US-British Bombing of Iraq Evokes Wrath in EgyptThe US-British air strikes on Iraq Friday night have aroused indignation among Egyptian people in all strata of society in Egypt.Over the past days, the Egyptian government has repeatedly condemned the bombings, which have killed two Iraqi civilians and injured at least 20 others. Foreign Minister Amr Moussa slammed the strike in several occasions as "negative, unjustifiable and unacceptable," which would "only bring about much trouble" in the region. Moussa criticised that the bombings, "which are outside international law," came when the Iraqi government was making efforts to start dialogue with the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the Iraqi issue. "Dialogue is the only way to resolve disputes and the recent anti-Iraqi strike would only worsen the situation," Moussa said. Ahmed Fathi Sorour, speaker of Egypt's People's Assembly (parliament), on Saturday condemned "in the name of all lawmakers" the US-British military actions as "an aggression against the Iraqi people." Thousands of Egyptian students in Cairo-based universities Sunday staged campus protests against the bombings. In the Islamic Al-Azhar University and the Ain Shams University, students rallied in anger, chanting anti-US and anti-British slogans. The Arab Nasserist Party said Monday in a statement that "the aggression exposes the unjustifiable US intentions to stay in the Gulf region under the pretext of protecting Arab countries against their Iraqi neighbor." The statement called on the Arab world to enhance unity in the struggle against what the party called "Zionist imperialist plots" to subjugate Arabs, as well as in the endeavor in defending their sovereignty and interests. It also urged Arab leaders to condemn the US-British aggression on Iraq and restore relations with Baghdad, saying that the aggression should top the agenda of the next Arab summit, which is scheduled to be held in Amman, Jordan, on March 27. The Arab Organization for Human Rights Sunday denounced the latest US-British strike on Iraq as "exercising power outside the UN mandate," saying that its timing was designed to worsen chaos in the Middle East. In defiance of US attempts to prevent the UN sanctions on Iraq from crumbling, Egypt is striving to help lift the decade-old sanctions and goes ahead with its plan to set up a free trade zone with Iraq in a bid to expand trade and economic ties with Baghdad. Iraq has been under sweeping US sanctions since its invasion of Kuwait in 1990. Egyptian Minister of Economy and Foreign Trade Youssef Boutros Ghali, heading a 180-member delegation, arrived in Baghdad on Sunday to activate a free trade agreement which was signed in January for the creation of the free trade zone. Ghali's visit came two days after the US and Britain launched air strikes on the southern outskirts of Iraqi capital Baghdad. The second delegation, grouping members of the Egyptian International Investment Group, is expected to visit Baghdad Tuesday to discuss with Iraqi officials issues on signing trade deals and developing infrastructure projects in Iraq. The delegation will also explore ways of providing the sanction-stricken Iraqi people with Egyptian products, including foodstuffs, medicine and school stationery. Cairo and Baghdad cut off ties in 1991 when Egypt joined the US-led multi-national coalition force to evict Iraqi troops out of Kuwait in the Gulf War. Egyptian diplomatic mission in Iraq was upgraded to the level of charge d'affaires last November to replace the interests section. Egypt has become Iraq's largest trade partner in the Arab world and the fifth largest in the world, after Russia, China, France and India. |
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