Iraq’s Defence Minister asks: “Where was Kofi Annan when Saddam was slaughtering the Iraqis like sheep?”
I suspect you might well ask Saddam where Kofi Annan was.
Iraqi minister berates Annan
FALLUJA, Iraq (CNN)—Iraq’s interim defense minister Hazem Sha’alan has lashed out at U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and leaders of other Arab countries during a pep talk for Iraqi troops before an expected assault on the insurgent-held city of Falluja.
Annan warned in a letter dated October 31 to the United States, Britain and Iraq that such an assault would have a “negative impact” on the prospects for elections, now scheduled for January.
But Sha’alan said on Sunday that Annan did nothing to help Iraqis under the rule of ousted leader Saddam Hussein.
“Where was Kofi Annan when Saddam was slaughtering the Iraqis like sheep?” Sha’alan said.
“Where were the calls we hear from Arab and Islamic countries when Saddam was messing up the country?”
With thousands of U.S. troops poised to launch a major assault on Falluja, which has been under insurgent control for months, Sha’alan told the Iraqi troops set to participate in the offensive that they were “the defenders of democracy” who would rescue a city held hostage.
“Those who call not to fight the criminals, we say to them, ‘You are the criminals.’ They are the criminals,” he said.
“How could you shake hands with Saddam Hussein before? You were a slave to Saddam Hussein, and today you try your best to restore dictatorship and crime, but under a new umbrella—that is the umbrella of Islam.”
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