Iraq Voices Support for the Syrian People

BAGHDAD,(ST)_ “As a government, we  are bound  to prevent the passage of weapons, according to our Constitution and as necessitated to the interests of our people”, said the Iraqi Prime Minister Nour al-Maliki, stressing  Iraq ‘s commitment to prevent the passage  of weapons to Syria across the Iraqi territories.

: “We are with the Syrian people, and being so , we do not prevent the delivery of food, medical or humanitarian aid, but we made a decision at the cabinet to provide the Syrian side with material assistance”,  al-Maliki added  in a press conference on Saturday.
“Every citizen who lived in Iraq and tasted the bitterness of blockade should not accept siege to any other state.  I do not mean military siege because we do not interfere in it and we are dedicated to it internationally and legally… But we are against any sanction on any people because it destroys people, as happened earlier to the people Iraqi. ” al-Maliki added.
He warned against smuggling weapons by some states to Iraq, noting that “qualitative weapons began to get into Iraq. A matter which poses a threat to Iraq, because it means that al-Qaeda owns qualitative weapons and would probably have mass destruction weapons”.
al-Maliki expressed Iraq’s concern over the international silence about Israel’s nuclear weapons, explaining that it is not logical to talk about rejecting any armament  or any move towards nuclear weapons, while  “Israel is full of  nuclear weapons and no one says to the Israelis : Let ‘s search your  nuclear institutions”.
He made it clear  that Iraq will continue calling on the UN and International Atomic Energy Agency to pressure Israel to stop nuclear armament , adding  he follows up talks  with Iran and  the International Atomic Energy Agency and works  within regional effort to evacuate the area from nuclear weapons,  pointing to ongoing contacts to inspect all  nuclear institutions in the area and  prevent its production and exportation  to any region in the world , as  a technology.
He denied any possibility for the deployment of U.S. troops in areas under dispute noting: “the Iraqi constitution states no presence for foreign troops on Iraqi territory and this is part of the responsibility of both the Iraqi regional and central government to find a solution to their problems without the interference of a third party.

T. Fateh