- Title: WEST BANK/JERUSALEM: REACTIONS TO POWELL SPEECH AT U.N.
- Date: 6th February 2003
- Summary: (W7) JERUSALEM (FEBRUARY 5, 2003) (REUTERS) 1. GV/SV: ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU IN HIS JERUSALEM OFFICE, CAMERA CREWS (2 SHOTS) 0.13 2. MCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU SAYING: "What Secretary Powell showed before the Security Council was a compelling factual picture of what exists in Iraq. I think he laid bare the true nature of Saddam Hussein's regime and I think he exposed the great dangers that emanate from this regime to the region and to the world." 0.44 3. GV: NETANYAHU SPEAING TO REPORTERS 0.49 4. MCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) NETANYAHU SAYING: "I think the case was overwhelming for Saddam's disarmament, peacefully if Saddam so chooses or through military action if he doesn't... (ASKED IF THERE WAS A SMOKING GUN)... "One gun? I saw many. I think it's plainly evident form all the material that was brought there." 1.18 (W7) RAMALLAH, WEST BANK (FEBRUARY 5, 2003) (REUTERS) GV/MV: PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT YASSER ARAFAT SPEAKING IN ARAFAT'S OFFICE WITH U.N. REPRESENTATIVE TERJE LARSEN (3 SHOTS) 1.55 6. MCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) SAEB EREKAT, ADVISOR TO PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT YASSER ARAFAT, SAYING: "We believe our region needs the breeze of peace and not the winds of war. This adds to the complexities... but the real worry for us as Palestinians tonight is that one day people in the international community are discussing war against Iraq while war is being waged against the Palestinian people." 2.47 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 21st February 2003 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: JERUSALEM/ RAMALLAH, WEST BANK
- City:
- Country: Palestinian Territories
- Reuters ID: LVA3FB5GBESXJ0A3L262NVOUVKMA
- Story Text: Israelis and Palestinians, locked in a cycle of
violence that has accompanied a 28-month-old Palestinian
uprising for independence, have reacted to a speech in the
U.N. Security Council by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell
accusing Saddam Hussein of attempting to deceive weapons
inspectors about his country's disarmament despite the looming
threat of a U.S. strike on Iraq.
Israel on Wednesday (February 5) has welcomed the
remarks of U.S. Secretary of State Colin Power to the U.N.
Security Council on Iraq, saying Powell provided overwhleming
evidence of Iraq's possession of banned weapons.
Israeli Foreign MInister Benjamin Netanyahu also said
Powell's presentaiton contained many "smoking guns" that
should convince sceptics of Iraqi deception.
"What Secretary Powell showed before the Security Council
was a compelling factual picture of what exists in Iraq. I
think he laid bare the true nature of Saddam Hussein's regime
and I think he exposed the great dangers that emanate from
this regime to the region and to the world," Netanyahu told
reporters shortly after Powell's appearance in the Security
Council.
In Ramallah, Saeb Erekat, an advisor to Palestinian
President Yasser Arafat, said world attention was being
diverted from the realities of Israeli-Palestinian violence by
the possibility of war in Iraq.
"We believe our region needs the breeze of peace and not
the winds of war. This adds to the complexities... but the
real worry for us as Palestinians tonight is that one day
people in the international community are discussing war
against Iraq while war is being waged against the Palestinian
people," Erakat told reporters.
Israel has made clear it will back its chief ally, the
United States, if it takes military action against Iraq to rid
it of weapons of mass destruction it says Saddam has conspired
to conceal from U.N. weapons inspectors.
Most Israelis strongly support U.S. military action
against Iraq despite their fears that Saddam would target the
Jewish state with Scud missiles as he did during the 1991 Gulf
War.
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