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U.S.
AGGRESSION AGAINST IRAQ
Civil
institutions in Baghdad ablaze after being hit by
U.S. missiles
• U.S.
and British forces initiate ground attack
BAGHDAD,
March 21 — The Iraqi Ministry of Communications,
located by the Tigris River, was destroyed by fire
on Thursday after being struck by missiles and bombs
launched by the U.S. invading forces in a further
raid on the capital that left at least 36 people
injured, reported EFE and the Qatari television
channel Al Jazeera.
 Several
civil institutions were also ablaze and visible from
several kilometers away.
Iraqi
television announced today that the residence of
Saddam Hussein’s wife and three daughters was hit
during the initial attack on Thursday morning.
Reports
from Washington informed that army units and U.S.
Navy troops began bombarding targets in southern
Iraq with heavy artillery, according to CNN.
DPA
reported from London that thousands of U.S. armored
and other military vehicles, which began an advance
into Iraqi territory from Kuwait under the
protection of a heavy missile bombardment, today
(Friday) are moving toward the Al Faw peninsula that
provides access to the largest oil resources in the
Persian Gulf. British soldiers aiding U.S. troops
assured that they plan to take control of the Umm
Qasr port before the end of the day. That location
is currently under heavy attack.
According
to EFE, special operation forces from the British
Royal Navy are the first UK troops to enter into
combat against Iraq.
Meanwhile
in Baghdad, air raid sirens warned the population of
missile and bomb attacks that, in the first few
hours of the war, provoked four deaths and an
unknown number of injuries, as well as the
destruction of homes and buildings.
EFE
reported that most of the 70 missiles launched on
Thursday hit civilian targets, Iraqi information
minister, Mohamed Sayed al Sahaf, stated.
The
agency noted that other Iraqi cities were also
attacked, among them Mosul, some 400 kilometers from
Baghdad, on two occasions; the nearby province of
Nivive and locations close to the Syrian border.
An
ANSA cable noted how last night U.S. forces were
just one kilometer from Bassora, a city 50
kilometers from the Kuwaiti border. Iran’s news
agency, IRNA, said that an attack on Bassora was
imminent.
Washington
admitted that a Navy helicopter came down in Kuwait,
killing the 12 British and four U.S. soldiers
aboard.
U.S.
military sources did not specify how the Sea Knight
CH-46 helicopter, the third one lost by the U.S. in
the past 24 hours, was destroyed, while in the first
two cases there was no information specifying
casualties or causes.
Meanwhile,
more than 1,300 protestors against the war on Iraq
were arrested in San Francisco this Thursday at the
start of a civil disobedience campaign, after
violent confrontations with the police, AFP
reported.
CALLS
FOR IMMEDIATE END TO AGGRESSION
In
Beijing, Kong Quan, spokesperson for the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, stated that the Chinese government
had demanded an immediate end to U.S. military
action against Iraq and called for a return to
negotiating a political solution to the situation
concerning the Arab country, PL reported.
Meanwhile
in Brussels, Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt
condemned Washington’s rejection of international
law and order and deplored the launch of military
operations against Iraq.
A
report by PL from Moscow cited President Vladimir
Putin’s statement in which he warned of the
dangers of this major setback to international
security following the start of U.S and British
aggression against Iraq.
French
president Jacques Chirac today expressed his sorrow
that war had been launched without UN backing and
expressed his hope that the conflict would be as
short and the least lethal possible. He went on to
say that irrespective of its duration, the conflict
presents serious implications for the future.
In
Cairo, Anro Musa, secretary general of the Arab
League, said that the UN Security Council must now
take responsibility and bring the war to an end,
given that it is the organization responsible for
ensuring peace and security, reported PL.
For
his part, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder
affirmed that with respect to the Iraqi conflict,
the logic of war had been favored over attempts to
achieve a peaceful solution and thousands of people
would suffer the consequences.
WAVE
OF ANTI-WAR PROTESTS
A wave
of demonstrations protesting the U.S. aggression
against Iraq took place this Thursday in Europe,
Latin America and Asia, following the initiation of
military action against the Arab country.
"NO
TO WAR!" has become the prevailing global
slogan in peaceful demonstrations over the last few
weeks and yesterday, hundreds of European towns and
cities became a stage for anti-war demonstrators
demanding an end to the recently started conflict.
In
Athens, Greece (the nation currently holding the
presidency of the European Union) there were
protests by some 150,000 anti-war demonstrators.
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