This shit Pat Cox proves what a pro US evil bastard he is

national | miscellaneous | news report Thursday February 06, 2003 00:27 by brussells gravy train

European Parliament President Pat Cox shows which side he is on. This shit had the cheek to lecture and threaten the Irish public during the Nice referendum.

Parliament chief criticises Iraq trip

MEPs on an unofficial anti-war mission in Iraq have been given red carpet treatment by the Hussein regime.
A group of 34 MEPs on an unofficial mission to Iraq this week has been criticised for interfering in the work of UN Weapons Inspectors.

European Parliament President, Pat Cox, told the Irish Independent that he believed the group would be "used" by Saddam Hussein’s regime.

The group, which set off for Iraq on Sunday, has not been officially sanctioned by the European Parliament. A decision on whether a second official delegation should be sent to Baghdad is expected from parliamentary authorities early this week.

"I fully respect the rights of individual members to inform themselves in Iraq but they must not represent themselves as being mandated by the Parliament. The critical issue is to avoid the appearance of the European Parliament being used by any representative of the Iraqi authorities," said Mr Cox.

The MEPs told journalists in Brussels last week that they would be meeting mainly with non-governmental organisations and Iraqi citizens to convey a strong anti-war message from Europe.

However, the Independent reports that since arriving in Baghdad, the delegation has been given VIP treatment from prominent members of the Hussein regime.

General Amir Saddi, the Iraqi-appointed negotiator with the weapons inspectors, and the Iraqi parliament speaker, Saadoun Hamadi, have both used the opportunity to justify the regime’s current stance and to claim that Iraq is doing all it can to comply with the inspectors.

Mr Saddi has suggested to the MEPs that three conditions should be met before weapons inspectors can use U2 spy planes over Iraq. This includes an end to US and UK flights over no-fly zones of both southern and northern Iraq. He has also demanded an end to the targeting of two radar stations by American fighters.

This week’s visit has gone ahead despite a recent request by Chief Weapons Inspector, Hans Blix, that no delegation should go until his team had finished their work and could deliver a clear message to Saddam Hussein that he must disarm.

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Written by Nicola Smith
Edited by Honor Mahony