lennart
07-02-03, 23:11
The leaders of two militant Muslim groups Friday condemned the United States for its determination to take on Iraq, and urged Muslims around the world to take action should war be launched against Iraq.
The founder of the Palestinian group Hamas urged Muslims to attack Western interests around the world, while the leader of Lebanon's militant Hezbollah organization warned the international community against cooperating with America in a war that would be a disaster for Iraq and urged Arabs to take up arms and fight at Iraq's side.
"It's a Crusaders' aggression, a Crusaders' war and an occupation," Sheikh Ahmed Yassin said of a possible U.S.-led military campaign.
"Muslims will have to threaten and strike Western interests, and hit them everywhere," Yassin wrote in an open letter.
"As they fight us, we have to fight them and as they threaten our interests, we have to threaten their interests," he said.
Hamas, a fundamentalist group on the U.S. government's list of terrorist organizations, has killed hundreds of people in suicide bombings in Israel during the current intifada.
But the group insists it only operates in Israel and in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and that it does not target Westerners.
Yassin, who brands the United States an enemy, called upon Muslims in the U.S. armed forces to disobey any order to attack Iraq.
"It is forbidden for them to participate in the killing of other Muslims," he said.
After Friday prayers in Gaza City, the wheelchair-bound Yassin led a rally against any U.S. war on Iraq over its alleged weapons of mass destruction.
Some 1,500 Palestinian demonstrators marched through the city, holding green Hamas flags and posters of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
Loudspeakers sounded a call for Iraqis to emulate Palestinian suicide bombers by donning explosives belts "to fight the invaders."
Palestinians hold regular rallies in Gaza Strip and the West Bank in support of Iraq, whose financial aid has boosted Saddam's image in the territories.
Yassin also called on Arabs and Muslims to boycott U.S. goods and "close their doors" against the United States and its allies and not to offer them assistance in the war against Iraq.
"Any regime that does that is a sinner," Yassin said in a copy of the letter obtained by Reuters.
A Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip, Mahmoud Zahar, said Thursday that his group is prepared and has the infrastructure to lead the Palestinian people after elections.
Asked if he thought Hamas was ready to lead the Palestinian people, Zahar said: "Absolutely. Hamas has an infrastructure, it has its cadres that can lead in all directions politically, financially, socially."
Nasrallah: War would produce 'millions' of victims
Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, the spiritual leader of Hezbollah, which Washington has labeled a terrorist organization, also said a war in Iraq would produce "millions" of Iraqi victims, including casualties and refugees.
"Nobody in the world under any title, form or pretext should offer any assistance to the Americans, even those opposed to [Iraqi President] Saddam Hussein," Nasrallah told thousands of supporters during a rally in a southern Beirut suburb to mark the 24th anniversary of Iran's Islamic revolution.
Nasrallah said a U.S.-led war against Iraq over its suspected mass destruction weapons program would be a "disaster" for ordinary Iraqis and should be averted "if only for humanitarian reasons."
Nasrallah said America wanted to wage war in a bid to control the Middle East, not to help Iraqi civilians or protect people in neighboring Gulf state Kuwait, which Iraqi forces occupied for seven months until U.S.-led forces liberated it during the 1991 Gulf War.
He also called for an Arab or Muslim conference to form a national reconciliation government in Baghdad and urged men throughout the region to defend Iraq in the event of war.
"If, in light of such Iraqi readiness for real and genuine national reconciliation, the United States insists on attacking Iraq, then... every able and mature adult should carry arms and fight the Americans in defense of Iraq," he said.
(c) Ha'aretz
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Ik ben benieuwd hoeveel hamas en hezbollah aanhangers er zijn.
The founder of the Palestinian group Hamas urged Muslims to attack Western interests around the world, while the leader of Lebanon's militant Hezbollah organization warned the international community against cooperating with America in a war that would be a disaster for Iraq and urged Arabs to take up arms and fight at Iraq's side.
"It's a Crusaders' aggression, a Crusaders' war and an occupation," Sheikh Ahmed Yassin said of a possible U.S.-led military campaign.
"Muslims will have to threaten and strike Western interests, and hit them everywhere," Yassin wrote in an open letter.
"As they fight us, we have to fight them and as they threaten our interests, we have to threaten their interests," he said.
Hamas, a fundamentalist group on the U.S. government's list of terrorist organizations, has killed hundreds of people in suicide bombings in Israel during the current intifada.
But the group insists it only operates in Israel and in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and that it does not target Westerners.
Yassin, who brands the United States an enemy, called upon Muslims in the U.S. armed forces to disobey any order to attack Iraq.
"It is forbidden for them to participate in the killing of other Muslims," he said.
After Friday prayers in Gaza City, the wheelchair-bound Yassin led a rally against any U.S. war on Iraq over its alleged weapons of mass destruction.
Some 1,500 Palestinian demonstrators marched through the city, holding green Hamas flags and posters of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
Loudspeakers sounded a call for Iraqis to emulate Palestinian suicide bombers by donning explosives belts "to fight the invaders."
Palestinians hold regular rallies in Gaza Strip and the West Bank in support of Iraq, whose financial aid has boosted Saddam's image in the territories.
Yassin also called on Arabs and Muslims to boycott U.S. goods and "close their doors" against the United States and its allies and not to offer them assistance in the war against Iraq.
"Any regime that does that is a sinner," Yassin said in a copy of the letter obtained by Reuters.
A Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip, Mahmoud Zahar, said Thursday that his group is prepared and has the infrastructure to lead the Palestinian people after elections.
Asked if he thought Hamas was ready to lead the Palestinian people, Zahar said: "Absolutely. Hamas has an infrastructure, it has its cadres that can lead in all directions politically, financially, socially."
Nasrallah: War would produce 'millions' of victims
Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, the spiritual leader of Hezbollah, which Washington has labeled a terrorist organization, also said a war in Iraq would produce "millions" of Iraqi victims, including casualties and refugees.
"Nobody in the world under any title, form or pretext should offer any assistance to the Americans, even those opposed to [Iraqi President] Saddam Hussein," Nasrallah told thousands of supporters during a rally in a southern Beirut suburb to mark the 24th anniversary of Iran's Islamic revolution.
Nasrallah said a U.S.-led war against Iraq over its suspected mass destruction weapons program would be a "disaster" for ordinary Iraqis and should be averted "if only for humanitarian reasons."
Nasrallah said America wanted to wage war in a bid to control the Middle East, not to help Iraqi civilians or protect people in neighboring Gulf state Kuwait, which Iraqi forces occupied for seven months until U.S.-led forces liberated it during the 1991 Gulf War.
He also called for an Arab or Muslim conference to form a national reconciliation government in Baghdad and urged men throughout the region to defend Iraq in the event of war.
"If, in light of such Iraqi readiness for real and genuine national reconciliation, the United States insists on attacking Iraq, then... every able and mature adult should carry arms and fight the Americans in defense of Iraq," he said.
(c) Ha'aretz
----
Ik ben benieuwd hoeveel hamas en hezbollah aanhangers er zijn.