For Immediate Release
March 16, 2003
Global Message
SPECIAL EDITION - REMEMBERING HALABJA
KEY POINTS
This weekend, we remember the victims of Saddam Hussein's
heinous chemical weapons attack on the people of Halabja, a city in
northern Iraqi, and other villages attacked in the Al-Anfal campaign.
On March 16, 1988, the Iraqi air force dropped a devastating
mix of mustard and nerve gas on citizens in this city - 5,000 were
killed immediately, several thousand died later, and an estimated
10,000 people are maimed or still suffering the effects of this
attack.
Iraq arms itself to threaten the peace of the world, posing a
grave danger through its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and its
willingness to use them.
Saddam Hussein must never be allowed to use weapons of mass
destruction again. The international community demands that the Iraqi
regime disclose and destroy the mustard gas and nerve agents used at
Halabja and all other weapons of mass destruction, weapons programs,
and delivery systems.
Our thoughts and prayers are with those who lost loved ones in
the Halabja attack and the thousands who still suffer the debilitating
effects of the chemical weapons attack.
The totalitarian nature of this regime limits the world's
current knowledge of Saddam's brutality. Defectors tell horrific
stories of torture and fear for their lives. We must not forget the
attacks at Halabja or Al-Anfal even as we press for the regime's
disarmament.
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