BAGHDAD: A former Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations said tonight (January 26, 2003) that the United States and Britain are proceeding with plans to "annihilate Iraqi society, a catastrophe that would be heightened by the threatened use of tactical nuclear weaponry."
Denis J. Halliday told a news conference in Baghdad that he was "greatly impressed by the courage and vibrancy of the Iraqi people I met both in the Baghdad souk and in the elite lobby of the Al Rashid Hotel. I am hugely respectful of the cool manner in which ordinary people face up to the threat of war and in awe of their apparent ability to calmly carry on with life's daily round - from caring and loving their children to enjoying a mesa of baba ganoush, hommus and Iraqi bread. I say this knowing that fear and anxiety are only just below the surface and that children of all ages are suffering psychological trauma. Iraq may be secular, but it is clear in talking to people at all levels of society that a strong belief in God is keeping many going forward."
In addition to holding the post of Assistant Secretary General at the United Nations, Halliday was head of the U.N.'s oil-for-food program in Iraq from August 1997 to October 1998. Nearing the end of a three-day visit to Iraq's capital, Halliday was scheduled to meet later Sunday night with Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri and Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz.
Halliday is an Irish citizen based in New York City. He has been accompanied on the trip to Baghdad by Norman Solomon, executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy, a U.S. public policy organization with offices in San Francisco and Washington, D.C.
Please continue for fuller statements from both Halliday and Solomon...
Denis J. Halliday told a news conference in Baghdad that he was "greatly impressed by the courage and vibrancy of the Iraqi people I met both in the Baghdad souk and in the elite lobby of the Al Rashid Hotel. I am hugely respectful of the cool manner in which ordinary people face up to the threat of war and in awe of their apparent ability to calmly carry on with life's daily round - from caring and loving their children to enjoying a mesa of baba ganoush, hommus and Iraqi bread. I say this knowing that fear and anxiety are only just below the surface and that children of all ages are suffering psychological trauma. Iraq may be secular, but it is clear in talking to people at all levels of society that a strong belief in God is keeping many going forward."
In addition to holding the post of Assistant Secretary General at the United Nations, Halliday was head of the U.N.'s oil-for-food program in Iraq from August 1997 to October 1998. Nearing the end of a three-day visit to Iraq's capital, Halliday was scheduled to meet later Sunday night with Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri and Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz.
Halliday is an Irish citizen based in New York City. He has been accompanied on the trip to Baghdad by Norman Solomon, executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy, a U.S. public policy organization with offices in San Francisco and Washington, D.C.
Please continue for fuller statements from both Halliday and Solomon...