Iraq Is Able to Defend Itself: Saddam

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, December 06, 2001

Iraq Is Able to Defend Itself: Saddam

Iraqi President Saddam Husseinstressed on Wednesday that his country has the ability to defenditself and Iraq's position remains firm despite the threat of theU.S. military attacks.

Iraqi President Saddam Husseinstressed on Wednesday that his country has the ability to defenditself and Iraq's position remains firm despite the threat of theU.S. military attacks.

Saddam made the remarks during his meeting with visiting YemeniForeign Minister Abu Bakr Abdullah Al-Kurbi, the official INA newsagency reported.

During the meeting, Al-Kurbi conveyed to Saddam an oral messageof Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh on bilateral relations, andpromised that Yemen will exert continued efforts to lift the U.N.sanctions on Iraq, said the agency.

Yemen, which sided with Iraq in the 1991 Gulf War, has calledfor lifting the sanctions imposed on Iraq for its 1990 invasion ofneighboring Kuwait.

Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan visited Yemen in Augustthis year and signed a free trade agreement with Yemen to set up acommon market between the two Arab countries.

The visit by the Yemeni foreign minister came amid latestthreats by U.S. President George W. Bush, who hinted that the U.S.might target Iraq as part of its ongoing war on terrorism."As for Mr. Saddam Hussein, he needs to let inspectors back inhis country to show us that he is not developing weapons of massdestruction," Bush said on November 26.

When asked about the consequences if Saddam rejects, Bushreplied: "He will find out."

The U.S. demand has been rejected by Iraq, which has barred U.N.arms inspectors from returning since the U.S. and Britain launcheda four-day air war against Baghdad in December 1998.

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