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Blair calls Saddam sons` deaths `a great day for the new Iraq`
Hong Kong, July 23: The death of Saddam Hussein`s two sons Udai and Qusai in a US raid in northern Iraq is nothing less than `a great day for the new Iraq,` British
Hong Kong, July 23: The death of Saddam Hussein`s two sons Udai and Qusai in a US raid in northern Iraq is nothing less than "a great day for the new Iraq," British
Prime Minister Tony Blair said today.
"This is a great day for the new Iraq," said Blair in
Hong Kong, his last stop on a tour of East Asia.
"These two particular people were at the head of a regime that wasn`t just a security threat because of its weapons programs; it was also responsible -- as we can see from the mass graves -- for the torture and killing of thousands and thousands of Iraqis," he said.
"The celebrations that are taking place are an indication of just how evil they were," he said.
"And what is so important is that people understand that if we want to be able to make the progress that we want to make in Iraq, that`s going to increase the stability of that country and the region, and therefore the security of the whole of the world," he said.
"So I think it`s a very, very important move forward, and I think it`s great news."
Blair was US President George W. Bush`s staunchest ally in the war to overthrow Saddam`s regime which began March 20 when US and British forces surged into Iraq.
The British army retains control of the oil-rich south of the country.
Saddam`s sons were among four people killed in a raid on a building in Mosul, in northern Iraq, US Army Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez said earlier at a news conference in Baghdad. He said positive identification of the bodies had been made from multiple sources. Bureau Report
"These two particular people were at the head of a regime that wasn`t just a security threat because of its weapons programs; it was also responsible -- as we can see from the mass graves -- for the torture and killing of thousands and thousands of Iraqis," he said.
"The celebrations that are taking place are an indication of just how evil they were," he said.
"And what is so important is that people understand that if we want to be able to make the progress that we want to make in Iraq, that`s going to increase the stability of that country and the region, and therefore the security of the whole of the world," he said.
"So I think it`s a very, very important move forward, and I think it`s great news."
Blair was US President George W. Bush`s staunchest ally in the war to overthrow Saddam`s regime which began March 20 when US and British forces surged into Iraq.
The British army retains control of the oil-rich south of the country.
Saddam`s sons were among four people killed in a raid on a building in Mosul, in northern Iraq, US Army Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez said earlier at a news conference in Baghdad. He said positive identification of the bodies had been made from multiple sources. Bureau Report