Forward from www.mariamappeal.com
France Condemns Air Raids on Iraq
[AP, 04/07/00] - France on Friday strongly condemned recent U.S.-British air
raids in Iraq, calling them ``pointless and deadly.''
U.S. and British warplanes struck targets in southern Iraq on Thursday,
and the Iraqi military said they hit residential areas, killing 14
civilians and injuring 19.
``The bombings, pointless and deadly, which have caused, according to our
information, around 20 civilian victims over the past few days in southern
Iraq, are disquieting,'' Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Anne Gazeau-Secret
said at a news conference.
``We reaffirm our incomprehension, our profound unease in relation to the
pursuit and intensification of the air strikes against Iraq, in which the
people are the principal victims,'' Gazeau-Secret said.
Asked if she condemned the bombings, Gazeau-Secret said: ``We greatly
deplore them.''
France - along with Britain and the United States - helped establish
no-fly zones in the north and south of Iraq in 1991, at the end of the
Persian Gulf War. However, since 1998, France has not actively taken part
in patrolling the zones.
Iraq does not recognize the zones, which the allies say are meant to
provide aerial protection from government forces for Shiite Muslims in the
south and Kurds in the north. It began challenging the patrols in December
1998, and NATO forces often have responded by firing on Iraqi
anti-aircraft and radar installations.
The U.S. military confirmed that planes carried out strikes, but said they
were against military targets in response to attacks by Iraqi
anti-aircraft artillery. A spokesman said there was no immediate
indication of Iraqi casualties.
In Washington, State Department Spokesman James Rubin said Thursday that
France ought to direct its remarks to Iraq.
``If there's no point to these raids by us, the French government would be
well-advised to inform the Iraqi government ... to stop threatening
American pilots, then there won't be any need for the raids,'' he told
reporters.
Rubin said the no-fly zone was designed to prevent Iraq from using its air
space ``to maul its own citizens.''
``And as a result of the no-fly zone, they haven't been able to do that.
In order to keep that no-fly zone in place, we have to have protection for
our pilots,'' he said.
The number of deaths reported in the strikes was the highest since Aug.
17, when Iraq said 19 civilians were killed and 11 were injured during
attacks in northern and southern Iraq.
France's sharp criticism comes after the United States came under fire at
the United Nations Security Council for its policy toward Baghdad, with
accusations it is undermining U.N. relief efforts by blocking over $1
billion in goods bound for Iraq.
Iraq's friends on the council - Russia, France and China - held out the
toughest criticism during an open meeting of the council on Mar. 24.
Russia on Friday also protested the most recent U.S.-British airstrikes on
Iraq.
China Urges Western Planes to Stop Bombing Iraq
[Reuters, 04/07/00] - China urged the United States and Britain to halt
military action against Iraq and cancel the ``no-fly'' zones, the official
Xinhua news agency said on Friday.
``China is really concerned over the recent developments in Iraq and feels
deeply uneasy for the civilian casualties caused by the bombing,'' Xinhua
quoted Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Sun Yuxi as saying.
Sun said China had consistently advocated that Iraq's sovereignty,
territorial integrity and independence should be fully respected.
The Iraqi news agency said 14 people were killed and 19 injured by Western
air strikes in southern Iraq on Thursday.
The U.S. military's Central Command confirmed that U.S. attack jets and
British Royal Air Force Tornadoes struck anti-aircraft artillery targets
in southern Iraq on Thursday in response to ``repeated anti-aircraft
fire'' against warplanes patrolling the no-fly zone in the region earlier
in the day.
U.S. and British planes patrolling northern and southern Iraq frequently
clash with Iraqi air defences.
No-fly zones were declared in the two regions after the 1991 Gulf War by
the Western powers, who said they were needed to protect dissidents from
Iraqi air power.
