Global Policy Forum

Iraq has asked the United Nations if it has the right to retaliate against military aggressions from neighboring countries, the government's official al-Jumhuriya daily reported Saturday. "Does Iraq have the right to use the same means in attacking outlawed groups based in neighboring countries (that are) used in attacking Iraq?" Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz asked U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Aziz's letter was delivered to the U.N.'s New York headquarters and published in al-Jumhuriya.

Iraq did not name the neighboring countries in its letter but identified Iran and Turkey in a list it also sent detailing violations and attacks against Iraq. The letter also accused the United States and Britain of funding and arming outlawed groups in Iraq to destabilize internal security and threaten national unity.

Iraq has previously complained of daily allied warplane patrols taking off from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, holding the two countries responsible for damages and casualties. Aziz said the destruction of Iraq's defensive power and the ban from rebuilding its defense capabilities "encouraged regional and out-of-region parties to commit armed aggressions against Iraq."

The letter criticized the U.N. Security Council's silence and what it termed its double standards in dealing with the Iraqi issue. This policy endangered regional security and stability, Aziz said.

Iraq has been exposed to direct military acts from Turkey and Iran. Turkey claims to chase fighters of the rebel Kurdistan Workers Party (the PKK) into areas of Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq, while Iran conducts operations against opposition groups based in Iraq, particularly the Mujahedeen Khalq.

U.S. and British jets patrol no-fly zones in northern and southern Iraq to protect Kurdish and Shiite groups against Iraqi government forces. Baghdad has challenged the patrols' legitimacy since late 1998, saying the zones violate its sovereignty and international law. Also on Saturday, Aziz celebrated the failure of the United States to win a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Commission.

In a secret vote Thursday by the U.N.'s Economic and Social Council -- which elects the commission -- France, Sweden and Austria were chosen for the three seats allocated to Western countries. The United States came in fourth in the vote, losing the seat it has held since the panel was formed in 1947. "That is a very good decision because the United States is a big liar when it talks about human rights," Aziz told reporters in Baghdad.