Iraq Vows to Use "All Means" in Self-Defense Against US AttacksIraq has the legal rights to defend itself "by all means" against any possible US attacks, a senior Iraqi official said Thursday."Iraq will defend its sovereignty by all means under the international law," Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Naji Sabri Ahmed told Iraqi television. Ahmed made the remarks after the United States threatened recently to launch fresh military attacks on Iraq. The threats showed the "foolishness and bankruptcy" of the US policy toward Iraq, he said. Last week, US President George W. Bush and the Pentagon threatened to launch air strikes on the Iraqi air defense system after the Iraqi air defense force nearly hit a US high-flying U-2 spy plane. Pentagon sources said on Tuesday that the US was drawing up plans for a military response to Iraq, which is reportedly stepping up a campaign to shoot down a US plane patrolling the no-fly zones in southern and northern Iraq. Iraq, whose air defense force has regularly fired missiles at US and British aircraft overflying the two air exclusion zones, has since repeated its resolve to challenge the US and British jets. The Western allies imposed the no-fly zones in 1991 to allegedly protect the Kurds in the north and the Shiite Muslims in the south from possible attacks by Iraqi government troops. Iraq does not recognized the two zones, which are not covered by any United Nations Security Council resolutions. |
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