Indyk and on the no-fly zones in Iraq

When asked on Sunday following his meeting with Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa on whether he discussed the issue of the two no-fly zones in northern and southern Iraq with Syrian officials, US Undersecretary of State Martin Indyk said, "It would be much better if such a question will be addressed to the Syrian officials. I can say that I told the Syrian officials that the no-fly zones in the northern and southern parts of Iraq are very necessary to help and protect the Iraqi people and to ensure the implementation of UN resolutions 687 and 688, especially those resolutions forcing Saddam to halt repression against the Iraqi people."

Indyk added that the founding of the no-fly zones in the northern and southern parts of Iraq was intended to prevent Iraqi President Saddam Hussein from using force against the Iraqi people "as he did in the past in the north and south of Iraq."