- More than 3,000 people marched in Amman,
Jordan, after midday prayers. "Clinton, you coward, go hunt after
women," they shouted.
-
- > CAIRO, Egypt (AP-Reuters) -- The
airstrikes on Iraq boosted Saddam >Hussein's standing among fellow Arabs
and made a dangerous conflict >potentially more so, Arab commentators
said Sunday in a rare consensus.
-
- > Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa
called Sunday for a re-evaluation of >the role of UNSCOM, the UN's mission
to dismantle Iraq's attempts to >create nuclear, biological or other
weapons of mass destruction. Moussa >urged the United Nations to fire
UNSCOM chief Richard Butler, whose report >charging that Iraq obstructed
weapons inspectors triggered the airstrikes. >Moussa accused Butler
of unnecessarily escalating tensions. Iraq has >called Butler a pawn
of the Americans.
-
- Elsewhere in the Arab world, there was
clear agreement that the U.S.-British operation was a big mistake. "The
strike ends, but Saddam remains," said the Saudi newspaper Okaz. A
cartoon showed Saddam in an underground bunker, relaxing in an armchair
with a cigar while watching TV coverage of the bombardment.
-
- Reaction elsewhere was muted at best,
with leaders mostly expressing relief that the strikes were over and concern
that the essential problem of containing Saddam remains.
-
- Canada, Japan and Australia were among
the few countries that expressed clear support for the mission. Even Kuwait
-- whose invasion by Iraq in 1990 triggered the Gulf War -- refrained from
outright support, saying merely that it "welcomed the announcement"
that hostilities were over.
-
- In France, which disapproved of using
force against Iraq in the dispute over weapons inspections, President Jacques
Chirac said he was "delighted" the operation was over. Chirac
called on Sunday for a review of the eight-year-old international oil embargo
on Baghdad. The embargo has hurt ordinary Iraqis by cutting off the country's
major source of export revenue.
-
- Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu
Bangzao reiterated Beijing's opposition to the raids and praised the decision
to stop them.
-
- Russian president Boris Yeltsin, who
had vehemently criticized the military action said Sunday "Common
sense has finally prevailed. "However it is already absolutely clear
that the use of force has only complicated solving the Iraq problem,"
Yeltsin said.
-
- While Washington and London claimed they
had severely disabled Saddam's military machine, others focused on the
fact that the Iraqi leader remains standing -- and that the strikes appear
to have ended any hope of Iraqi co-operation with weapons inspections.
-
- The Omani newspaper Al-Watan said the
airstrikes had "failed to weaken Saddam Hussein internally and increased
his popularity among the Arabs."
-
- It noted that the strikes resulted in
Iraq's decision to end all dealings with UNSCOM. This will only complicate
relations between Iraq and the United Nations and could lead to the dismantling
of UNSCOM, Al-Watan said.
-
- In Oman, which supported the Allies during
the Gulf War, a pro-Iraqi gathering of more than 300 students Saturday
was the first political demonstration in the country.
-
- Other scattered protests continued Sunday,
a day after pro-Iraqi protests erupted in many Arab countries, some resulting
in violence. In Morocco, valued by Washington as a stable ally in North
Africa, about 100,000 people demonstrated in the capital, Rabat, to protest
the airstrikes. "America, enemy of the people," they chanted.
The demonstration was organized by the National Committee for the Support
of Iraq and was joined by Islamic militants. More than 3,000 people marched
in Amman, Jordan, after midday prayers. "Clinton, you coward, go hunt
after women," they shouted.
-
- In the Netherlands, 4,000 people gathered
outside the U.S. Consulate in Amsterdam to protest the military action.
Demonstrators threw stones and scuffled with police, and one officer was
injured in the clash.
-
- Pope John Paul expressed bitterness at
the raids, saying hopes that international law could be upheld had been
dashed. "Not only do I feel profound sorrow for the Iraqi people,
but I am also bitter to see how often the hopes invested in the power and
validity of international law and in the organisations meant to guarantee
its application are disappointed," he said in his weekly Angelus speech
to pilgrims in St Peter's Square. >
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