Arab World Protests Bombing of Iraq CAIRO, Egypt (AP) -- Throwing stones, burning flags and even breaking into a U.S. ambassador's home, protesters throughout the Arab world joined Saturday in a bitter wave of anger over the airstrikes on Iraq. A common theme of the protests was that all Arabs -- not just Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein -- were targeted by the U.S. and British attacks, which President Clinton suspended in an announcement Saturday evening in Washington. ``The aggression on Iraq is an aggression on the whole Arab nation,'' said Aziza Fadhel, a university student in the Syrian capital, Damascus. That was exactly the idea Clinton tried to fight in a message offered for broadcast in Arab countries. Saddam ``threatens Muslims and non-Muslims alike,'' Clinton said in the videotaped message. ``We had to act.'' The United Arab Emirates criticized the strikes for taking place during the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan. Before Clinton announced the suspension of the military action, thousands marched through downtown Damascus Saturday in a rare protest in the Syrian capital. About 1,000 people -- most of them students -- attacked the U.S. Embassy, its nearby residence and the American Cultural Center. Rioters also threw stones at the British Embassy in Damascus and broke into the British Council, where they damaged furniture and scattered library books. At the U.S. residence, more than 100 people climbed over the wall, broke down the front door and stormed inside, destroying everything in their path -- furniture, windows, the ambassador's private office. They knocked books on the floor, and destroyed kitchen cabinets and bookcases. They also attacked the car of Ambassador Ryan Crocker, shattering the lights and windows. Crocker's wife, Christine, was in the house at the time but was not hurt. At the embassy, U.S. Marine guards fired tear gas from the roof to disperse the stone-throwing crowd. Three protesters managed to enter the compound, climb the walls and haul down and burn the American flag. Syrian security forces dispersed the mobs after about six hours. In Washington Saturday, the State Department advised American citizens not to travel to Syria because the U.S. attack on Iraq could prompt retaliation and put Americans in danger. In Hebron in the West Bank, about 3,000 Palestinians defied a ban from their leadership on pro-Iraq demonstrations, screaming ``Death to Israel! Death to America!'' Clashes later with Israeli troops firing rubber bullets left more than 100 Palestinians injured. The unrest was among the most intense in months in the Palestinian lands. In another demonstration in Jenin, about 2,500 Palestinians approached the Jewish settlement of Ginat and threw stones at Israeli troops, who responded with rubber bullets and tear gas. Seven Palestinians were injured. In Egypt, 4,000 students burned U.S. and Israeli flags at Banha University, north of Cairo, as did 200 students at Cairo's Ain Shams University. ``Oh Baghdad, Oh Baghdad, my love, strike Tel Aviv,'' they shouted at Ain Shams. ``Iraq's children have no milk for nursing, so now they're sucking on bullets instead.'' Protester Ayman Yassin, 20, called America ``the spawn of all evil.'' In the Yemeni capital of San`a, more than 15,000 marched. ``Look, look at America, look at the scandal of Monica,'' some chanted. In Jordan, more than 1,000 students expressed their anger at Jordanian University, where 200 riot police kept them from leaving the campus. There were also protests in Sudan, where U.S. forces in August bombed a pharmaceuticals plant Washington accused of making components for chemical weapons. In the capital, Khartoum, some students threw Molotov cocktails at the closed U.S. Embassy during a protest by about 2,000 people, witnesses said. Russia: Iraq Furor May Hurt US Ties MOSCOW (AP) -- Moscow denounced the United States today with the kind of rhetoric not seen since the Cold War, demanding an end to attacks on Iraq and warning that relations with the West could be badly damaged. In a rare display of political consensus, President Boris Yeltsin and his Communist and nationalist opponents harshly criticized the U.S. and British attacks on Iraq with verbal broadsides reminiscent of the Soviet era. ``We condemn the United States, and nobody should doubt our negative attitude,'' Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov said. Russian Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev said Friday the U.S. and British strikes ``flagrantly violated the norms of the international law and openly ignored the world community's efforts to settle the situation.'' Sergeyev said Moscow's relations with NATO were threatened. The Foreign Ministry called for a halt to the air attacks and a U.N. Security Council meeting to restore peace in Iraq, a longtime Soviet and Russian friend. The Iraq crisis underscores Moscow's loss of global influence and the unhappiness of some Russian political leaders and officials about close post- Soviet ties with the West. Russian officials are furious that they can do little more than complain, recalling how the Soviet Union might have used its global muscle to prevent such an attack. But Russia is no longer a global power and even the most vehement critics of the West admit privately that Moscow will do little more than growl and indulge in halfhearted saber rattling. Russia, caught in its worst economic crisis since the Soviet collapse, needs the West far too much. The Kremlin, apparently concerned about the harsh rhetoric at a time when it is desperate for Western aid, was already toning down some of the criticism. Presidential aides stressed there was no question of breaking relations with the United States or Britain even though Moscow recalled its ambassadors to protest the airstrikes. ``The president believes that under no circumstances should we slide towards confrontation (with the West), but we should call things by their name. The military strikes are unacceptable and should be stopped,'' presidential spokesman Dmitry Yakushkin told a Kremlin press briefing. Senior officials hastened to add that Russia still wants Western food aid and new loans from the International Monetary Fund. None of that is possible without the support of Washington. The government expects to finalize a Russian-U.S. agreement on $625 million in food aid and loans by Dec. 25, Deputy Prime Minister Gennady Kulik said Friday, according to Russian news reports. Russia's poor grain harvest this year, coming on top of its economic crisis, has caused concern that some Russians could go hungry this winter and has prompted Moscow to ask the United States and the European Union for food aid. President Clinton sent a letter to Yeltsin on Friday defending the decision to attack, and Yeltsin responded with a message to Clinton through Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov. Contents of Yeltsin's message were not disclosed. The State Duma, the lower chamber of parliament, passed an appeal to Yeltsin on Friday calling for Russia to unilaterally break U.N. sanctions against Iraq and provide aid to Baghdad. Such a move is not binding on the government, and Yeltsin is unlikely to take any real action. In unusually strong criticism from the military, Gen. Leonid Ivashov, the head of the Defense Ministry's international military cooperation department, said the attack could lead to a rift with the West. Moscow ``will be forced to change its military-political course and may become the leader of a part of the world community that disagrees with the (U.S.) dictate,'' ITAR-Tass quoted him as saying. The Russian navy put some units on alert because of the Iraq crisis, but there had been no deployment of ships, officials said. The move appeared purely symbolic. The Russian military is not considered an effective force after years of neglect and poor funding. Americans Warned Not To Go to Syria WASHINGTON (AP)-- The State Department advised American citizens Saturday not to travel to Syria because the U.S. attack on Iraq could prompt retaliation and put Americans in danger. The warning was issued on the same day that the U.S. embassy in Damascus and the ambassador's residence were damaged by demonstrators, protesting the air strikes on Iraq. No Americans were hurt in the demonstrations, a State Department official said. U.S. citizens should ``defer nonessential travel to Syria in light of U.S. military action undertaken against Iraq and the potential for retaliatory action,'' the warning said. The State Department also advised Americans who are in Syria to ``limit their movement'' and ``maintain a low profile.'' West Bank Protests on Iraq Hurt 100 HEBRON, West Bank (AP) -- Shouts of ``Death to America!'' rang out at angry pro-Iraq marches staged by Palestinians on Saturday in the West Bank. Violent clashes in their aftermath left more than 100 Palestinians hurt. Yasser Arafat's government, meanwhile, said it would send a special envoy to Baghdad to try to help end the crisis in Iraq, which has been pounded by U.S. and British airstrikes. The display of Palestinian frustration and fury -- exacerbated by Israel's refusal to carry out a troop withdrawal promised under the Wye River peace accords -- stood in stark contrast to the warm welcome President Clinton had received earlier in the week in the West Bank and Gaza strip. The main fighting came in the West Bank town of Hebron, where more than 3,000 Palestinians, some masked, marched waving Iraqi flags and portraits of Saddam Hussein. Afterward, hundreds of Palestinians broke away from the main march and hurled stones and firebombs at Israeli soldiers guarding Jewish settlements in the center of Hebron. The soldiers fired rubber bullets at the marchers, injuring 104 of them, hospital officials said. Four were seriously hurt, according to doctors at Hebron's Aliya Hospital. The unrest was among the most intense in months in the Palestinian lands, even including demonstrations that rocked the West Bank last week over Palestinian demands for release of prisoners held in Israeli jails. The rally in Hebron and smaller ones in the West Bank town of Jenin and the Gaza Strip town of Rafah came in defiance of a Palestinian police ban on pro- Iraq demonstrations. In Rafah, about 400 Palestinian protesters burned U.S. and British flags. Police dispersed them, but without using force. In Jenin, about 2,500 Palestinians chanted ``Death to America!'' but refrained from burning any U.S. flags. Afterward, the marchers approached the Jewish settlement of Ginat and threw stones at Israeli troops, who responded with rubber bullets and tear gas. Seven Palestinians were injured. The fighting in Hebron took place amid winding, cramped downtown streets, where soldiers and protesters ducked into shops and doorways for cover. At one point, with stones raining down on them, about 20 Israeli soldiers grouped and charged stone-throwers, firing rubber bullets as they ran forward. After two hours of intense fighting, Palestinian police moved in and kept the demonstrators away from Israeli positions, and the stone-throwers eventually dispersed. Thirty of those hurt were hospitalized and the rest treated at the scene. The Iraq crisis poses a dilemma for the Palestinian leadership. It is anxious to rein in the backing Palestinians gave Saddam during the 1991 Gulf War, which set back the Palestinian cause in the West. At the same time, Arafat's government apparently wants to allow some outlet for Palestinian street sentiment in favor of Iraq. At its meeting Friday night, the Palestinian Cabinet said the Palestinian Authority would send an envoy to aid in efforts to ``stop the destruction in which the Iraqi people are paying the price.'' On Friday, after a series of pro-Iraq rallies at which U.S. flags were burned, Palestinian authorities declared such demonstrations banned and briefly detained some journalists -- including some working for foreign media outlets -- who had covered the pro-Iraq unrest.
