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Iraq
Ready to Defend Itself against U.S. Aggression: Iraqi Deputy PM
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Aziz sees U.S. foreign policy as a threat to the whole world |
PRETORIA,
July 9 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – Tuesday Iraqi Deputy
Prime Minister Tareq Aziz said Iraq was an independent country ready
to defend itself against aggression. This came a day after U.S.
President George W. Bush threatened to overthrow Iraqi President
Saddam Hussein.
Aziz
was speaking at the end of a six-day visit to South Africa to
strengthen bilateral ties between the two countries.
On
Monday, Bush vowed at a news conference in Washington to use "all
tools" at his disposal to overthrow Saddam Hussein.
"It's
a stated policy of this government to have regime change. And it
hasn't changed. And we'll use all tools at our disposal to do
so," the U.S. President said.
The
Bush administration has repeatedly threatened to topple Saddam's
regime, which it accuses of developing weapons of mass destruction.
For
his part, Aziz reacted saying, "President Bush and his government
did not bring the Iraqi leadership to power in Iraq, and therefore
they cannot remove the leadership from this place.
"The
people of Iraq are an independent people... they are capable of
defending their sovereignty their dignity and integrity,"
reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"We
are very well prepared to defend the country against any kind of
aggression," Aziz added.
U.S.
foreign policy is a threat not only to Iraq but to the world, Aziz
said.
"As
far as Iraq is concerned we have been the victim of American
aggression since 1990, so it is not surprising that they are
continuing their threats. We are very well prepared to defend our
country against any kind of aggression."
Aziz
proclaimed Iraq's support for the African Union, launched in the east
coast city of Durban on Tuesday to replace the 39-year-old
Organization of African Unity.
"This
union is going to create an international organization that will help
create peace and security and justice... and we will always stand in
support of the African Union," he said.
In
June, Bush was reported to have given the Central Intelligence Agency
extra powers to conduct covert operations against the Iraqi leader,
including the possible use of special forces teams inside Iraq,
reported BBC’s online news service.
Speculation
of U.S. action against the Baghdad government has been growing since
the 11 September attacks on the U.S.
Hawkish
sections of the Bush administration did little to disguise their
belief that Iraq will at some point be included in its war on
terrorism.
However,
concern has been growing among U.S. allies at Bush's unilateralist
approach.
Such
concerns grew more acute last week when talks aimed at putting United
Nations weapons inspectors back into Iraq broke down.
Accounting
for Iraq's weapons of mass destruction is key to suspending
12-year-old UN sanctions, imposed after Iraq invaded Kuwait in August
1990.
Bush
declined Monday to comment on a New York Times report about a draft
military plan for an invasion of Iraq.
The
report said an attack would involve tens of thousands of U.S. Marines
and soldiers, probably invading from Kuwait.
He
said: "Listen, I recognize there's speculation out there, but
people shouldn't speculate about the desire of the government to have
a regime change," Bush said. "And there's different ways to
do it."
The
United States frequently clashed militarily with the Iraqi leader
since leading a coalition force in 1991 to expel him from Kuwait.
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