LE QUOTIDIEN DU PCN
PCN-NCP’S DAILY NEWS
EL DIARIO DEL PCN
N° 8 – 5-6/1/2002
The news contained in this newsletter are given only
for information.
PCN-NCP don't approve necessarly these news,
particularly when information come from western media.
==========================================
In this number 8/Dans ce numéro 8 :
- PRESIDENT SADDAM HUSSEIN’ S ADDRESS ON ARMY DAY OF
THE YEAR 2002
- PALESTINE : THE ACTION OF THE GADDAFI INTERNATIONAL
FOUNDATION FOR CHARITY ASSOCIATIONS
- BAGHDAD NOT CONCERNED WAR ON TERRORISM WILL EXPAND
INTO IRAQ
- SUDAN, THE UNITED STATES AND ALLEGATIONS OF
BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS IRRESPONSIBLE AND UNSUSTAINABLE
==========================================
PRESIDENT SADDAM HUSSEIN’ S ADDRESS ON ARMY DAY OF THE
YEAR 2002
(Baghdad, Jan. 6, INA)
Great People, Brothers, men of sublime values and
loyal stand, men of our valiant armed forces, Arabs,
sons of our glorious nation,
Another year has passed to be added to the credit of
your army, the proud, faithful and striving army of
Iraq, which is now standing its glorious test. It is
the army of the nation of faith, virtue, zeal,
chivalry and divine messages, the army of the Arabs,
the army of Al-Qadissya and the Grand Battle, the
Mother of all Battles, the army of the national and
Pan-Arab faithful tasks, and the army of Palestine.
Another year is opening its pages for those whom we
are talking about, those who are supported by the vast
credit of values, sacrifices and preparedness to
achieve everything that promotes the nation and the
people, and protects land and honour, dignity of the
homeland, conscience of history and good repute of men
and women.
This is the vow of these men, and it is the vow of all
of us. It is the call of history and the aspiration of
the future generations for whatever honours and does
not shame them before themselves and before the
Almighty and Omnipotent Allah in the first place.
It is the vow for which our righteous martyrs and the
heroes of the Arab nation everywhere have sacrificed
themselves, marching on its path with steadfastness,
unshaken by any wind, even it were a fierce icy gale.
On the path of this vow there is no place for a sense
of loneliness which may enter the soul and play the
game of the devil with it to confuse the hearts and
minds and shake, in them, the solidity of faith and
the firmness of stand by whatever is right and the
readiness to combat whatever is wrong until one of the
two fair rewards is won: victory or martyrdom. Victory
means the victory in life decreed by Allah for the
believers, and martyrdom means the martyrdom of those
who live with their Lord and are provided by Him. It
is the victory which honours the living, gladdens the
souls of the martyrs and is blessed by the Merciful,
the Compassionate Allah. The obstacles facing the
march will be nothing but lessons that deepen faith
and determination, increase resolution, and, with
these, enlarge horizons for optimism and confidence in
success.
In the light of what has been said and what it
signifies, the vow is made to the new Christian year
and to the Sixth Day of January in it, as it was made
in the past Islamic and Christian years, by the army
of July, by the people of this army and its
leadership. The army of July vows that it will be
united in one state, one spirit and one destiny with
the people, the principles of the nation, the
fragrance of history and the legitimate aspirations
for the future. In this unified state, the army will
not compete with the people or with the ardent sons of
the nation or with the armies of the Arabs except for
what is higher in values, firmer in stand, deeper in
connection and loftier in prestige.
It is a new year and a new additional vow, made before
the people and before the nation. It is a vow of
renewed resolution rising in capability and
significance, a genuine chivalrous stand of faith,
severed neither from the vow of the starting point nor
from the great hopes growing out of the march, the
performance and the trust before the people. It is an
honest chivalrous stand, faithful in its ardour,
trusting in the One and Only in its ascent towards
glory, virtue, right and justice. It fills with anger
the hearts of those whose protector is the Devil, and
fills with joy the hearts of the believers and the
heart of every honest person who keeps a vow and
fulfils a promise. It makes the martyrs glad.
Blessed be the martyrs!
Brothers, Arabs, Friends,
Whenever an occasion makes it necessary that I speak
about the Iraqis or about the army, whose attributes I
have summed up in this and in other speeches, I feel
embarrassed. It is not because I cannot say or write
what should be said or written about them, but because
I fear that I may not recall all that they deserve to
be recalled about them and, thus, give them only part
of their due in the light of what my soul likes to say
about them and what does justice to their history. I
am afraid that some narrow-minded people may interpret
what I say as merely panegyric of a state which the
speaker is part of.
Although I hate hesitation, the feeling of
embarrassment in this regard adds conviction to
certitude and places those who are just before a
historical responsibility to tell the truth and do
justice to the truthful. In that case, I find myself
facing an embarrassment of another type and a query
from another perspective. Is it possible, I wonder
that an occasion like this one can contain a serious
portion of what should be said under the circumstances
of this hateful embargo? Can it contain what should be
said, besides, about the sweet patience of the people
in a battle which, in the Mother of all Battles alone,
has been going on for eleven years? If the pen is
capable of writing, and if he who delivers the speech
is prepared for it, can all that is known about the
struggle and patience of this army be said when we
find that its support and depth are the great people
of Iraq? I turn to myself again and say: the
foundation of whatever is said should be truth and
honesty. It is not necessary that we say now, and on
this occasion, all that should be said or all that we
know, to do justice to this striving and valiant army.
In whatever we say, or do not say, on this or on any
other occasion, we will content ourselves by saying
that our army and our people, united in one state as
they are, live in our conscience. They both share in
the position of sight in our eyes and permeate through
our soul in every action we take and every meditation
we make. Nothing is given preference in our soul over
them and over our glorious nation but that given to
the Great Omnipotent Allah. He, glorified be His Name,
is our Protector, and it is He Who has decreed for us
the firm stand we, our people and our army take
towards what we stand firmly upon.
Brothers,
You all know the fundamentals of the glorious record
of the army of July, the army of Al-Qadissiya and the
Mother of all Battles. You know how it has never let
you down, but rather it has upheld you in action and
in stand. Its action has been a genuine part of the
significance of your Standard, the Standard of
Allahu-Akbar (Allah is the greatest). It has upheld
the faithful Arab military after recalling its values.
It has ascended to where it should ascend through the
high sense of responsibility it has maintained towards
the Arab military, towards the nation and towards the
homeland.
You have told the invaders and the covetous, in the
thick of all battles, that the homeland and the nation
are held as a trust by you, the manly men of
self-respect, ardent zeal and faith.
Together with you, the people have told them, with the
greatest preparedness and conviction, that every Iraqi
born to a glorious mother is, after trusting in Allah,
a trustworthy and dependable project for the army of
the peopland the nation.
And as Iraq is a trust held by you, your nation and
its great homeland are also a trust whenever a caller
for jihad calls upon you to defend land, honour,
sanctities and sanctuaries.
And as your debased enemies failed in the past, so
will any aggressor, if he lets himself be seduced into
committing an evil act against your trust. He will be
shamed by Allah and will be thwarted in his base aims.
Then, only the foreheads of your tyrannical enemies
will become dark, while the lustrous foreheads will be
found wherever you gather together with all the
virtuous, self-respecting and striving sons of your
nation. This will happen because Allah supports your
nation and your people as long as they obey Him,
glorified be His Name, and pray to Him to keep faith
and faithful chivalry in your hearts and to shame the
unbelievers.
A salute to all Muslim mujahideen who have followed
the faithful examples of Islam and Arabism. A salute
to them wherever they are, giving away soul and
substance in sacrifice for the great values of faith
and virtue, and facing oppression, falsehood and
tyranny to defend right and seek for fairness and
justice.
A salute to all the chivalrous heroes of humanity as
they face injustice and tyranny. From the leadership
and the free, striving and loyal people of Iraq we
extend to them the best of regards, love and
solidarity.
A salute to the chivalrous heroes of Arabism and
faith.
A salute to the sisters of the glorious Iraqi women
among the heroic people of Palestine.
A salute to the brave men who are loyal to the vow and
promise they have made before Allah, the people and
the nation.
A kiss from us on the foreheads of all the elderly
people, the young boys and girls and the children who
face Zionism and its ally, the US, and who combat
aggression with soul and substance in order to uphold
truth and crush falsehood.
It is not out of weakness on our part or on the part
of the free, striving and loyal people of Iraq to say
to them: We are with you, though without having our
swords with them, or without advancing one step
forward wherever some fall one step behind. But it is
the circumstances and the barriers of politics and
geography, which you know, that impose this situation,
until Allah gives permission to bring about a
situation different from this one.
A curse upon everything that is negative in the
circumstances!
May every year bring prosperity to the army of Iraq,
which is the army of faithful Arabism and the army of
Palestine!
May every year bring prosperity to all!
Blessed be the martyrs!
Long live our glorious nation!
Long live Palestine, free and Arab from the river to
the sea and from the sea to the river!
May disgrace and curses fall upon Zionism and its
damned and detestable entity and upon its evil allies!
Long live Iraq!
Long live the army of Iraq!
PALESTINE : THE ACTION OF THE
GADDAFI INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR CHARITY
ASSOCIATIONS
(from The Gaddafi International Foundation for Charity
Associations -Tripoli / al Kanoun 31/Jana)
The Gaddafi International Foundation for Charity
Associations announced in press release that in
continuation of supporting the Intifada of our people
in the occupied lands and in defence of the holy land
in the face of flagrant aggression which violates all
conventions and international agreements committing
crimes against humanity and genocide and out of our
sense of duty which is based on our relations of
brotherhood and the common destiny the Gaddafi
International Foundation for Charity Associations has
intensified contacts and efforts with a number of
public institutions and organisations.
These efforts have resulted in offering financial
support to the Palestinian authority as a contribution
towards alleviating the sufferings of those who are
unemployed because of the Israeli aggression and
encirclement and also for the families of the martyrs
and to assist educational institutions. The sum of
three million dollars has been sent for this purpose.
The Foundation also worked for the quick transfer of
two million dollars to support the al Quds fund and to
assist the two universities of al Quds and Bir Zeit.
Within the context of the programme for supporting the
society of imprisoned and released and the
Palestinian centre for human relations the Foundation
transfereed half a million dollars.
The Foundation will also contribute to the medical
expenses of the treatment of those who have been
injured in the Intifada and are beign treated in
Jordanian hosptials. The medical expenses come to
about ten million dollars. The Foundation will also
carry out a programme of aid in conjunction With the
French Red Cross to provide medical equipments and
drugs and ambulances for the Palestinian hospitals.
As it offers this assistance and support the Gaddafi
international Foundation for Charity Association calls
upon the international conscience and all the caring
forces to intensify their support for the Palestinian
people who stand unarmed in the face of the Israeli
military might in defence of their rights to live on
their land and defend what they hold sacred.
/Jamahiriya News Agency /
BAGHDAD NOT CONCERNED WAR ON TERRORISM WILL EXPAND
INTO IRAQ
Iraq's representative to the Arab League says his
country is not concerned - and has no reason to
believe - that the United States will expand the war
on terrorism into Iraq. There has been recent
speculation about the possibility of US military
action against Iraq as part of the battle against
international terrorism. Iraqi newspapers, including
one owned by the son of Iraqi President Saddam
Hussein, have suggested such an attack appeared
imminent. But Iraq's representative to the Arab
League in Cairo, Mohsen Khalil, told VOA that as far
as Iraq is concerned, talk of the US expanding its
war on terrorism into Iraq is nothing more than
speculation by the media.
Mr. Khalil said Iraq does not feel threatened. Mr.
Khalil said the issue is not a matter of feeling
comfortable or uncomfortable. "What matters for us,"
he said, "is that we are not concerned about what is
being circulated in the media on a possible attack
against Iraq and we believe there is no reason to
attack Iraq." Additionally, Mr. Khalil said he is not
concerned about a recent statement from US National
Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice who indicated the
Iraqi people would be better off without President
Saddam Hussein. Mr. Khalil said the statement
represents her own point of view. However, he said,
Ms. Rice is not entitled to speak on behalf of the
Iraqi people and she is not allowed to speak on behalf
of the Arab world. Mr. Khalil said she is free to
express her own personal opinion. There has been
discussion in Washington about the possibility of
expanding the anti-terrorism effort in Afghanistan to
Iraq. President Bush recently warned the Iraqi
president that "he'll find out" the consequences if he
does not accept international weapons inspectors in
Iraq. However, US Secretary of State Colin Powell,
quoted in a Washington Post newspaper interview
Friday, downplayed the idea of expanding the
anti-terrorism war from Afghanistan to Iraq. According
to Secretary Powell, "They are two different countries
with two different regimes, two very different
military capabilities." He said, "you can't take the
Afghan model and immediately apply it to Iraq."
Mr. Khalil said Iraq understands discussion of
possible military strikes exist "within certain
circles of the Bush administration." But he said Iraq
is not concerned and has no reason to expect the US
will launch any attacks against it. Mr. Khalil said
there would be no justification for such an attack.
SUDAN, THE UNITED STATES AND ALLEGATIONS OF BIOLOGICAL
WEAPONS : IRRESPONSIBLE AND UNSUSTAINABLE
(From The European-Sudanese Public Affairs Council,
London, England)
On 19 November 2001, the United States government
stated that "we are concerned about the growing
interest of Sudan...in developing a biological weapons
programme". (1) This unsubstantiated claim was made by
John Bolton, American Under-Secretary of State for
Arms Control, at a conference in Geneva. It must be
said that such a claim is deeply irresponsible to say
the very least, and is very much in keeping with the
previous Clinton Administration's failed attempts to
isolate Sudan from the international community by
making similarly unsubstantiated claims. It is also
clear that the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament
Agency has previously played its own part in putting
political policy and expediency before science with
regard to Sudan. Following Washington's disastrously
inept attack on the al-Shifa medicines factory in
Khartoum in 1998, the U.S. Arms Control and
Disarmament Agency made inaccurate and misleading
claims which it subsequently had to retract. It should
also be noted that John Bolton is an appointee more
responsive to United States domestic politics with
regard to Sudan than scientific facts. (2) Bolton's
claims also jar with Bush Administration statements
that Sudan has been cooperative on security issues.
The cornerstone of the previous Administration's
rationale for its policies towards Sudan were
similarly vague, repeated claims that Sudan was a
supporter of international terrorism. This was
constantly cited both in statements by Administration
officials and in media coverage.That much of this
imagery was very flawed has become increasingly
obvious. The Clinton Administration's 1993 listing of
Sudan as a state sponsor of terrorism was questioned
from the start by former President Jimmy Carter. The
1998 attack on the al-Shifa medicines factory in
Khartoum because of alleged involvement with chemical
weapons was subsequently revealed to have been a
disastrous fiasco, with Washington repeatedly turning
down invitations for weapons inspectors to visit
Sudan. And it is also documented that over one hundred
CIA reports on Sudan and terrorism from 1993-96 had to
be withdrawn as unreliable or having been fabricated.
This level of incompetence led the London 'Times'
newspaper to state that such a circumstance "is no
great surprise to those who have watched similar CIA
operations in Africa where 'American intelligence' is
often seen as an oxymoron." (3) There is nothing to
suggest that the basis for Mr Bolton's unsubstantiated
claims differs in any way from this pattern of
unreliability. American "intelligence" on Sudan is not
just unreliable, but disinformation – and what amounts
to little more than propaganda - has often been
dressed up as "intelligence", and then used in
attempts to justify questionable policy towards Sudan.
This has not gone unnoticed by the European Union and
other members of the international community. For its
own credibility on this serious issue the Bush
Administration cannot allow its reputation with regard
to arms control and non-proliferation to be sullied
for the sake of cheap propaganda attacks on Sudan.
Additionally, a September 2001 article in 'The
Observer' newspaper in Britain reported that Sudan's
attempts to actually cooperate with the United States
on anti-terrorism issues had been rebuffed for several
years before being acted upon by Washington in 2000.
(4) It has also been revealed that Sudan offered to
hand Osama bin-Laden over to the American government
in 1996. Amazingly, the offer was declined. (5) After
several years of declining repeated Sudanese
invitations for American intelligence and
counter-terrorist personnel to come to Sudan and
investigate whatever they wanted to, joint CIA, FBI
and State Department teams have been in Sudan since
early 2000. (6) In August 2001 Bush Administration
officials confirmed that the Sudanese-American
cooperation on counter-terrorism had been positive.
(7) In fact, based on this dialogue, the United States
had agreed to the lifting of the limited United
Nations sanctions on Sudan. (8) They were originally
due to have been lifted in the same week as the
attacks on America. 'The Observer' observed that
Washington had given Sudan "a clean bill of health" in
May 2001, a long-overdue development.
This American-Sudanese intelligence cooperation was
said to have "covered everything". (9) Given that Mr
Bolton is, by statute, defined as advising the
Secretary of State on matters "related to
international security policy, arms control and
proliferation" one would have expected him to have
been aware of these key developments pertaining to
"international security". There are simple questions
that must be asked. Given that CIA, FBI and State
Department investigation teams have been active in
Sudan for eighteen months or so (and bearing in mind
that the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency is
part of the State Department) were the claims in
question not raised or investigated?
Would queries about biological warfare programmes not
be at the top of the agenda for any such investigation
teams? If they were raised with the Sudanese
government, and Khartoum was uncooperative would
Washington have described Sudanese-American
cooperation as positive? Surely the American
government would not have given Sudan "a clean bill of
health" if there had been either any evidence
whatsoever of Sudanese involvement in developing a
biological warfare programme or if Khartoum had been
uncooperative in American enquiries?
Given the seriousness of the claims made by Mr Bolton,
especially in the wake of the attacks on New York and
Washington-DC, and in the light of previous American
intelligence incompetence with regard to Sudan, one
would have expected considerably more professionalism
from him, the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency
and the American government in general. The time of
repeating almost ritual, unsubstantiated claims about
Sudan is over. One had hoped that the Bush
Administration would be distancing itself from the
failed policies and propaganda excesses of the Clinton
Administration. (10) All this has succeeded in doing
is fuelling an already extensively misinformed and
increasingly vocal anti-Sudan lobby within the United
States which continues to distort American policy
towards Khartoum. Such claims also undermine the
reputation of the United States within the
international community.
In addition to the al-Shifa fiasco, it is also worth
noting that there have been several other attempts to
propagandistically implicate Sudan with weapons of
mass destruction. In February 1998, the Congressional
Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare
claimed that 600 Scud missile systems had been
transferred to Sudan from Iraq. Even the Clinton
Administration had to deny this claim, stating that:
"We have no credible evidence that Iraq has exported
weapons of mass destruction
technology to other countries since the (1991) Gulf
War." (11) In addition to the American government, in
February and March 1998, the British government also
stated that there was no evidence for any such weapons
of mass destruction technology transfers from Iraq to
Sudan. This was the view of both the Foreign and
Commonwealth Office and the Defence Intelligence staff
of the British Ministry of Defence. On 19 March 1998,
Baroness Symons, the then Parliamentary
Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth
Affairs, stated in Parliament in relation to claims of
weapons of mass destruction technology transfers,
including chemical and biological weapons, from Iraq
to Sudan, that: "We are monitoring the evidence
closely, but to date we have no evidence to
substantiate these claims.... Moreover, we know that
some of the claims are untrue...The defence
intelligence staff in the MoD (Ministry of Defence)
have similarly written a critique which does not
support the report's findings." (12) Baroness Symons
also stated that: "Nor has the United Nations Special
Commission reported any evidence of such transfers
since the Gulf War conflict and the imposition of
sanctions in 1991." (13)
There have also been several claims that the Sudanese
government used chemical weapons in southern Sudan in
July 1999. (14) In this instance it was possible to
take samples from the area concerned. The British
government's chemical and biological defence agency at
Porton Down rigorously tested seventeen such samples
of water, soil and shrapnel for the spectrum of known
chemical agents. In the government's response, the
British Minister of State for Defence stated that
"very careful analysis of all the available evidence"
led the government to "conclude that there is no
evidence to substantiate the allegations that chemical
weapons were used in these incidents in the Sudan."
More samples were independently tested in Finland and
the United States. These also tested
negative. In fact, the British government remarked on
"the consistency of results from these three
independent sets of analysis". The British government
reiterated its findings in October 2000, when they
once again stated that "there was no evidence to
substantiate the allegations that chemical weapons
were used in Sudan. (15) A United Nations medical team
had also travelled to the area in which it was claimed
the chemical weapons attack took place. The United
Nations stated that: "The results...as reported to the
United Nations, indicated no evidence of exposure to
chemicals." (16) The United States government has
been party to a series of blunders, or outright deceit
with regard to its claims about Sudan. It is against
this background that these, the most recent claims of
interest in biological warfare should also be viewed
and assessed.
The Listing of Sudan as a "State Sponsor of
International Terrorism" :
The Clinton Administration listed Sudan as a state
sponsor of terrorism in August 1993. Sudan joined
Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Syria and Cuba on the
American list. Whatever other states on the list may
or may not have done, Sudan was included in spite of
the fact that there was not a single example of
Sudanese involvement in any act of international
terrorism. And it is also clear that Sudan was listed
without any evidence of its support for terrorism.
This much is a matter of record. Former United States
President Jimmy Carter, long interested in Sudanese
affairs, went out of his way to see what evidence
there was for Sudan's listing. Carter was told there
was no evidence: "In fact, when I later asked an
assistant secretary of state he said they did not have
any proof, but there were strong allegations." (17)
It would appear, therefore, that despite no evidence
whatsoever of involvement in any act of terrorism,
Sudan was listed as a state sponsor of terrorism. In
addition to former President Carter, Donald Petterson,
the United States ambassador to Sudan at the time of
Sudan's listing, stated that he was "surprised" that
Sudan was put on the terrorism list. Petterson said
that while he was aware of "collusion" between "some
elements of the Sudanese government" and various
questionable organisations: "I did not think this
evidence was sufficiently conclusive to put Sudan on
the U.S. government's list of state sponsors of
terrorism." (18) Moreover, it would seem that
Ambassador Petterson, the American ambassador to
Sudan, was not even briefed prior to the decision to
list Sudan being taken. When he queried the decision,
he was told by an assistant secretary of state that
the "new evidence was conclusive". (19) One can only
speculate as to whether the assistant secretary of
state briefing Ambassador Petterson was the same
assistant secretary of state who told former President
Carter a few days later that the Clinton
Administration did not have any proof, but that there
were "strong allegations".
A clear example of an American policy of putting a
policy of demonising Sudan before facts. The 1993
World Trade Center Bombing :
The United States government has also both claimed and
denied that Sudan had been involved in the February
1993 bombing of the World Trade Center in New York. At
first, the United States government reported that the
World Trade Center bombing was carried out by a poorly
trained local group of individuals who were not under
the auspices of a foreign government or international
network. (20) In June 1993, the American authorities
again stated there was no evidence of foreign
involvement in the New York bombing or conspiracies.
(21) In August 1993 it was alluded to that Sudan had
in some way been involved in the attack. In late April
1996, however, in the wake of two lengthy trials which
convicted those responsible for the outrage,
Ambassador Philip C. Wilcox Jr, the Department of
State's Coordinator for Counterterrorism, made it very
clear that there was no Sudanese involvement
whatsoever in the World Trade Center bombings: "We
have looked very, very carefully and pursued all
possible clues that there might be some state
sponsorship behind the World Trade Center bombing. We
have found no such evidence, in spite of an exhaustive
search, that any state was responsible for that crime.
Our information indicates that Ramzi Ahmed Yousef and
his gang were a group of freelance terrorists, many of
whom were trained in Afghanistan, who came from
various nations but who did not rely on support from
any state." (22)
Yet, earlier that month, on 3 April, the then American
ambassador to the U.N., Madeleine Albright, in
meetings at the United Nations, claimed that two
Sudanese diplomats had been involved in the World
Trade Center bombing, and other "plots". (23) This
presents an interesting situation. The political
appointee, Mrs Albright, with a political and policy
line to follow, claiming one thing, and the
professional anti-terrorism expert, Ambassador Wilcox,
saying something completely different. On an issue as
serious as allegations of terrorism such as divergence
is totally unacceptable and once again undermines the
credibility of American claims with regard to Sudanese
"involvement" in terrorism.
The 1998 American Attack on the al-Shifa
Pharmaceutical Factory :
The American government's cruise missile attack on the
al-Shifa medicines factory in Khartoum in August 1998
provides a case study of an incompetent, bumbling
intelligence and policy process concerning claims of
Sudanese involvement in international terrorism. On 7
August 1998, terrorist bombs devastated United States
embassy buildings in Kenya and Tanzania. Hundreds of
people, some of them American, were killed in the
explosion in Nairobi and dozens in the blast in
Dar-es-Salaam. Thousands more were injured. On 20
August, American warplanes attacked and destroyed the
al-Shifa medicines factory in Khartoum. The American
government claimed that the factory was linked to
Osama bin-Laden and the National Security Advisor,
Sandy Berger, went on record stating: "There is no
question in our mind that facility, that factory, was
used to produce a chemical that is used in the
manufacture of VX nerve gas and has no other
commercial distribution as far as we understand. We
have physical evidence of that fact and very, very
little doubt of it." (24)
Sudan requested the convening of the Security Council
to discuss the matter, and also requested a technical
fact-finding mission to verify American claims. (25)
The United States deputy ambassador to the United
Nations, Peter Burleigh, dismissed Sudanese calls for
independent verification of the site: "I don't see
what the purpose of the fact-finding study would be.
We have credible information that fully justifies the
strike we made on that one facility in Khartoum." (26)
The Sudanese government also stated that it was
prepared to allow Americans to visit Khartoum to
establish whether the al-Shifa factory was involved in
the production of chemical weapons. (27) The Sudanese
foreign minister also invited an investigation
committee from the United States government itself to
come and investigate "whether this factory...has
anything to do with chemical (weapons)." (28) On 22
August, the Sudanese President invited the United
States Congress to send a fact-finding mission: "We
are fully ready to provide protection and all other
facilities to enable this mission to obtain all
information and meet anyone it wants." (29) In the
weeks and months following the al-Shifa bombing, the
Sudan repeatedly called upon the United Nations and
United States to inspect the remains of the factory
for any evidence of chemical weapons production. The
Americans have steadfastly refused to inspect the
site. This is ironic given that in 1998, the United
States and Britain militarily attacked Iraq because
that country would not allowed the inspection of
certain factories and the remains of factories, but
when the Sudanese requested a similar inspection of a
site claimed to have been a chemical weapons factory,
the Clinton Administration pointedly refused. 'The
Washington Post' quoted a Sudanese diplomat at the
United Nations: "You guys bombed Iraq because it
blocked U.N. weapons inspectors. We're begging for a
U.N. inspection and you're blocking it." (30)
The American intelligence claims about the al-Shifa
factory fell by the wayside one by one. After just
over one week of sifting through American government
claims, 'The Observer' newspaper spoke of: "a
catalogue of US misinformation, glaring omissions and
intelligence errors about the function of the plant."
(31) The American Under Secretary of State Thomas
Pickering went on record to claim that: "The physical
evidence is a soil sample, analysis of it shows the
presence of a chemical whose simple name is EMPTA, a
known precursor for the nerve agent VX....We think
that it was this evidence, and evidence like it, which
made our decision to carry out this strike on this
particular target the correct and proper decision
under the circumstances." (32)
The soil samples were said to have been obtained from
the factory itself. (33) An American intelligence
official added that: "It is a substance that has no
commercial applications, it doesn't occur naturally in
the environment, it's not a by-product of any other
chemical process. The only thing you can use it for,
that we know of, is to make VX." (34) This was
immediately challenged by 'The New York Times', which
stated that: "The chemical precursor of a nerve agent
that Washington claimed was made at a Sudanese
chemical factory it destroyed in a missile attack last
week could be used for commercial products." (35) 'The
New York Times' cited the Organization for the
Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) as stating that
the chemical could be used "in limited quantities for
legitimate commercial purposes". These purposes could
be use in fungicides, and anti-microbial agents. It
should be noted that the OPCW is an independent
international agency which oversees the inspections of
governments and companies to ensure they are not
making substances that contravene the chemical weapons
ban treaty.
PCN-NCP
Contact Internet : [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Contact International :
Tel. + 32 2 218 73 09 - Fax + 32 2 218 73 59
Secrétariat-général européen :
39 rue des Vierges – B/1000 Bruxelles (Belgique)
Service de presse :
Tel. International +0 479 85 68 39 (after 3 pm)
Tel. Belgique 0479/85 68 39 (après 15h)
Contact Belgique :
Tél. 02/218.73.09 – Fax 02/218.73.59
Contact France :
Tél. et Fax 01 43 83 75 32
=======================================
Pour plus d'information – For more information :
Website officiel PCN-NCP : http://www.pcn-ncp.com
Consulter aussi – See also :
Website du Courant National-bolchevique du PCN :
http://www.pcn-ncp.com/CNB/
Website du Courant National-Révolutionnaire du PCN :
http://fel.nr.free.fr/
Website EUROPE-ECOLOGIE (Earth first !) :
http://europe.ecologie.free.fr/
Website « Les communistes dans le Front
anti-impérialiste/
Communists in the Anti-imperialist Front » :
http://assoc.wanadoo.fr/commantimperialiste/
Website PCN Rete italiana :
http://pcn.rete.italiana.free.fr/
