IRAQ: RALLY TO COMMEMORATE 5TH ANNIVERSARY OF GULF WAR UPDATE

Описание: (17 Jan 1996) Arabic/Nat

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has marked the fifth anniversary of the start of the Gulf War with a message of defiance to the international community.

Saddam told the Iraqi people that the coalition forces had failed to achieve their target in the war -- the destruction of Iraq.

The Iraqi president also called for reconciliation with Arab adversaries who took part in Operation Desert Storm, which was launched Jan. 17, 1991.

The streets of Baghdad were full as Iraqis cheered for their leader.

Jubilant crowds danced and shouted support for their leader Saddam Hussein and defiance of the United States.

Many of them were carrying Iraqi flags and banners and chanted in support of President Saddam Hussein.

They called for the lifting of sanctions and blamed the U-S for Iraqis' suffering under the continuing embargo.

Saddam Hussein has gone on television to claim he defeated the objectives of the U-S and its Gulf War allies.

SOUNDBITE: (in Arabic)

"And the Iraqis with the help of God could avoid giving the enemies the opportunity to overpower our nation by using their extra elements of power at this stage. And by destroying the existing model and until now God could prevent all these elements which could harm the Arab nation and weaken it and its role."
SUPER CAPTION: Saddam Hussein, President of Iraq

At a Baath Party celebration, Iraqi loyalists prayed for their President.

While his supporters were singing his praises, Saddam painted a picture of a heroic Iraq brought low by a vindictive world.

SOUNDBITE: (in Arabic)

"During the mother of battles (the Gulf War) and what followed with a painful and unjustifiable siege, Iraq the lion was overwhelmed by injuries in its various battlefields and therefore its enemies (the birds of pray and the wolves) imagined Iraq the believer and the fighter is about to fall."
SUPER CAPTION: Saddam Hussein, President of Iraq

Five years of United Nations sanctions have virtually destroyed the Iraqi economy.

But Saddam Hussein's position as president seems as unassailable as ever.

Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter:   / ap_archive  
Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​
Instagram:   / apnews  


You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...