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“The
rumours (of my defection) are part of the psychological war being
waged by the U.S. to sap the morale of the Iraqi people,” Aziz
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BAGHDAD,
March 19 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Iraq's long-serving
Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz surfaced at a news conference here
Wednesday, March 19, to personally deny he had defected and asserted
it was "impossible" for President Saddam Hussein to bow to a
U.S. ultimatum to go into exile.
“The
rumours (of my defection) are part of the psychological war being
waged by the United States ... to sap the morale of the Iraqi
people," Agence France-Presse (AFP) quoted the ruling Baath Party
veteran as telling reporters at the televised press conference.
"The
rumours speak for themselves. As you see, I am with you in the great
city of Baghdad," Aziz said in a reference to allegations that he
had gone to Kurdish-held northern Iraq.
"We
expect many such rumours in the coming days and months" about
defections in the Iraqi leadership, he added.
Turning
to U.S. President George W. Bush's ultimatum
to Saddam, expiring at 0100 GMT Thursday, to leave or face the
invasion aimed at ousting him, Aziz told reporters: "Bush said he
was asking the great leader Saddam Hussein to leave his country --
this, obviously, is impossible."
“Bush
is also asking the Iraqi people and the Iraqi armed forces to allow
the entry of U.S. forces. In other words, he wants to occupy Iraq for
free, without a single shot being fired. This is an illusion, of
course,” Aziz said.
Aziz
described the more than 250,000 U.S. and British troops massed at
Iraq's doorstep as "mercenaries" who would be repelled by a
people defending their land.
"We
are confident of victory, first because ... we believe in God's will,
and secondly because we are defending (our) right," Aziz said.
"We
(will be) fighting on our land, which we know well, whereas their
soldiers ... are no more than mercenaries without a cause who cannot
stand up to the Iraqi soldier defending his land and honour."
The
White House said Tuesday, March 18, that U.S.-led troops would enter
Iraq to hunt for its alleged weapons of mass destruction even if
Saddam bowed to the ultimatum.
The
Democratic Party of Kurdistan (KDP), one of the two main Kurdish
factions that control northern Iraq, also denied the defection rumour.
"All
rumours that senior Iraqi officials have defected to us are
false," Democratic Party of Kurdistan (KDP) official Jawhar Salim
told a press conference here.
In
Kuwait, however, a U.S. officer said 15 Iraqi soldiers had crossed the
border and surrendered, while an official with one of the Kurdish
factions that controls northern Iraq said a number of Iraqis
"with minor responsibilities" had defected to Kurdish areas.
Earlier
in the day, the British Foreign Office said it was investigating a
rumour that Aziz had defected amid a massive build-up of U.S. and
British troops set to invade the country.
