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US 'backing terrorists' - Iraq
20/12/2002 18:50 - (SA)
Baghdad - The United States' material backing for groups opposed to President Saddam Hussein amounts to supporting terrorists, Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri said in a letter of protest to the United Nations, newspapers reported on Friday.
US President George W Bush's decision to provide US$92m in military equipment, and training to Iraqi dissident factions is tantamount to "backing groups of mercenaries and terrorists", said Sabri in the message to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.
Sabri also pointed out that the US move constitutes a "material breach" of clauses in the UN Charter and UN resolutions prohibiting interference in other countries' internal affairs.
The White House said earlier this month that Bush had directed the Pentagon to provide up to $92m in military equipment and training to Iraqi dissident groups.
A December 7 memorandum to Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin Powell named the Iraqi National Accord Movement, the Iraqi National Congress (INC), the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), the Constitutional Monarchy Movement, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) as eligible for the aid.
The six were the main players at a US-backed Iraqi opposition conference which ended in London on Tuesday with a decision to set up a joint committee to liaise between various dissident factions, and represent them in talks with world and regional leaders.
A separate message to Powell designated six other organisations as "democratic opposition" to President Saddam Hussein, making them eligible for US military assistance.
On Wednesday, the Pentagon said Washington and Budapest had agreed to a plan to train Iraqi exiles in Hungary to serve as interpreters for US forces in Iraq, and aid with Saddam's ouster.
"We have got the names of volunteers in exile, but until the training has actually started the numbers don't mean anything," said Pentagon spokesperson David Lapan.
The Hungarian government said it had authorised Washington to train up to 3 000 Iraqi exiles for interpreting and support tasks at the Taszar military base in the south of the country.
Lapan said the exiles would be trained as guides and in logistics, as well as interpreters, and come from a variety of Iraqi opposition groups in addition to the INC, the main umbrella group.
He stressed that the training would not be military, saying, "We are not training an Iraqi opposition army, but our purpose is to help Iraqis in freeing their country, in getting an Iraq free of dictatorship." - Sapa-AFP
- SAPA
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