anche il ministro della difesa indiano accusa gli usa sulle wmd

["Nello Margiotta" <animarg at tin.it>]

US Proved Wrong on Iraqi WMD, says Fernandes
13.04.2003 [07:02]

   India's defense minister said yesterday that Washington's claims about
Iraq's weapons of mass destruction (WMD) had been proved wrong, because US
forces had not found no such weapons.
"It has been proven what America has been saying about WMD in Iraq was not
right," Defense Minister George Fernandes told a news conference.
"What has happened in Iraq is not acceptable," said Fernandes, a former
firebrand Socialist who has emerged as a key figure in the right-wing Hindu
nationalist-led Bharatiya Janata Party coalition which rules India.
"The United States started talking about weapons of mass destruction and
finally went to regime change. It was determined to do what it has done in
Iraq and the rest was brought in as supporting reasons."
New Delhi, an old friend of Saddam Hussein's Iraq and a Cold War ally of the
Soviet Union, said the war on Iraq was avoidable and has called upon the
international community to help rebuild the war-ravaged nation. But in
recent years India's ties with Washington have warmed.
Fernandes also said that India's dispute with Pakistan over Kashmir and the
US action in Iraq could not be compared.
Earlier this week, Indian Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha said that there
was a stronger case for military action against Pakistan than Iraq as
nuclear-armed Pakistan had weapons of mass destruction and harbored
terrorist groups.
New Delhi accuses Islamabad of arming, training and infiltrating insurgents
fighting its rule in Kashmir, a charge denied by Pakistan. "The level of
infiltration into Kashmir is the same in recent months. Pakistan is the
biggest sponsor of terrorism in the world," Fernandes said.
Tensions between the two South Asian neighbors, which have fought two of
their three wars over Kashmir, rose again last month after 24 Hindus were
killed by suspected rebels in the Himalayan territory.
Fernandes challenged Pakistan's participation in the global war against
terror saying Islamabad had been "sponsoring" terrorism in India for over
two decades.
"One cannot believe that Pakistan is a member of the anti-terrorism
coalition, formed to root out the terrorism from the globe after the
terrorist attack in the US," Fernandes told reporters.
Fernandes said Afghanistan's former hard-line Taleban rules, and the
Al-Qaeda held responsible for Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington
two years ago, had their centers in Pakistan.
Media reports said yesterday that the US was planning to despatch envoys to
the region, including Secretary of State Colin Powell or his deputy Richard
Armitage, within the next two weeks to ease Indo-Pak tensions.



  fonte:  Arab News