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Iraq Starts Diplomatic Offensive Against US-British
While vowing to use military measures to retaliate against last Friday's US-British air strikes on Baghdad, Iraq launched a diplomatic campaign to seek support and condemn the US and British military action.
The US and Britain sent warplanes to bomb communications and air defense targets near Baghdad on February 16. Two Iraqi civilians were killed and at least 20 others injured in the attack, the first major military operation order by US President George W. Bush since he took office on January 20.
Despite the attack, Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammad Said Al-Sahaf went along with his planed dialog with the United Nations. Before heading to New York, he said Iraq will focus the dialog on the US and British air raids, and demand that the UN shoulder its responsibility.
Sahaf is expected to begin dialog with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan from February 26-27 at the UN headquarters.
He said that he will detail the UN chief about the US- British "criminal aggression," and press him to safeguard the UN Charter and the international law."We can not let the UN subject to outlawed countries," he said.
Moreover, Sahaf said that he will get Annan acquainted with all the "injustices" that have been inflicted on Iraq, including the on-going daily patrols of the US and British planes over the two no-fly zones in the northern and southern parts of the country.
The air exclusion zones were set up by the US-led Western allies following the Gulf War, with the claimed aim of protecting the Kurds in the north and Shiite Muslims in the south. And they have been a major means by the US and Britain to keep Iraqi President Saddam Hussein at bay.
Meanwhile, Sahaf slammed Annan as well as the UN Security Council for keeping silent over the US and British bombings.
Earlier, in a letter to Annan on Sunday, two days after the air raids took place, Sahaf demanded Annan as well as the chairman of the UN Security Council to condemn the military aggression and take "appropriate steps" to prevent such attacks from happening again.
The sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iraq, as a UN member, must be safeguarded, Sahaf stressed.
Besides the UN, the Iraqi foreign minister on Monday sent letters to Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Abdelouhed Belkziz, Qatari Foreign Minister and president of the ninth session of the OIC summit Sheikh Hamad Jassim Jabir al-Thani, South African Foreign Minister and head of the Non-Aligned Movement Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.
He urged them to condemn the US and Britain for scorning the UN Charter and stressed that the aggression was "a dangerous escalation" threatening Iraq's security and sovereignty.
Iraq also called on Russia, an ally and the largest trade partner of Baghdad, to play its role and stop the US and British flexing of muscles against Iraq.
In a letter to his Russian counterpart Igor Ivanov on Tuesday, Al-Sahaf called on Russia, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, to make efforts to halt the aggression of the US and Britain.
Similar letters were also submitted to China and France, both permanent members of the UN Security Council, as well as other UN Security Council members.
In addition to all these efforts, Iraq wasted no time in rallying support from fellow Arab countries.
Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan took the latest move in this respect by flying to Tunisia on Tuesday for a visit aimed at seeking backing and promoting bilateral trade ties.
Tunisian Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi has demanded "a halt to the aggressive actions against Baghdad in violation of the sovereignty" of Iraq.
Following Ramadan's lead, other Iraqi officials are also expected to visit other capitals in the region soon.
The Iraqi National Assembly (parliament) on Monday called on Arab countries to vent their anger at the air strikes during US Secretary of State Colin Powell's upcoming Mideast visit.
February 24, the day Powell is to start his trip, should be declared "a day of anger and protest", National Assembly Speaker Saadoun Hamadi said in letters to Arab parliaments, calling on the Arab people to demonstrate against the "crimes" committed by the US and Britain.
Powell is scheduled to visit Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Syria, Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories during the Mideast tour.
Powell's first trip abroad as the US secretary of state is surely to have a bad start as the US and British air raids against Iraq have been roundly condemned, especially in the Arab countries.
Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets in Cairo, Amman and the Gaza City, holding aloft pictures of President Saddam Hussein, chanting anti-US and anti-Israeli slogans, torching US, British and Israeli flags.
Syria, the United Arab Emirates, Sudan, Yemen and other Arab countries have also denounced the US and British aggression against Iraq.
Analysts point out that whether Iraq can win its diplomatic offensive against the US and Britain remains to be seen, but it is certain that the US and Britain will become more and more isolated if they use force against Iraq in the future again, as their unilateral military attack against Iraq last Friday has been roundly condemned by countries around the wide.
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