Dubai, March 20
Most countries, including Russia, China and Germany, today denounced the US-led attack on Iraq “violating” norms while a handful of America’s allies supported the action, saying that it was “inevitable” to eradicate weapons of mass destruction.Deploring the US action, Russia said, “With a military campaign that has started, all one can do is again express extreme regret and hope that the number of people killed and injured as a result of hostilities would be minimal.”
An unnamed government source, quoted by Interfax news agency, said, “It was regrettable that diplomatic efforts by Russia, France and Germany failed to avert a military crackdown.”
China accused the USA of “violating the norms of international behaviour” and said the US has gone ahead with the military action “in disregard for the opposition of the international community.”
“We express regret and disappointment,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan said.
Demanding that everything must be done to avoid humanitarian catastrophe among the Iraqi people, Germany said the UN and the Security Council must play a central role in re-establishing peace in Iraq.
The goal is to maintain Iraq’s territorial integrity and put the Iraqi people in a position to form a united Iraq, relieved of its weapons of mass destruction, as a recognised and prosperous member of the international community,” a government statement issued in Berlin said.
Noting with “deep concern”, France said it hoped that the war in Iraq would end as soon as possible.
“At the moment when the military operations have begun in Iraq, the French authorities note with deep concern. France hopes that the conflict can be ended as soon as possible,” a Foreign Ministry statement said in Paris.
Belgium denounced the US attack on Iraq as the “flouting” of international law. “We continue to think that abandoning international law is a price too high to pay for the disarmament, however desirable, of the regime in place in Baghdad,” Belgium’s Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt said at a press conference in Brussels.
Political parties in Indonesia, the country with the highest Muslim population in the
world, reacted angrily to the US-led attack and protests were witnessed in front of the US embassy in Jakarta.
Syafii Ma’arif, Chairman of the second largest mainstream Muslim group Muhammadiyah, condemned what he called “a savage war.”
“I am not a defender of Saddam Hussein but I strongly wonder what right does Bush have to expel a man from his own country?” Ma’arif said.
Solahuddin Wahid, deputy chairman of the largest mainstream Islamic group Nahdlatul Ulama, accused the USA of “an international crime” but appealed to Indonesians to stay calm.
Pakistan said the US war on Iraq had no justification and promised to oppose it in all forums even as its National Assembly was prorogued without adopting any resolution on Iraq.
“There is no justification for this war,” Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mhuhammad Kasuri told the upper house of Parliament last night amid allegations by the country’s Islamist alliance parties and mainstream opposition that Pakistan has failed to stand up against the USA and remained isolated in world community.
Pakistan Information Minister Sheikh Rashid told the National Assembly that Pakistan would not permit the USA to use its airspace and airbase for Iraq war.
Malaysian Acting Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said the US-led attack on Iraq would go down as a “black mark” in history.
“The consequence of this war will not only have devastating implications on Iraq and the Middle East, but will ultimately impact upon the entire world.”
Iran condemned what it said was an “illegitimate” attack on its neighbour. “American military operations on Iraq are unjustifiable and illegitimate,” Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said.
However, Australia, Japan and South Korea threw their weight behind the US-led war with Australian premier John Howard saying his country’s Special Forces troops stationed in the Gulf had joined the American and British forces in combat duties.
As Mr Howard spoke, anti-war protests by peace groups and trade unions
reverberated across several Australian cities.
Japan issued a statement backing the American stance. “I understand the start of the use of force by America and support it,” Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said in a televised address.
Philippine President Gloria Arroyo said Manila gave both
political and moral support for the action against Iraq.
“The Philippines is part of the coalition of the willing. We are giving political and moral support for actions to rid Iraq of weapons of mass destruction,” she said.
South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun also pledged his government’s support for the US-led war. He also said his country would make all possible effort to ensure the war with Iraq did not worsen relations with North Korea.
Describing it as a “sad day “ for the Arab world, the Arab League today warned that the USA might target other Arab countries after the war against Iraq.
“After Iraq, one day, it will be other Arab countries’ turn,” Arab League Deputy Chief Said Kamal said.
Greece, which holds the European Union presidency, said it was a “sad and disappointing moment for us”.
“All of us today have very intense emotion... because when diplomacy ends and war begins it’s a very sad and disappointing moment,” Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou told the European Parliament as several deputies held placards saying “Bush: where are you going?”
The Palestinian Authority also came out with a statement condemning the war and called on nations to find a solution through diplomatic means.
“We Palestinians are against the war and we totally condemn this war in the Middle East,” local Authorities Minister Saeb Erakat said.
Echoing the sentiments of various political parties in her country, Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri described the attack “as an act of aggression”.
“....The use of military action action against Iraq is an act of aggression which is against International Law,” she said in a radio address.
Combodia warned that US actions would further isolate Washington and would lead to spurt in acts of terrorism across the world.
In Colombo, Sri Lanka’s main opposition People’s Alliance called President Bush and Prime Minister Blair “war criminals” and asked the government not to support US forces against Iraq in any way.
Regretting
the US-led attack against Iraq, South Africa called on the United Nations “to assert its authority to ensure that the military action is conducted according to the rules of international law”.
“It is a blow to multilateralism,” President Thabo Mbeki’s spokesman Bheki Khumalo said, adding that the issue should have been resolved through the United Nations rather than unilaterally by the USA and its allies.
New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark described the US action against Iraq as baseless.
“This government will not be assisting in a war for which there is no case at this time,” she said in a statement but pledged her country’s support to Iraq’s reconstruction.
PTI
