We asked UNSC to end Gaza raids, says President Talabani

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Iraqi President Jalal Talabani on Tuesday announced that Iraqi demanded the UN Security Council to intervene to stop “the inhumane Israeli attacks” on the Gaza Strip, noting that the Iraqi government will provide support and aids to the strip’s residents. This came during a press conference he held after the meeting with the ambassadors of the UNSC permanent countries, with the attendance of his two deputies Adel Abdul Mahdi and Tareq al-Hashemi as well as Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. “Iraq presented a memorandum of condemnation against the Israeli inhuman attacks on the Gaza Strip,” he said, describing these attacks as violation of the international laws. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, his two deputies and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki asked the ambassadors of the permanent countries of the UN Security Council to inform their countries Iraq’s denunciation of the Israeli aggression of the Gaza Strip, urging them to intervene to stop the military operations, the head of the presidential divan Nassier al-Aani said on Tuesday. An official source had said earlier that Iraq’s President Jalal Talabani on Tuesday held a closed-door meeting with his two deputies, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and ambassadors of the U.S., Britain, France, Russia, China. The Iraqi government on Tuesday announced that it will send medical and food assistance to the Gaza Strip, which has been bombarded by Israeli war planes. Hundreds of Palestinians were reported killed or wounded after Israeli F-16 bombers launched a series of air strikes against multiple targets in the Hamas-run territories.   Israel said the operation was in response to rockets fired into Israeli towns and villages by Hamas and other militant groups based in Gaza. SH (S)/SR 1