EGYPT: Anti-war activists from Egypt and around the world yesterday forecast years of chaos in the Middle East if the US goes to war against Iraq.
Intellectuals and lawmakers meeting in Cairo accused Washington of using war to snatch Iraqi oil, dominate the region and stay the sole superpower. "I can't think of any good consequences. I think the probability is it [war] would result in thousands of deaths on top of hundreds and thousands of deaths," former US attorney general Mr Ramsey Clark said.
Mr Ashraf el-Bayoumi, an Egyptian professor and one of the conference organisers, accused Washington of "launching an attack on Iraq, occupying Iraq, usurping its natural resources, oil and otherwise, in order to continue being the solo superpower in the world".
The two-day meeting reflects rising concern in Egypt about an imminent strike against Iraq. President Hosni Mubarak has said a war would be a "catastrophe for everyone".
Among others attending the conference was former UN humanitarian aid coordinator for Iraq, Mr Denis Halliday from Ireland, who resigned in 1998 to protest against the effect of sanctions against Baghdad. Mr Halliday said the US, by accusing Baghdad of materially breaching the tough new UN resolution, "plans to undermine the work of inspections and the work of the Iraqi government". "The United States doesn't want a peaceful solution. They want an excuse to go to war, to conquer Iraq and control its oil," he said.
- (Reuters)