(Petaling Jaya, Friday): DAP calls for the convening of a special meeting of the Dewan Rakyat for an all-party motion condemning United States-Britain bombing of Iraq as a violation of the United Nations Charter, demand an immediate halt to the air strikes and that the US-UK forces should submit themselves to the will and decision of the United Nations Security Council.
Although the Dewan Negara before it adjourned yesterday passed a resolution deploring the bombing of Iraq by the United States and Britain, the Dewan Negara does not have any impact as it does not represent anything or anybody to enable it to speak with authority or national mandate.
It is very significant that very few nations have voiced support for the US-Britain joint bombing of Iraq, which has been described by the former US Attorney-General Ramsey Clark as a "wanton act of mass murder" which the Clinton Administration had no right to carry out.
What makes the US-Britain bombings of Iraq completely unacceptable is the indisputable fact that it is clearly designed to serve the personal political agenda of President Clinton to avert an impeachment vote in the U.S. House of Representatives this weekend itself.
Apart from the other three permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, China, Russia and France, even the Vatican has condemned the U.S.-led air strikes against Iraq as ``aggression'' and called for the restoration of the international order.
By convening a special meeting of the Dewan Rakyat, the Malaysian Parliament will be lending its voice to the weight of international opinion demanding that both the United States and Iraq should comply with the will of the international community.
(18/12/98)