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International Criticism Forcing U.S.-U.K. To Rethink Iraqi Sanctions
LONDON, Feb 20 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Facing a bombardment of criticism over last week's bombing raid on Iraq, Britain said Tuesday it is looking for ways to make its opposition to President Saddam Hussein's regime "more effective," with the possibility of easing sanctions.
Britain and the U.S. are considering easing sanctions on Iraq as a result of widespread international condemnation in the launching of joint air strikes on Friday near Baghdad, CNN reports.
Foreign Secretary Robin Cook defended the joint U.S.-British bombing raid and countered criticism that the international trade embargo against Iraq was causing a humanitarian crisis.
Turkey, Russia and France said the attack overstepped the mandate to protect the no-fly zones, and said it criticized the sanctions regime and called for it to be softened.
Because of the pressure, British ministers are now actively considering a dual-track strategy to try to turn foreign opinion around, MSNBC reports.
"With the Americans, we are looking at ways of making our opposition to Saddam more effective," Cook said in an opinion piece in the Daily Telegraph newspaper.
"We need to re-focus international opinion on the continuing threat that he poses. We will continue to stand firm against Saddam and his attempts to bring death and suffering on the people of Iraq and his neighbors."
There has been speculation that Cook's comments meant Britain was contemplating a move towards "smart sanctions" against Iraq.
These are more specifically targeted measures to restrict the import of components for weapons of mass destruction and luxury items for Iraq's elite while easing the burden on the Iraqi population.
The bombing was intended to knock out Iraq's air defense system being used to target U.S.-British planes as they patrolled no-fly zones in northern and southern Iraq
U.S. and Britain have both said that their raid only targeted air defense sites around Baghdad that had improved Iraqi targeting of allied planes patrolling the southern no-fly zone.
A senior Iraqi official criticized the U.N. on Tuesday for failing to censure last week's air strikes, and suggested that the United States was preventing the United Nations from criticizing last week's attack.
"Where is the [U.N.] Security Council...where is the United Nations and where are those who defend the U.N.'s charter," said the official, Abdul-Ghani Abdul-Ghafur, reports MSNBC.
In partial recognition of worldwide criticism, a senior British diplomat is to meet U.S. officials in Washington on Thursday to explore an alternative format for implementing sanctions.
Meanwhile, an Iraqi delegation will meet U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan next week for talks aimed at trying to break the sanctions deadlock, CNN reports.
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