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Egyptian FM Slams US-British Raids on Iraq As "Negative"
Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa has criticized the US-British air strike against Iraq Friday night as "a negative step," the Arabic Al Ahram daily reported Sunday.
Moussa dismissed the bombings, which left two civilians dead and more than 20 others injured, as "unacceptable," saying that Egypt " can not understand its purpose."
He said that the air raids "threaten Iraq's security and its sovereignty over its territory," adding that he will meet Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammed Said al-Sahaf and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to discuss the Iraqi issue.
Egypt's People's Assembly (parliament) Saturday condemned the US and Britain for the air strike. The attacks were "an aggression against the Iraqi people," Speaker of the Parliament Ahmed Fathi Sorour said in the name of all lawmakers.
According to the Pentagon, 24 US and British warplanes struck five Iraqi military targets, eight to 32 kilometers from the Iraqi capital Baghdad, using various long-range precision-guided weapons.
The attack, dubbed by the US a "routine mission," was the first on the Iraqi capital since December 1998, when the US and Britain launched a four-day bombardment against Iraq for its alleged refusal to cooperate with U.N. arms inspectors.
This was also the first air strike against Iraq ordered by US President George W. Bush.
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