Iraq's parliament on Monday urged Arabs to vent their anger at US and British air strikes during US Secretary of State Colin Powell's upcoming tour of the Gulf, said AFP.
Parliamentary speaker Saddun Hammadi urged other Arab parliaments to "make February 24 a day of anger and protest," AFP said, citing the official INA news agency.
Hammadi called on parliaments to "incite the Arab masses to show their anger, through all means, against American crimes against Palestinian fighters, Iraq and the Arab nation, during Colin Powell's visit."
Powell, who was the US army chief during the 1991 Gulf War that evicted Iraqi forces from Kuwait, is scheduled to stop in Egypt, Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Jordan, Kuwait, Syria and Saudi Arabia on a five-day tour starting on February 23.
Powell said on February 14 he would stress to Middle East leaders the "absolute necessity" of keeping a close eye on Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
US and British air raids over Baghdad on Friday left three Iraqis dead and 30 wounded, Iraqi officials said.
NATO allies, most vocally France, have joined Russia and China in demanding a fuller explanation and in saying they felt the airstrikes threatened regional stability, said the Washington Post newspaper.
Turkey, which allows US and British jets to use its air bases to patrol northern Iraq, formally rebuked Washington, said the Post.
Iraq warned that the airstrikes raised tensions before key talks with the United Nations.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammed Saeed Sahhaf is scheduled to meet with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on February 26 in New York for discussions seen as possibly leading to new talks on resuming weapons inspections and lifting economic sanctions, said the paper.
In a letter to Annan and the Security Council, Sahhaf urged Annan to "condemn the dangerous aggression and the increase of tension" and take "speedy steps to prevent such attacks from taking place again." – Albawaba.com
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