US, UK bombers pound Iraq

DUBAI, Dec 17 (PTI) — The USA tonight launched its second attack immediately after British Tornados completed their maiden bombing over Iraq even as Russia ordered certain military units to upgrade their state of readiness.

The fresh US attack by B-52 bombers, which took off from the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garica, bombed targets in Baghdad with Cruise missiles.

The Iraqi targets in the new attack included weapons of mass destruction facilities, some air fields, military areas as well as more attacks against air defence systems.

Earlier, US Defence Secretary William Cohen said US missiles and bombs had severely damaged Iraqi targets, including military intelligence headquarters.

Russia, meanwhile, has ordered certain military units to prepare themselves to carry out at a moment’s notice missions they could be assigned.

Gen Vladimir Yakovlev, who commands Russia’s strategic missile forces, said: "We are in a permanent state of compact readiness to carry out any mission at any time."

Parts of the Russian Navy and the Air Force had been ordered to prepare themselves to carry out at a moment’s notice missions they could be assigned.

In the meantime, UN Security Council is holding informal consultations at the request of Russia to consider especially the effects of American-led air strikes on the humanitarian situation in Iraq.

British Tornado bombers late this evening joined the US force and launched its first attack on Iraq which was earlier pounded overnight with American Cruise missiles in the first wave of military strike which killed five persons and wounded over 30.

The spokesman for the Royal Air Force said 12 Tornados returned safely to the Al-Al-Salem Air Force base in Kuwait after taking an "active" part in the bombing operation over Iraq.

In London Prime Minister Tony Blair, while speaking in the House of Commons, said: "As I speak British Tornados were attacking Iraq. The operation is continuing... The targets were selected with every possible care to avoid civilian casualty."

President Bill Clinton, defending the attack, said in Washington that "it was absolutely the right thing to do."

Stating he was acting solely in the US security interest, Clinton warned Saddam Hussein against threatening Iraq’s neighbours, especially Kuwait and Israel.

Hospital official in Baghdad said five persons were killed and the casualty was likely to rise as the condition of several injured was stated to be critical.

The USA launched 200 missiles from its naval fleet during "operation desert fox" that began at 3.20 a.m., hitting several targets in the Iraq capital followed by bombing raids.

The USA has about 200 fighter planes, including F-16s and Stealth fighters.

The missile attack on Iraq followed US President Bill Clinton’s announcement of a "series of strong and sustained strikes" on Iraq for refusing to cooperate with the UN inspectors of its biological and chemical weapons programme.

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein asked his countrymen to fight the "enemies of God and humanity".

Palestinians burnt the US and Israeli flags in West bank and asked Mr Saddam Hussein to attack Tel Aviv. One youth was killed in the police firing.

Live television pictures from Baghdad showed volleys of anti-aircraft fire blasting into the night sky over the city and sharp explosions could be heard.

Sirens sounded the all-clear in Baghdad early today after about six hours of raids.

Hospital doctors in Baghdad said at least five persons had been killed and 30 wounded in the missile strikes, but these were no official casualty figures.

Baghdad radio reported that the home of one of Mr Saddam Hussein’s daughters, Hala, was hit in the missile attacks, but she was not there at the time.

"President Saddam Hussein today visited the house, which was inhabited by his daughter, Hala and which she had left before the start of the aggression," the radio said. "The house was targeted by the attackers and it was destroyed," he said.

The radio said the President toured several places hit in the US air strikes. It said the presidential tour lasted hours and ended at noon.

"The President visited a number of sites which were bombed by the enemy of humanity," the radio said.

Baghdad residents brushed off the heaviest military strike since the 1991 Gulf war and went back to work today, insisting it was business as usual.

Anti-aircraft fire burst out five times in as many hours in thunderous volleys in Central Baghdad early today apparently fired in vain against waves of the US Cruise missiles and bombing sorties.

A report from Tehran said Iran lodged a strong protest with the USA today after a missile from the military strikes on Iraq landed in an Iranian border town, causing damage but no casualties.

The missile from today’s air strikes landed in Khoramshahr, a town in south-western Khuzestan province bordering Iraq.

"The explosion of this missile, which was visibly launched in the direction of Iraq, caused damage within a 200-meter radius from Khoramshahr," he said.

"The blast caused bits of glass to fly and opened cracks in the walls of houses," he said.

Impeachment debate begins today

WASHINGTON, Dec 17 (Reuters) — The US House of Representatives debate on impeaching President Bill Clinton, postponed because of the Iraq crisis, will start tomorrow and probably wrap up on Saturday, the office of incoming House Speaker Robert Livingston said today.

An aide to a democratic leader in the House said the debate was expected to last 16 hours over two days.

India deplores attack
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Dec 17 — In one voice, India today deplored the joint attack on Iraq by the United States of America and the United Kingdom and asked for immediate cessation of the military action.

While the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, in a statement said in Parliament that the use of force in the situation would be counter-productive, the two Houses of Parliament strongly condemned the US-UK joint military action against Iraq.

Mr Vajpayee said the issue needed to be resolved diplomatically through peaceful means and a dialogue, there should be immediate halt to the military action and resumption of a diplomatic effort under the auspices of the UN, the Prime Minister stressed.

The Government of India was "gravely concerned", Mr Vajpayee said while deploring the airstrikes. "It is particularly regrettable that this unilateral step has been undertaken at the very time when the UN Security Council was in session to discuss developments arising from the report of the Head of UNSCOM which the UNSG had forwarded to council with his recommendations proposing alternative courses of action", the Prime Minister said.

"This attack raises serious questions regarding the functioning of the collective and consultative procedures of the UN Security Council. It also undermines the ability of the council to verify Iraq's compliance with the relevant council resolutions", he said.

"It has been our considered view that use of force in this solution would be counter-productive", Mr Vajpayee said calling for immediate halt to the military action and resumption of diplomatic efforts under the auspices of the UN.

"We have noted the statement of the UN Secretary-General expressing deep regret at the latest development". Mr Vajpayee said, informing Parliament that the Indian community in Iraq numbering about 50 persons was safe. "We have been in touch with our Embassy and are taking measures to ensure their welfare", he said.

Mr Vajpayee said India has been closely following developments relating to Iraq. "India has close historical ties and strong affinities with the countries and peoples of the region", he said.

He said that New Delhi had been deeply concerned about the sufferings of the people of Iraq and had called for the lifting of sanctions in tandem with Iraq's compliance with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.

Sharing the concern and anguish of the House, the External Affairs Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh, said the Government was closely monitoring the situation.

Earlier, the two Houses of Parliament strongly condemned the US-UK joint attack with members charging US President Bill Clinton with trying to divert domestic and international attention from his possible impeachment. The MPs also sought suspension of question hour.

Member after member, cutting across party lines rose to condemn the military action against Iraq. India should take a lead in mobilising global public opinion against the attack along with the like-minded countries as also with the Non-Aligned Movement, they said, demanding that the Government should speedily organise despatch of relief material, including food supply for the suffering people of Iraq.

In the Lok Sabha, the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Sharad Pawar, said the manner in which the USA had carried out the attack on Iraq needed to be strongly condemned by the Government.

In the Rajya Sabha, the CPI leader, Mr Gurdas Dasgupta, raised the issue as soon as the House began its proceedings of the day saying that "genocide is being committed to avoid impeachment (of Clinton in Monica Lewinsky affair."

The Opposition leader in the Rajya Sabha, Dr Manmohan Singh, said that the "unilateral action" of the USA was "uncalled for" "The rule of law should prevail and not the rule of international law", he said.

UN charter violated, say China, Russia

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 17 (PTI) — The reactions to the US air strike against Iraq have ranged from angry indignation and expression of regret to support and justification from various parts of the globe with Russia and China terming the raid by the USA and its ally Britain as "crude violation" of the UN charter.

Germany and Japan were among those who supported the strike.

China, in its sharp reaction to the air strikes, asked the USA to "unilaterally" suspend the strikes on Baghdad as such military action has no mandate from the United Nations.

Chinese President Jiang Zemin dubbed the attack as a "direct challenge" to the UN Security Council.

Russian President Boris Yeltsin said the attack "crudely violated" the UN Charter and was "fraught with the most dramatic consequences" for the Gulf region.

He also cancelled a planned visit by Russian Defence Minister Igor Sergeyev to NATO apparently in protest against the USA-led air strikes.

Senior Kremlin official in Moscow said the air strikes against Iraq may wreck chances of the Russian Parliament agreeing to ratify the Start-2 nuclear arms reduction treaty with the USA.

"You can forget about the START-2," Mr Sergei Prikhodko, Deputy Chief-of-Staff for Foreign Affairs to President Boris Yeltsin, said.

"It is outrageous that the strike was launched at the very moment when the Security Council was still discussing this issue," Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov said.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, gauging the worldwide mood amid a tide of criticism, described the attack — the heaviest on Iraq since the 1991 Gulf war — as a "sad day for the United Nations and the world".

France issued a statement distancing itself from the action and deplored the escalation which led to the US military strikes against Iraq and the "grave human consequences" a statement issued in Paris said.

Iran called for an immediate halt to the air strikes and said the attacks would only add to the suffering of the Iraqi people.

The Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), largest Muslim organisation based in Saudi-Arabia, asked the USA to put a halt to the strikes and return to dialogue to settle the conflict.

"Iraq is target again to military strikes carried out in vague circumstances and unknown intentions," Secretary-General of the organisation said, adding, "We issue an immediate appeal for an immediate halt to military strikes against Iraq, and a return to dialogue to spare the Iraqi people from more suffering."

Arab League Secretary-General Esmat Abdel Meguid also expressed "outrage" over the raids.

"This strike will not solve the problems between Iraq and the UN, rather it is likely to complicate them further," Mr Meguid told an Egyptian radio.

However, Gulf Arab governments were largely silent although Oman expressed concern and called for a peaceful solution to the Iraqi problem.

In Islamabad, Pakistani Foreign Minister Sartaj Aziz branded the Anglo-American raids as "deplorable act" which affronted Islam and called for an immediate end to the confrontation in the Gulf.

The missile attack also came in for sharp criticism at the Pakistani Senate with senators, irrespective of their party affiliations, condemning the joint action against Iraq.

Among Iraq’s neighbours, Iran asked for an immediate end to the strikes, which Tehran said would only increase the sufferings of Iraqi people.

In West Bank, thousands of Palestinians marched through the streets protesting the air raid and calling on Mr Saddam Hussein to attack Israel.

But German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder supported the air strikes, calling them "the consequences of the obstinate refusal of Saddam Hussein to cooperate with UN inspectors."

Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi also voiced support, saying that Iraq should recognise that its weapons of mass destruction threatened world peace.

Besides these two countries, Australia, Canada and South Korea also extended support to US strike.

Foreign delegates stranded in Iraq

DUBAI, Dec 17 (PTI) — A large number of foreign delegates, including former Indian Union Minister Sabodh Kant Sahai, attending an international conference are stranded in Baghdad spending the night in bunkers following massive air raids by the USA and Britain.

"Many of the delegates from 77 countries are stuck in Baghdad unable to leave because of the attacks," Mr Sahai, former Union Minister of State for Home, told PTI on telephone from Baghdad which has been battered by the attack.

Besides India, delegates from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka are also stuck in the Iraqi capital.

"India and the world should condemn this dastardly act by President Bill Clinton on this hapless Arab state", Mr Sahai who led a seven-member delegation to the four-day meeting of Non-aligned Students and Youth Organisation (NASYO) said.

"I am surprised by the morale of the Iraqi people on the streets who have taken life normally amid the blistering missile attack", he said adding that the staff at the Indian Embassy in Baghdad are safe.

Television networks reported that at least five persons were killed in the attacks.

Mr Sahai, who was elected president of NASYO, said Mr Clinton was a "shame for the American people" as he chose to attack the defenceless Iraqis.

"India was also been slapped with sanctions which shows Clinton wants to destroy any nation that stands on its own feet," he said.

Indians safe: PM

NEW DELHI, Dec 17 (PTI) — All Indians are safe in Iraq Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee informed the Lok Sabha today.

The Indian community numbered some 50 in Iraq and "they are safe," he said.

"We have been in touch with our Embassy and are taking all measures to ensure their welfare," the Prime Minister said.

External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh told the Rajya Sabha, quoting latest reports from the Indian Mission, that 13 Indian families left by road to Amman.