IRAQ: Thousands of armed Iraqi men and women took part in a military parade near Baghdad yesterday to declare their readiness to defend their country against any US attack.
The men and women, in military fatigues and with AK-47 assault rifles in hand, marched in the city of Baquba, 28 miles northeast of Baghdad, one day after President Saddam Hussein said Iraq was prepared to confront any military action.
The armed units are part of the Jerusalem Army, which is a volunteer force which Iraq says numbers seven million fighters.
The US has said that if Iraq did not disarm voluntarily, it would lead a coalition to disarm it by force. Washington is building up its forces in the region ahead of possible invasion.
"Carrying these weapons is a clear message to (US President) Bush that every man and woman...are now ready for confrontation on any inch of Iraq's territory," Mr Abdul- Karim al-Saadoun, a senior official from the ruling Ba'ath Party, told reporters at the parade. He said the volunteers "like all Iraqis, are looking forward to martyrdom".
Row after row of women in veils and men in neat military clothes paraded as Revolutionary Command Council vice-chairman, Mr Izzat Ibrahim, and other senior officials watched.
Some of the volunteers donned the black hoods worn by Palestinians ready to become suicide bombers as a mark of their willingness to sacrifice their lives.
The parade comes just a day after Iraq celebrated Armed Forces Day with a defiant speech from President Saddam accusing UN weapons inspectors of "intelligence activity" and Washington of
seeking to occupy the whole Gulf. - (Reuters)