Arabs dance to American foreign interest music

Over 1.2 million Iraqi people have died as a result of medical shortages during more than seven years of UN sanctions against Iraq.

Iraqi Health Minister Umeed Mubarak told Arab and western reporters attending a cultural festival that about 6,500 children under the age of five died in Iraq each month, compared to 506 a month before the 1990-91 Gulf crisis. Deaths among people over five have risen to 8,000 a month from 1,600, he said.

Iraqi hospitals lack medical supplies such as anesthetics, and spare parts for medical equipment and could operate only at 30 percent of capacity. Many are forced to turn away all but emergency cases, Mubarak added.

Analysts said that the Iraqi people would not forget the children who die every day he cause of UN sanctions.

This crisis has created enormous hatefulness between the Arab peoples, especially in the Gulf region. So, when some Arab leaders comprehended the problem, they decided to relieve the suffering of the Iraqi people.

But they confront the obstinacy of Washington and London. Indeed, the American Administration wants to leave Saddam Hussein's regime in control to maintain its strategic interests, and the Arab world dances to American music, forgetting their interests.