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From: SolidNet
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ; [EMAIL PROTECTED] ; [EMAIL PROTECTED] ; [EMAIL PROTECTED] ; [EMAIL PROTECTED] ; [EMAIL PROTECTED] ; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Friday, September 15, 2000 6:27 PM
Subject: NCP of Britain, French Iraq flight delay The purpose of the Solid Net ( Solidarity Network ) is to inform on the activities as well as the ideological and political views of different Communist and Workers� Parties on National and International issues. All articles in the SolidNet are the responsibility of the authors and in no way commit this Web Site. <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, http://www.solidnet.org =========================================================== ------------------------------------------ From: New Communist Party of Britain, Thu, 14 Sep 2000 http://www.newcommunistparty.org.uk, E-Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] International story - 15/9/2000. French Iraq flight delay. by our Middle East Affairs Correspondent FRENCH campaigners planning to fly directly to Baghdad to challenge the sanctions regime at the end of September have hit new snags following objections from Air France. The "A Flight for Iraq" campaign is being backed by Claude Gayssot, Communist Minister of Transport in the Socialist-led French government coalition. The former French Foreign Minister, Claude Cheysson, has agreed to go on the flight to Iraq along with anti-blockade MPs from Belgium, Britain, France and Switzerland. But state-owned Air France is refusing to agree to them chartering one of its fleet for the mission until its own technicians have cleared Baghdad's recently reopened international airport for safety. This could delay the trip for at least a month. The organisers are now sounding out commercial airlines for an alternative carrier. Despite American objections the French government has said it will not block the protest The Foreign Ministry said last month that the flight was perfectly legal as the "UN Security Council never adopted a specific text banning all flights to or from Iraq". While in Iraq the delegation intends to visit hospitals to see for themselves the effects of the brutal blockade which forbids the import of even basic medicines. "We are not going there to support Saddam Hussein," Claude Cheysson told the Paris press on Monday. "We are going to denounce the embargo. What kind of world is this where children are killed in order to punish the parents? The embargo is becoming a crime against humanity against a population who is being condemned to death". New Communist Party of Britain *End* |
