Hussein Denounces Sanctions on 8th Anniversary of Gulf War

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein spoke harshly against U.N. sanctions Saturday, saying nothing could compare with their “mischief and damage.”

In a speech broadcast on the Arab News Network, a London-based satellite television channel, Hussein asked “why the evil forces have targeted Iraq alone and focused on it in such a manner and for such a long time.”

His speech came on the eighth anniversary of the outbreak of the 1991 Persian Gulf War, in which a U.S.-led coalition of forces liberated Kuwait from seven months of Iraqi occupation.

Hussein condemned the Gulf War bombardment of Baghdad, in which U.S. missiles destroyed bridges and government buildings.

Hussein also called on Eastern countries to band together to counterbalance the Western alliances led by the United States.

He said such a partnership, “starting with the Orient . . . should be ready to protect its member states and rightly defend the security and the interests of its members.”

Hussein said Iraq will eventually wear down its “enemies”-- a reference to the United States and Britain, which have taken the toughest line on the maintenance of the U.N. trade sanctions imposed after Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait.

Earlier Saturday, about 6,000 people marched through the center of Baghdad in a demonstration against a U.S. proposal before the U.N. Security Council to remove the cap on Iraqi oil exports.

The oil sales restriction is part of the oil-for-food program, begun in 1996, that allows Iraq to export a limited amount of oil to purchase food, medicine and other humanitarian supplies.

The U.N. ceiling on oil sales currently stands at $5.2 billion worth of oil every six months.