Iraq Lashes Out at US Military Buildup in Gulf

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, December 24, 2002

Iraq Lashes Out at US Military Buildup in Gulf

Iraq on Monday accused the United States of carrying out a world war-grade buildup of forces in the Gulf region in a bid to control the whole Arab world.

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Iraq on Monday accused the United States of carrying out a world war-grade buildup of forces in the Gulf region in a bid to control the whole Arab world.

"This is a strategic buildup of forces almost fit for a world war," Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz said in a speech in the Emergency Conference for the Arab solidarity Committees in Baghdad.

"The immediate target is Iraq now and after that it would be theentire Arab nation from Morocco to Bahrain," he told the Afro-Asiansolidarity meeting in Baghdad's downtown Rasheed Hotel.

Aziz warned the world that the United States "aims to control the region politically, militarily, economically and culturally."

A US defense official said on Friday that Washington is planningto deploy an extra 50,000 troops and more military equipment to theGulf region by early January for a possible showdown with Iraq.

The United States has so far deployed about 65,000 US troops in the Gulf and the planned reinforcement will bring the total US forces in the region to above 110,000.

During the Monday meeting, Aziz reiterated that Iraq is free from any weapons of mass destruction, saying the United States is using "false and trivial pretext to push forward aggression againstIraq."

The United States, insisting that Iraq is secretly pursuing weapons of mass destruction programs, has threatened to take pre-emptive actions if Baghdad fails to disarm itself.

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