Iraq slams deadly US helicopter raid on Syrian village while EU foreign policy chief expresses concern
 
BAGHDAD - Iraq on Tuesday slammed a deadly American helicopter raid on a Syrian border village at the weekend, an assault a US official in Washington said had targeted a prominent militant.

The unidentified US official said the weekend raid on the Syria-Iraq border had been "successful," and that among those believed killed was Abu Ghadiya, "one of the most prominent foreign fighter facilitators in the region."

But Syria said the eight people killed in Sunday's assault were all civilians, including children, and it has branded the raid -- the first confirmed US action of its kind inside Syrian territory -- a "terrorist" act.

"The Iraqi government rejects the US helicopter strike on Syrian territory, considering that Iraq's constitution does not allow its land to be a base for launching attacks on neighbouring countries," Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said in a statement.

"We call upon American forces not to repeat such activities and Baghdad has launched an investigation into the strike."

On Monday Dabbagh said the raid targeted a border area used by insurgents to launch attacks against Iraq, and on Tuesday he urged Syria to prevent groups from using its territory "for training and sending terrorists for attacks on Iraq and its people."

Iraq's parliament said in a statement it has asked the cabinet to "keep it and the Syrian brothers informed about the investigation launched by the government into the raid. It regrets that the operation took place at a time when relations between Iraq and its neighbourhours are progressing."

On Monday Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, speaking in London after talks with British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, said: "Killing civilians in international law means a terrorist aggression."

Muallem said four US helicopters had crossed the border, with two landing at the village of Al-Sukkiraya village, eight kilometres (five miles) from the border on the Euphrates river and close to the Iraqi town of Al-Qaim.

Soldiers emerged after the helicopters landed and shot at civilians working on farms, including a father and his three children and a fisherman, he said.

"We consider this criminal and terrorist aggression," Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem told a news conference in London after talks with British Foreign Secretary David Miliband.

"Killing civilians in international law means a terrorist aggression," added Muallem, whose country's official media said eight civilians were killed, including children.

"All of them are civilians, Syrian, unarmed and they are on the Syrian territories," Muallem told reporters.

Hundreds of villagers took part on Monday in funerals for seven of those killed in the raid, chanting anti-American slogans.

Women in black wept as relatives carried the coffins in a funeral procession in the village of Hamdan, near Al-Sukkiraya.

A crowd of mourners chanted slogans mocking "American democracy" while others carried banners which read: "We will not go down on our knees before the Americans," and "Death to the criminal Bush."

The official press in Damascus blasted the attack as a "war crime" by Bush's administration.

Syrian state television broadcast pictures of the scene, showing a building site with bloodstains on the ground, and the bodies of victims in the local morgue.

US commanders say Syria is the main transit point for foreign insurgents crossing into Iraq and have blamed Damascus for turning a blind eye to the problem.

Foreign Minister Muallem rejected the claims.

"Syria did utmost effort to control the border. As anywhere in the world, you can't seal the border 100 percent ... You need a partner on the other side to control his side of the border," he said.

On Monday, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, who was in Syria earlier this month, voiced concern about the US operation.

"I am concerned at the air raid that took place inside Syria... which resulted with the death of civilians.

"I have just returned from Syria where I discussed prospects for improved stability and security in the region with the authorities," he said. "I hope the situation can rapidly return to normality."

In Cairo a foreign ministry statement carried by Egypt's official MENA news agency called the US strike a "serious violation of Syria's sovereignty."

It said Egypt called on all parties "to refrain from any activity or measure that could destabilise the region... and respect the principles of good neighbourliness."

China also condemned the raid, with foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu telling reporters that Beijing opposes "any deed that harms other countries' sovereignty and territorial integrity."

In neighbouring Lebanon, Prime Minister Fuad Siniora said the raid "constitutes a violation of Syrian sovereignty and thus is a dangerous, unacceptable attack that we condemn."

France expressed its severe concern and called for "restraint" Monday after the American attack.

"France expresses its severe concern and deplores the losses of Syrian civilians. It calls for restraint and underlines its commitment to the strict respect of states' territorial integrity," President Nicolas Sarkozy's office said in a statement.

"We want an investigation into this operation which cost the lives of several people, including children," the statement continued.

Sarkozy "expresses his condolences to the victims' families and friends," it added.

Source >  Middle East Online | oct 28

Copyright © - EFFEDIEFFE - all rights reserved.
Link a questo articolo : http://www.effedieffe.com/content/view/5028/152/