MCB calls US/British Air Strikes UNethical, UNwarranted and UNjust

12th February 2001

The Muslim Council of Britain today condemned the latest US/British air strikes on Iraq and called for an immediate lifting of the UN sanctions policy against Iraq.

“The air strikes and the ongoing sanctions regime are part of a morally bankrupt policy which is resulting in the deaths of tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis,” said the MCB Secretary-General, Mr Yousuf Bhailok. “People and governments all over the world are condemning the air strikes and the sanctions. Why is it that the US and Britain do not show the same resolve in implementing UN resolutions against Israel.”

The USA and our government seem determined to use the UN to pursue an agenda which despite Robin Cook’s totally inadequate explanations is clearly UNethical, UNwarranted and UNjust. We should after 10 years of sanctions try to bring back Iraq into the world community of nations, not isolate it further.

In Britain we are wishing to make peace within Northern Ireland, yet we are not giving the Iraqi people any viable option. Britain’s ethical foreign policy is in shatters.