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Iraq Calls for Arab Protests Against Powell's Mideast Tour
The Iraqi National Assembly (parliament) called on Arab countries Monday to protest against the upcoming visit to the Mideast region by US Secretary of State Colin Powell.
In a statement carried by the official Iraqi News Agency, Iraq's parliament said that Powell's visit is to attempt to end the Palestinian Intifada (uprising) against Israel, and tighten the decade-old sanctions on Iraq, especially after the "latest aggression" against Iraq by the US and Britain.
February 24, the day Powell is to start his Mideast trip, should be declared "a day of protest," said the statement.
It called on the Arab people to demonstrate and express their anger against the "crimes" committed against the Palestinians and Iraqis.
The violent clashes between the Palestinians and Israeli troops since September 28 have left more than 400 people dead, most of them Palestinians.
On Friday evening, US and British warplanes bombed Iraqi communications and air defense targets in the south of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, killing two people and injuring 20 others.
This was the first attack on Baghdad since December 1998 and also the first major military operation against Iraq since US President George W. Bush took office on January 20.
Iraq, which has been under United Nations sanctions since its 1990 invasion of Kuwait, has vehemently condemned the air strikes and vowed to retaliate against the US and Britain.
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