Iraq Urges AL Move to End U.S., British AggressionIraq has asked the Arab League (AL) to exert pressure on the United States and Britain to stop their almost-daily aggressions on Iraq, the official Iraqi News Agency reported on Monday.In a letter to AL Secretary General Ahmed Esmat Abdel-Meguid, Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammad Said Al-Sahaf also demanded that the pan-Arab forum condemn the continuous aggressions on Iraq "in conformity with principles of the Arab League Charter," said the INA. In the letter, Sahaf elaborated on the bombings and violations by U.S. and British planes on Iraq on May 8-14, when they carried out 152 armed sorties from bases in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. The Iraqi government absolutely rejects the so-called no-fly zones imposed by the U.S. and Britain and "the feeble pretexts which the two states use to justify their military aggressions on our country," said Sahaf. Iraq has constantly protested to the AL over the aggressions of the U.S. and British planes taking off from bases in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, close allies of the U.S. in the Gulf region. U.S. and British planes have been enforcing the two no-fly zones in northern and southern Iraq since their imposition in the wake of the 1991 Gulf War. Iraq never recognizes the zones and has challenged the allied planes since December 1998 by targeting the aircraft with surface-to-air missiles and anti-aircraft artillery. |
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