United Nations: In a dramatic ending to the two-day debate at UN Security Council on
the US-led attack against Iraq, America's UN Ambassador John Negroponte, along with
his delegation stormed out of the chamber after Iraqi Envoy Mohammad Aldouri accused
Washington and London of trying to "exterminate" the people of his country.
"I did sit through quite a long part of what he (Aldouri) had to say, but I think
I'd heard enough after a certain amount of time," an angry Negroponte told reporters
on March 27 night.
"I did not hear anything new in what he had to say and of course, can't accept any
of the preposterous allegation he put forward," the American Ambassador said outside
the chamber.
The walkout is rare in the Security Council, though sometimes Ambassadors do send
their deputies or juniors to attend the meeting to send a message.
Negroponte's walkout came after he sat through hours of debate, listening to several
Ambassadors describing American-led action as "illegal", "unjustified" and aimed at
controlling its oil wealth.
Aldouri, who had already spoken on March 27, requested floor at the end of the
debate to reply to the statements made by various member nations.
The United States and Britain, he said, are about to start a "war of extermination
against the Iraqi people".
Aldouri said he believed that it was a British plan to take control of Iraqi
resources by "misguiding others", because "they (the British) are known for their
trickery.
"They kill a person and then they shed crocodile tears and then they go to his
funeral," he said.
With televisions outside the chamber showing bombing of Baghdad, Aldouri's anger was
visible, as he replied to the debate and thanked the majority, which called for
ending the war.
Those who supported the military action, he asserted, were not expressing the views
of their own people. "The United States' carrot-and-stick policy had been used to
intimidate" them, he charged.
Aldouri said he sympathised with those who had supported the United States, adding
they would get "no part of the cake" if Iraq fell.
The United States, he said, had concluded contracts to rebuild infrastructure in
Iraq "back in 1997 – over six years ago".
"Those contracts could be found on the Internet," he said.
He told those who talk about giving humanitarian aid to Iraq that the problem is
aggression, which must be stopped.
"Everyone knows what is happening in terms of destruction and the loss of life. The
United States and Britain want to put the humanitarian issue before the world to
misguide it and distract it from the main issue of war," he said.
PTI
