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AL stresses opposition to Iraq sanctions

ArabicNews.com, 3 September 1999

Arab League Secretary General Esmat Abdul Meguid on Thursday sent an urgent message to Iraqi Foreign Minister Muhammad Saeed al-Sahaf pertaining to certain ideas debated by Iraq and the AL in the course of the dialogue between the two sides.

Following his meeting with Iraq's permanent representative to the AL, Sultan al-Shawi, AL Undersecretary for Arab Affairs Ahmad Bin Hali said this message relates to certain ideas and special proposals to ensure the proper atmosphere to guarantee the success of the 112th session of the AL council, to be held on September 12.

Bin Hali reiterated the AL's rejection of the continued sanctions against Iraq. He called for lifting the sanctions imposed on the Iraqi people and finding means of resuming the dialogue between Iraq and the UN.

Meanwhile, Lt. Mike Waters, the spokesman for Incirlik air base in southern Turkey, been used by US planes as the base of Operation Northern Watch, which patrols the no-fly zone over northern Iraq and whose planes are often involved in strikes against Iraqi targets, said the US and British planes have since December 1998 carried out some 8,000 sorties over northern and southern Iraq and attacked some 250 Iraqi positions.