The Hindu : National : U.S. using chemical weapons against civilians: Iraqi leader

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Dec 21, 2004

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U.S. using chemical weapons against civilians: Iraqi leader

By Aniket Alam

Khudur al-Awazi

HYDERABAD, DEC. 20. "The Americans are losing the war in Iraq and in their frustration have started using chemical weapons and napalm bombs on civilian populations," alleges Khudur al-Azawi of the Iraq National Democratic Party.

Speaking to The Hindu on the sidelines of the recently-held Anti-War Assembly in Hyderabad, Mr. Azawi dismissed media accounts of the war in Iraq as "U.S. propaganda".

He denied there were divisions within Iraqis on sectarian and ethnic lines. "When the Shia city of Najaf was attacked, more than 300 fighters from Falluja came to fight with them. Similarly, Falluja refugees are being provided shelter by Shias," he said. The resistance is organised into two groups, the Iraqi National Resistance and the Iraqi Islamic Resistance. "Cooperation, rather than disunity, mark their relations," he said.

"Everyone recognises one enemy — U.S. occupation," he said. It is not just the violence and killings, it is the humiliation of a proud people, he added. "They even used the stones from the ruins of Babylon to make the gate of their army camp."

"The U.S. Army admits that there are about 125 military operations everyday. Even if one soldier is dying in 10 operations, that would mean more than 12 U.S. soldiers are killed by Iraqi resistance every day, " he argued.

Mr. Azawi claimed that Iraqi resistance had discovered and identified mass graves of occupation soldiers in Iraq. "They are hiding their dead." This massive loss of personnel was forcing the U.S. Army to mobilise another 40,000 troops in Iraq, he said.

"We are willing to take any journalist and scientist to Iraq and show them the evidence on the ground," he said and assured that "the Resistance will provide you security and bring you back safely."

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