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Iraq Won’t, Can’t Attack Israel, Has No Ties With Al-Qaeda: Official
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Israel has spread its batteries
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WASHINGTON,
August 25 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - A top Iraqi envoy denied
his country has ballistic missiles capable of striking Israel or ties
to groups behind the September 11 attacks, calling for talks to
resolve remaining issues between Iraq and the international community.
Israel has spread its batteries in case of an Iraqi missile attack if
the U.S. strikes Iraq.
"We
are asking to have a thorough discussion on what has been implemented
of all of the Security Council resolutions and what are the remaining
issues," Iraqi Ambassador to the United Nations Mohammed Aldouri
said Saturday, August 24, on CNN's "Novak, Hunt and
Shields" program.
In
his interview, Aldouri also denied Baghdad had any meaningful
relationship with Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, which is blamed
for the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, Agence
France-Presse (AFP) said.
"I
think United States knows better than anybody that Iraq has nothing to
do with all these terrorist attacks, with al-Qaeda, with Taliban, with
others," he said. "We have no relations at all."
The
Iraqi envoy did not directly address charges by U.S. Defense Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld that al-Qaeda had a presence on Iraqi soil.
However,
Iraq denied on Saturday that members of al Qaeda were present in the
north of the country, saying the United States had made the allegation
to justify its illegal presence in the region, CNN reported.
"This
is a lie. They have made the claim in order to justify their illegal
presence in northern Iraq and under the pretext that they want to
chase members of al Qaeda," Iraqi Vice-President Taha Yassin
Ramadan told the newspaper al-Itihad.
U.S.
President George W. Bush has declared Iraq, along with Iran and North
Korea, "an axis of evil" nation and said a regime change in
Baghdad was a key goal of his administration.
U.S.
officials charge Iraqi President Saddam Hussein would not hesitate
using weapons of mass destruction against U.S. interests and U.S.
allies, if he is given a chance.
Countering
these allegations, the Iraqi envoy denied his country possessed
nuclear weapons or any hidden Scud missiles capable of striking
Israel.
"We
don't have that," Aldouri said. "I think we are obliged to
have a very short-range missiles... We cannot reach Israel... And we
have no intention to do that."
Aldouri
also talked about the Iraqi invitation, made by the Iraqi foreign
minister Nagi Sabri on August 1, to the UN inspectors to come to Iraq
to discuss the issue, adding that the invitation was refused by the UN
chief Kofi Annan and then renewed by Iraq.
“We
wanted to continue the dialogue concerning the issue of inspections,
as well as that of sanctions,” he said.
Baghdad
was forced to destroy its arsenal of medium-range Scud missiles under
terms of UN ceasefire resolutions that brought an end to the 1991 Gulf
War. The resolutions also limited the range of its ballistic missile
force to 150 kilometers (95 miles), AFP said.
Meanwhile,
BBC’s online service said that Iraq is to launch a diplomatic
offensive to persuade Arab leaders that an American strike against
Baghdad would represent an attack on their countries too.
"In
a few days, emissaries of President Saddam Hussein will be sent to all
Arab countries to update their leaders on the real situation,"
Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan told the al-Ittihad weekly.
"We
are confident that they understand the American threats against Iraq
are against the whole Arab nation, and confirm the intentions of the
U.S.-Zionist administration to attack the capacities of the nation, be
it in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria, or elsewhere," he added.
Ramadan
also said the opposition of several European countries to an attack on
Baghdad could also give new impetus to Iraq's relations with the
European Union.
Iraq's
ambassador to Pakistan also called on Saturday for the support of
Muslim nations against a possible attack on his country by the United
States.
K.A.
Rawi said any military action against Iraq should be taken as a war on
the Muslim world.
"Iraqis
are fighting on behalf of all Muslims. It is a battle between Muslims
and...the Zionists led by the Americans," he told a news
conference in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.
"No
Muslim country can hide itself from the American aggression," he
said.
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