Latin America
continues slamming US-led war in Iraq
Protests
against the US-led war in Iraq continued on
Saturday in many Latin American countries,
where officials and civilians urged their
governments to strengthen diplomatic efforts
and the United States to end the war
immediately.
The Rio Group,
Latin America's largest political coordinating
group, expressed its regret that no peaceful
solution came to the Iraq crisis and condemned
the move to ignore the United Nations Security
Council resolutions on Iraq.
The group said
in a statement released on Saturday in Lima
that there was not a strict compliance of the
resolutions issued by the Security Council
within the framework of the UN Charter."
It also ratified its disposition to
"deploy the necessary efforts to attain
world peace" and called on every country
in the world to revive initiatives aimed at
improving and strengthening the collective
security system of the United Nations.
Thousands of
people in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas,
including students, intellectuals and members
of the Iraqi, Lebanese, Syrian and Palestinian
communities there, participated in a march on
Saturday to reject the invasion of Iraq.
The protesters
peacefully took to the Los Museos Square, in
downtown Caracas, and condemned the crimes
committed by the United States and its allies
against the Iraqi people. They also shouted
slogans against the United States and its
president George W. Bush, which read,
"Bush, murderer" and "No more
blood for oil."
Caracas Mayor
Freddy Bernal, who also participated in the
march, told reporters that the protesters of
different religions and social classes were
united around the same issue, "bringing a
message of peace, love and joy to the world
that does not want invasions, nor war
anywhere."
Bernal said the
bombardment by the United States and Britain
on the Iraqi territory was a clear violation
of the international law and the UN Charter.
Also on
Saturday, a march to protest against the
invasion ended peacefully in the Chilean
capital of Santiago with a cultural act in
which some 2,000 Chileans participated without
reports of incidents, authorities informed.
The marchers included children, women and
youngsters bearing Chilean and Palestinian
flags, as well as numerous pacifist placards
while shouting slogans like "No to
war" and "End the arrogance of
Bush."
Francisco
Becerra, spokesman for the Peace Platform
Movement, asked the Chilean government to
boost diplomatic efforts to end the Iraq War.
Members of several humanitarian organizations
also changed the name of United States street
to "Iraqi Children Street" as part
of a pacifist protest against the war.
Following an
anti-war demonstration in his country, Haitian
President Jean Bertrand Aristide indicated
Saturday that he was against the US-led war in
Iraq. "We're for peace and against
war," Aristide told police agents,
although he did not make specific reference to
the war on Iraq, according to reports from
Port-au-Prince.
Aristide is the
first Haitian politician who has indicated
opposition to the Iraq war since its outbreak
nine days ago.
Friday's
anti-war demonstration called by the
opposition National Popular Party was
peaceful.
Over 100
Argentine young men on Saturday posted
anti-war slogans both inside and outside a
Macdonald fast-food store in central Buenos
Aires, capital of Argentina, and set fire on
US flags in front of the store.
Protest
activities against the ongoing war has
continued for days in Buenos Aires. Thousands
of Argentine civilians and foreign tourists
prayed for peace on May Square, where the
government offices are located.
Over 3,000
Peruvian civilians, holding candles and
chanting anti-war slogans, marched in the
capital of Lima on Friday night. They asked
the United States and Britain to stop military
actions in Iraq instantly and requested that
the Peruvian government denounce and reject
the war.
Over 10,000
Cubans congregated on Saturday in Minas
municipality in the central province of
Camaguey to condemn the US invasion of Iraq.
In the crowded demonstration, called by the
Open Revolutionary Tribune, the demonstrators
rejected "the hegemonic attempts of
Washington" and called on all nations and
international organizations to rescue world
peace.
The
demonstrators from different social sectors
said the White House, with its attacks on
Iraq, ignores the UN resolutions and the
international public opinion against an
invasion.
Newspapers in
Costa Rica highlighted on Saturday the news on
the killing of Iraqi civilians by the US
forces in Iraq.
The press
underscored the demonstration of Costa Ricans
against the war and demanding the resignation
of Foreign Minister Roberto Tova, who
expressed full support of the Central American
country to the war.
US denies
any "pauses" in Iraq war
US
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld denied
Sunday that there is any "pauses" in
the Iraq war but he cautioned that the
toughest fight may be ahead.
"We have
no plans for pauses or cease-fires or anything
else," Rumsfeld said in an interview with
ABC television network.
The secretary
was responding to agencies reports that some
US officials in the battleground said there
was going to be a pause in the military
campaign against Baghdad.
"No matter
where you are, you're always going to hear
somebody saying something, and I'm sure
they're saying something they believe,"
he said.
He said he had
just talked to US generals in the Gulf and
there are no plans for pauses or cease-fires.
He admitted
that the British troops will be engaged in the
southern Iraqi city of Basra for a period.
"Is that a pause? I don't think so,"
he said.
The US defense
secretary warned that the US-led coalition may
face the most difficult fighting ahead as the
allied troops continue to push toward Baghdad
and engage with Iraq's elite Republican Guard.
"There may
be some very tough days ahead, because as we
move forward and have to deal with the
Republican Guard, that very likely will be the
most difficult fighting days that the
coalition will face," he said.
Appearing on
NBC's "Face the Nation" program on
Sunday, Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff, also predicted the toughest
part of the war is still ahead. "I think
the toughest part is ahead of us as we take on
the Republican Guard around Baghdad,"
Myers said.
The general
rejected criticism of the Pentagon's war
strategy, saying that US war planners had
always prepared for a potentially lengthy war
in Iraq. "Nobody ever promised a short
war," he said.
Two US
marines killed in vehicle accidents
Two US
marines have been killed in two separate
vehicle accidents in Iraq in the past two
days, the US military said Sunday.
A US marine was
killed when he was hit late Friday by a Humvee
jeep during a firefight with Iraqi troops in
southern-central Iraq, according to a
statement issued by the US Central Command
based in Qatar.
The statement
said the victim, whose identity was withheld
pending notification to his family, was from
the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. No other
details were given by the statement.
In a separate
statement, the Central Command said another US
marine also from the 1st Marine Expeditionary
Force drowned early on Saturday when the
Humvee he was traveling in rolled into a canal
in southern-central Iraq.
So far at least
36 US soldiers have been killed and 16 others
missing either in the battlefield or in
accidents 11 days after the US-led forces
launched the invasion of Iraq.
Putin talks
with British, Italian prime ministers on Iraq
Russian
President Vladimir Putin on Sunday held
telephone talks with British Prime Minister
Tony Blair and Italian Prime Minister Silvio
Berlusconi on humanitarian programs in Iraq,
the Kremlin said.
Putin and Blair
welcomed the decision by the UN Security
Council to resume the Oil-for-Food program and
stressed their common stand that the United
Nations should play a key role in
international affairs, said the Kremlin press
service.
And during
Putin and Berlusconi's talks, which also
focused on humanitarian topics, the two
leaders agreed that their similar stands on
many aspects of the Iraq crisis paved way for
their constructive cooperation, the service
said.
Putin and Blair
also exchanged views about bilateral
cooperation, as well as preparations for
Putin's state visit to Britain scheduled for
June 2003.
Iraq
predicts more suicide attacks against US-led
coalition forces
There
will be more suicide bombing attacks against
the US-led coalition forces, an Iraqi military
spokesman said here on Sunday.
Speaking at a
briefing, Hazem Al-Rawi, the spokesman also
said that 4,000 volunteers from all Arab
countries have arrived in Iraq to fight along
with the Iraqi troops and to carry out suicide
attacks against the US-led allied troops.
He honored the
Iraqi army officer, who carried out the
suicide bombing attack near the city of Najaf,
some 150 km from Baghdad, as a "hero and
martyr."
The suicide
bombing killed 11 US-led coalition troops,
instead of four as reported earlier, said the
spokesman.
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