IRAQ/FRANCE: CALL FOR SERIOUS DIALOGUE TO RESOLVE GULF CRISIS скачать в хорошем качестве

IRAQ/FRANCE: CALL FOR SERIOUS DIALOGUE TO RESOLVE GULF CRISIS

(14 Nov 1997) English/Nat Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf says he expects a U-S military strike against his country soon. Speaking in Baghdad on Friday al-Sahhaf called for clear and serious dialogue to resolve the crisis, and denied Iraq was seeking a confrontation. But he said that his country - having survived the Gulf War in 1991 - was ready for anything the Americans and President Clinton could throw at them. Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf addressed a Baghdad news conference the day after his country expelled six American weapons inspectors. That move prompted the U-N to withdraw all its remaining international inspectors as a mark of protest. With the region's worst diplomatic crisis since the Gulf War of 1991 looming, President Clinton ordered two U-S aircraft carriers into the region. On Friday Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf accused Clinton of acting outside the authority of the U-N. SOUNDBITE: (English) "It seems very clear that he had taken the decision without referring to the Security Council. It is not within his authority. In fact he has implemented an American decision" SUPER CAPTION: Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, Iraqi Foreign Minister The foreign minister said that the U-N was losing credibility by simply following the American line as the crisis escalated. And he denied the action of his government in expelling the U-S weapons inspectors was provocative. He said that far from courting danger, Iraq was simply waiting for the first act of aggression from the U-S. That, he said, could come soon. SOUNDBITE: (English) "We do not seek any confrontation. If I may reword your question. How near the Americans and their stooges the British are from launching an aggression against us at any moment - this would not surprise us at all." SUPER CAPTION: Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, Iraqi Foreign Minister Saeed al-Sahhaf then issued a statement of defiance - vowing to withstand any offensive the Americans could launch at them. SOUNDBITE: (English) "I think that in 1991 we have stood a Third World war - so Iraq will stand any aggression whatever it is." SUPER CAPTION: Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, Iraqi Foreign Minister Iraq's deputy prime minister, Tariq Aziz, made a refuelling stop in Paris on Friday evening while on his way back to the Middle East. Aziz was returning from a visit to New York where he discussed the current crisis with the U-N. He said United Nations resolutions would not scare Iraq into backing down from its opposition to weapons inspections which include American inspectors. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...