|
Chile beefs
up security in face of attack on Iraq
Chile's acting
Interior Minister Jorge Correa on Wednesday
said the government has already begun to adopt
special security measures in face of the
possible consequences to a United States-led
invasion into Iraq.
At a press
conference, Correa said all vulnerable areas
in the country were under protection. The list
included embassies, certain buildings,
airports, ports, post offices and customs
posts.
"All these
services have been coordinated by the
ministries of the Interior and Defense,"
Correa said.
The minister
also called on the Chilean people to keep calm
in face of the eventual effects of the war.
"We are not in a situation of alarm, not
even of alert. Certainly we are concerned with
the effects of a war, but we are not worried
because this is not a conflict near our
borders," he said.
The head of
Chile's central bank, Carlos Massad, said on
the same day that the country's economy was
strong enough to withstand the impact of a war
in Iraq.
However, some
analysts are wondering whether the independent
stance of the government of Chilean President
Ricardo Lagos, which has refused to support
the invasion of Iraq called for by Washington,
could lead to reprisals. Chile has been
negotiating a free trade agreement with the
United States.
17 Iraqi
soldiers surrender to US troops
Seventeen
Iraqi soldiers crossed the border into Kuwait
and surrendered to US troops on Wednesday,
Arabic-language Abu Dhabi TV channel reported.
The Iraqi
soldiers were handed over to Kuwaiti policy,
it said.
The surrender
came at a time when clock is ticking down to
0100 GMT on Thursday, a deadline set by US
President George W. Bush for Iraqi strongman
Saddam Hussein to leave or face war.
About 180,000
US and British troops are now deployed in
Kuwait, which will be used as a launch pad for
the looming war against Iraq.
Chirac tells
cabinet to prepare for war
French
President Jacques Chirac, a staunch opponent
of war against Iraq, admitted Wednesday that
war was likely to break out "in the
coming days" and urged his Cabinet to
prepare.
During a
cabinet meeting, Chirac told the ministers
that the Iraqi crisis had entered "an
acute and sensitive stage that makes it
possible that a war in Iraq will break out in
the coming days," government spokesman
Jean-Francois Cope said.
Over the past
several months, France had worked with the
United Nations Security Council and the entire
international community for a peaceful
solution to the Iraqi crisis, said Chirac,
reiterating France's anti-war stance.
Chirac called
on his ministers to be "fully mobilized,
attentive and vigilant" to ensure
national unity, protect French people and
respond to economic and other domestic
economic and social difficulties stemming from
the war.
|
