The following is an archived copy of a message sent to a Discussion List run by the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.
Views expressed in this archived message are those of the author, not of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.
[Main archive index/search] [List information] [Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq Homepage]
One possible explanation. I think the european parliament is organised by parties rather than by country. So if there was a majority within each party then it could have been adopted "unanimously" even though individual MEPs objected. Since the left-wingers are in a majority in the EP it would not have been hard to outvote British objections. Not sure about this though - just a guess! best, Abi > Hi > > I'm a bit confused. I was under the impression that Britain was part of the > European parliament. Clearly, I'm wrong or the resolution could not have > been adopted unanimously. Please enlighten me. > > Regards, > Nathan > > -----Original Message----- > From: soc-casi-discuss-request@lists.cam.ac.uk > [mailto:soc-casi-discuss-request@lists.cam.ac.uk]On Behalf Of Hathal > Alqassab > Sent: Thursday, April 27, 2000 3:10 AM > To: CASI Discussion Group > Subject: European parliament reported resolution > > > Friends, > > Wednesday's (26/04/2000) issue of the Arabic London-based Azzaman newspaper > reported the following about a resolution taken by the European parliament > on Monday. I have searched the news agencies but there was no mention of it > so I had to translate Azzaman's report from Arabic myself. Also, it seems > the European parliament site does not publish its resolutions immediately. > The last one published today was that of 14/04/2000. > > I did my best, but hopefully we will have an official English version soon! > The report must also be taken as Azzaman's interpretation of the resolution, > and not as its original text. Some of the wording seems to resemble that > used by Baghdad, not the European parliament! This comes as a surprise as > Azzaman can be considered as an opposition newspaper. > > If you can read Arabic you can download the (.pdf) file from Azzaman's site > www.azzaman.com (page 1) or I can e-mail it to you. > > Thanks, > > Hathal > > > Translation: > > Azzaman, Wednesday 26/04/2000, page 1 > > European Parliament Objects to Military Operations against Iraq > > Paris: The European parliament demanded, for the first time, an end to the > economic embargo on the people of Iraq, and a stop to the military > operations by the US and Britain against Iraqi military sites. The > parliament adopted the resolution unanimously on Monday (24/04/00). It was > proposed by the French parliamentarians the De Gaullian Philip Mur Leon and > the Socialist Sami Nyeer (spelling?), and it called for the necessity of > putting an end to the great suffering that inflicts more and more damage to > the Iraqi people, and which is doomed to lead to a serious humanitarian > crisis. It also called for a stoppage of the aerial bombardment operations > which "do nothing but increase tension in the region." The resolution called > for the intensification of efforts to urge governments to take more > realistic measures to quicken the breakage of the economic embargo for which > thousands of Iraqis pay a hefty price daily. It also emphasized the > rejection of policies which aim to interfere in the interior affairs of > sovereign nations. In the same time, it emphasized the importance of > considering the United Nations as the body directly responsible for the > implementation of UN resolutions and of granting it the independence in > directing its policies in general. > > Observers in the French capital think that the timing of issuing this > resolution is directly related to some of the changes on the international > scene. Western capitals seem to have had enough of American-British > domination of everything that happens in the Middle East, and they may > prefer to go through parliamentary councils to condemn that before proposing > it on the 'official table' with all the diplomatic repercussions that may > have. > > End translation > > > > > > -- > ----------------------------------------------------------------------- > This is a discussion list run by the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq > For removal from list, email soc-casi-discuss-request@lists.cam.ac.uk > Full details of CASI's various lists can be found on the CASI website: > http://welcome.to/casi > > -- > ----------------------------------------------------------------------- > This is a discussion list run by the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq > For removal from list, email soc-casi-discuss-request@lists.cam.ac.uk > Full details of CASI's various lists can be found on the CASI website: > http://welcome.to/casi > -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This is a discussion list run by the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq For removal from list, email soc-casi-discuss-request@lists.cam.ac.uk Full details of CASI's various lists can be found on the CASI website: http://welcome.to/casi