved. All information
displayed in this section (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected
by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence
you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any
way commercially exploit any of the contents of this section without the
prior written consent of Agence France-Presses.
|
