A military strike against Iraq is "imminent" and will be launched from United States bases in some Arab states, Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Ismail said in comments published Monday.
Arab countries "cannot have control over American bases on their territory" which "will be a launching pad" to hit Iraq, Ismail told the Kuwaiti daily Al-Rai Al-Aam in an interview.
"I believe the strike is imminent and we have to exert our utmost effort to spare Iraq the threats of such a strike," he conveyed. Ismail said the Washington administration had "succeeded, perhaps with British planning, in rationalizing" expected military action against Iraq, by making the issue an international one.
Baghdad has a "narrow window" through which to avert a strike by granting entry to UN inspectors, and Arabs "unanimously agree Iraq has an opportunity it should seize," said Ismail. However, "it is difficult for Arab countries which unanimously rejected a (US) strike to reject a rationalized strike under UN Security Council resolutions," he added.
"Only a few voices can object to international legitimacy," said Ismail. (Albawaba.com)
