Iraq Urges Russia to Stop US, British AggressionIraqi Foreign Minister Muhammad Said Al-Sahaf on Tuesday urged Russia to play its role and make efforts to stop the aggression of the United States and Britain against Iraq.Al-Sahaf made the appeal in a letter to his Russian counterpart Igor Ivanov on Tuesday, the official Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported. He urged Russia, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, to halt the aggression of the US and Britain, adding that the US-British air strike against Friday evening was a wanton violation of the UN Charter and international law. Al-Sahaf stressed that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iraq, as a member state of the United Nations, must be safeguarded. Russia, an ally and the largest trade partner of Iraq, has been calling for lifting the UN sanctions against Iraq, triggered by Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990. The Iraqi foreign minister also sent similar letters to China and France, both permanent members of the UN Security Council, as well as other UN Security Council members, INA said. Iraq has launched a diplomatic campaign following the Friday air raids on southern areas of Baghdad by the US and British warplanes, the first outside the no-fly zones in more than two years. Iraq has urged UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, leaders of the Organization of the Islamic Conference and the Non-Aligned Movement to condemn the air strikes. Iraq said that two civilians were killed and more than 20 injured in the attack. Russia, China and France, as the majority of international community, have condemned the US and British military operation, saying that the Iraqi issue should be settled through political means. US and British warplanes have been enforcing the two no-fly zones with the claimed aim of protecting the Kurds in the north and Shiite Muslims in the south from the forces of President Saddam Hussein. |
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