Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris

Revue de Presse-Press Review-Berhevoka Çapê-Rivista Stampa-Dentro de la Prensa-Basm Özeti
INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE, TUESDAY, APRIL 22, 1997
twhite House Warns Iraq
,Against Pilgrim Airlift .
press' agency, INA, reported. The mee.t~
Compiled by Our SUJjfFrom Dispatches • mg was headed by President Sadd$
WASHINGTON - The Whl~ Hussein, it said.' ,
House warned ,Iraq on Monday. that It "Any American practice threatemng
would take a~tlon If Ba~dad vlOla~d the safety of the helicopters and the
the West~rn-Imposed flight-eXC~USlO~pil~ms willbe met with ah appropriate
zone to b~g back from the. Sa~di-Iraql action," the press. agency quoted an
border ~aqlS w~o ma~e a pllgnmage to ." authoritative" source, as s~ying. .
;M~ca m Sa~ Arabia. . '.. The Iraqi press agenc~ ~d the hel~-
We certamly recogruze the slgmf-copters would fetry the pllgnms to theIr
icance of the hajj, but th~re are other home areas from the border, but did not
means and .procedurc::~a~aIl~ble foor~e say how many aircraft woul~ be.involved
II'lI;I1sportationof hal] pll~s, said or give the number of the pilgnms. .
Michael McCurry, the White House As night-approached m Iraq, there
spokesman. , was no' word from Iraqi officials or the
'~ ~e!en~e Dep~ent, mean- state-run media on whether the flights
while, SaIdIt might conSider a request to had started ' .
exempt the hajj flights for humanitarian. Mr. McCurry said,. "We would en~
reasQJ1s. . ould courage the government of Iraq to meet
Iraq announce~ Monday that It w ; its own obligations under UN securitx
defy the ban on flIghts o~er the sout~ of Council resolutions, and we will mOß-'
the country, which was,lmposed ~unn~ itor carefully any potenti~ violations of>
the Ç1ulfW~, so that It could pick ~r the 'no-fly' zone." Ife said the United:
Ir~qls rerurnmg from th,e ~ual P -. States would "respond appropriately"
gnma~e to Mecca, Islam s hohe:~i~i~~ to any violations. .
iraqi leaders met before the d. The spokesmari did not elaborate on
was anno~nced and warned th~ Umted what action might be taken, saying
States a~amst any attempt ~o mterc~pt only, "We would not shoot down ci:
the helIcopters, the offiCial Iraman vUlan helic:opters, obviously."
Pilgrims home.
~
-SecretarYofDefl?l),SC Wiiliam Cohen,
meanwhile, sai