World reacts to US, British Attacks

The Final Call, 21 December 1998

Condemnations, mass protests and demonstrations marked the end of the US led air bombing campaign against Iraq.

Below are summaries of world public reaction to the US-British four day bombing campaign which started on December 15.:

OAU Deplores Iraq’s Bombing

Africa can only regret that more decent ways cannot be found on the international scene to settle a conflict between Iraq and the international community, said Organization of African Unity (OAU) chairman, President Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso.

Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR-Malaysian youth leaders on Friday demonstrated in front of the US embassy to condemn the US-British air strikes against Iraq.

The Malaysian newspaper, The Utusan Malaysia said the Muslim world must condemn the US air strike. Whatever reason given by Washington will not cleanse the bloody hands of President Bill Clinton. Malaysian leaders also called for boycotts on US goods in protest against the air strikes.

Thousands rally in Libya

TRIPOLI-Over 10,000 Libyans rallied in Tripoli’s Green Square to show solidarity with Iraq, condemning the US-British bombing raids. They shouted slogans against the US and Israel and attacked the lack of Arab coordination in resisting plans to exterminate Arabs and Muslims.

Saudi government support attacks, blames Iraq

The official Saudi Arabia news agency, SPA quoted a Saudi official as saying, The Saudi government is following with deep concern the situation in Iraq and the strike operations because of its refusal to cooperate with experts from the UN Special Commission charged with disarmament.

Pope expresses solidarity with Iraqi people

VATICAN CITY-Pope John Paul II, addressing nearly 10,000 people in St. Peters’s Square, expressed bitterness at the failure of international law and organizations charged with upholding international law to resolve the crisis peacefully.

Mixed Asian Reaction

While staunch US allies Japan and Australia backed the bombings, China, who called for the immediate resignation of Chief UN inspector Richard Butler, appealed for diplomatic means of resolving the crisis.

Philippines

Calling for a jihad against the US imperialists, Ustadz Shariff Julabi, an official of the Philippines Moro Islamic Liberation Front said, The slaughter of innocent Muslims in Iraq, by the United States and its evil allies is the work of Satan. There is no justification in the attacks, Julabi said, stressing the aggressor did not even respect the religion of Islam.

Indonesia

This is purely a brutal aggression which completely ignores international laws. All Indonesians condemn this act of barbarity, said Lukman Harun, a deputy chairman of the Indonesian Council of Muslim Scholars, the nation’s highest Islamic authority.

Deputy priest Ahmed Bukhari of India’s largest mosque, the Jama Masjid, said the decision to call of strikes on Baghdad after Ramadan began in Iraq would not fool Muslims. After committing all the destruction it wanted to, America has now called off the bombings with the start of Ramadan. But no one in the Islamic world is going to be fooled by this, he said.

Sudan offers its resources to the people of Iraq

KHARTOUM-Sudan’s resources are at Iraq’s disposal in the face of US and British aggression, Hassan al-Turabi told worshippers after weekly prayers, Sudanese press reported here Saturday. Turabi criticized the attitude of some Arab and Muslim leaders toward the ordeal of the Iraqi people saying their indifference could persuade the Americans and Zionists into entering the holy lands in Mecca and Medina in Arabia.

Outraged Russia breaks nuclear treaty, recalls ambassadors

MOSCOW-Russia voiced indignation at US-led strikes against Iraq, while Communist lawmakers dumped ratification of a key nuclear disarmament treaty.

Russia has recalled its ambassadors to the United States and Britain in protest at the attacks on Iraq, reported IRAR-TASS.

Briefing deputies over the air strikes, Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov lambasted chief UN weapons inspector Richard Butler, saying he bore ’personal responsibility for the development of events. That is why we are going to insist that he is replaced by more professional and experienced specialists.

Ivanov said Butler’s report to the U.N. Security Council, which accused Iraq of frustrating efforts to eliminate its weapons of mass destruction, had served as a pretext for the air strikes.

Russian President, Boris Yeltsin said in a statement, Such a development, which Russia has repeatedly spoken out against, evokes our most serious concern, a feeling of indignation and deep anxiety.

Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov strongly rejected the arguments put forward by Washington, saying Russia viewed the strikes as a gross violation of UN Security Council resolutions, of the UN Charter and the universally acknowledged principles of international law.

Former Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev likewise condemned the attacks on Baghdad, calling the US strikes inadmissible and a blow to the United Nations Organization.

Thousands march in Syria, attack US, British embassies

DAMASCUS-Thousands of protesters, led by many university students, filled the streets of Syria in spontaneous demonstrations. After scaling the embassy wall of the US embassy, protesters ripped down and burned a US flag before marching toward the nearby residence of the US ambassador. US guards inside the compound fired tear gas at the protesters before Syrian police intervened. Protesters also stormed the British Cultural Council offices before dispersing.

The Syrian Government has strongly condemned the US and British attacks on Iraq.

Elsewhere, there have been protests in Palestine, Bulgaria, Egypt, Yemen, Germany, India, Pakistan, Lebanon, Iran, China, Jordan, Oman, Morocco and Britain.