Not trying to stir up a hornet's nest; but us journos like to make sure we have both sides of a story...sometimes...
SPACE-SHUTTLE-IRAQ-D.L
IRAQIS THANK ``GOD ALMIGHTY'' FOR DEATH OF ISRAELI ASTRONA
Baghdad, Feb 2 AFP - Iraqis expressed regret today at the US space shuttle disaster, but thanked ``God Almighty'' that the dead included an Israeli astronaut who was a fighter pilot in the 1981 air raid which destroyed their country's embryonic nuclear reactor.
``I thank God Almighty for avenging my country,'' said primary school teacher Ata Ahmad, while looking up and raising his two forefingers in the air.
``I still remember the day when he bombed our country in a hateful crime against Iraq and the Arabs,'' said Ahmad, a pensioner sitting at the 120-year-old al-Zahawi cafe in central Baghdad.
The space shuttle Columbia, which was transporting crew members back to earth at the end of a 16-day mission, disappeared from NASA screens yesterday as it turned into a fireball shortly before it was due to land in Florida.
Colonel Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli in space, was one of the seven astronauts who died in the tragedy.
Ramon, who was the payload specialist on Columbia's scientific mission, was a fighter pilot in the Israeli air force who fought in the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon.
But in Baghdad most people remember him for taking part in Israel's air raid on their country's embryonic nuclear reactor at Osirak, or Tammuz for the Iraqis, in a strike meant to abort Iraq's alleged quest for nuclear weapons.
``Everybody first thought it was Iran because we were at war back then, but a military spokesman later said on the radio it was Israel,'' Abdel Karim Shaker recalled as he sipped Iraqi dark tea at the cafe.
``Tammuz, which was for peaceful objectives, was our pride. We were the only Arab country to be so advanced,'' said Shaker.
``The Zionists and the American administration do not allow any Arab country to be a threat to the state of Israel,'' he said, triggering approving nods from other men overhearing the conversation.
Shaker expressed anger at the fact that ``Israel is allowed to have all the nuclear reactors and weapons that it desires, while Iraq and any other Arab country are forbidden from doing so.''
UN inspectors in charge of ridding Iraq of its alleged weapons of mass destruction resumed their operations in the country last November 27 after a four-year break.
Jaafar Baqer, a retired radiologist, explained: ``The enemies of Iraq did not only destroy Tammuz, they also assassinated a number of our most brilliant scientists.''
Two younger men at the cafe, traditionally frequented by an all-male clientele, interrupted a seemingly intense backgammon game to take part in the conversation.
``We are saddened by the news because this is a loss for science and humanity. We also feel with the American people, we have nothing against them. We only hate their president because he wants to harm us,'' said Abu Nour.
President George W Bush has threatened military action against the regime of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein on the grounds that it is developing weapons of mass destruction.
``The raid on Tammuz was not just a political or military strike, it was a clear attempt to harm Iraq's capabilities. It was an attack on our civilisation,'' said Salah, a university student.
``This is why we feel that the accident is a gift from God. They hit our scientific programmes and now God has avenged us. We are just relieved at this scientific loss for the Zionists,'' he added.
AFP pdm
NZP
03/02/03 0541NZ
