Albright starts new measures to topple Saddam Hussein

The Turkish daily "Hurriet" reported on Friday that US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has initiated new steps to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

The paper said that one of the diplomats at the US embassy in Ankara, Frank Ricciardone, was appointed as coordinator for the efforts aimed at organizing Iraqi opposition forces against Saddam Hussein.

Albright said yesterday that this "appointment" would help "the Iraqi people reintegrate themselves into the world community by freeing themselves from a leader they do not want, do not deserve and never chose."

For its part, the Turkish daily "Radical" said on Friday that the US experts are not familiar with the cultural composition of the Middle East, noting that the US plans aimed at establishing a confederation in Iraq will not meet with success unless US troops launch an attack in Iraq.

The paper explained that the "Shiites in southern Iraq and the Kurds in its north will not surrender to the US-British plans drawn for Iraq, therefore Washington intends to achieve its ambitions in this regard through maintaining cooperation with Saudi Arabia and Egypt.