OCCUPATION OF IRAQ EMBASSY IN BERLIN ENDED PEACEFULLY
BERLIN, 20 Aug. (IPS) German police commandos stormed the Iraqi Embassy in Berlin on Tuesday evening, freeing two captives and bringing a peaceful end to a hostage taking by an unknown Iraqi dissident group seeking Saddam Hussein's ouster, "Albawaba", An Arab internet news service reported from the German capital.
Police said five people were detained, without saying who the attackers are.
This is the first time that Iraqi dissidents fighting Baghdad’s regime make such a demonstration of their will to oust the Iraqi ruthless dictator Saddam Hoseyn.
Earlier, German police said two people had been injured in the embassy. "Iraqi opposition members tried to force their way into the embassy and then there were shots from the embassy", the agency quoted a police spokesman as having told the British news agency Reuters.
Another police spokesman at the scene confirmed two people had been injured and said that the number of hostages taken at the embassy was believed to be less than 10, but among those held was thought to be the Iraqi ambassador.
A group calling itself the Democratic Iraqi Opposition of Germany issued a statement in German saying it was launching a "peaceful and temporary" action to press its demands for an end to the rule of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
"In the name of the Iraqi people and their legitimate leadership, the Iraqi opposition, we declare that the liberation of Iraqi soil begins today. We are taking over the Iraqi embassy in Berlin and with this the first step in the liberation of our beloved fatherland".
Baghdad denounced the takeover as an act of terrorism and accused what it said were "American and Zionist intelligence services of masterminding the assault"
In a statement, the Iraqi foreign ministry called on Germany "to take measures quickly to oust the mercenary terrorists from the embassy building and protect our employees from this act of terrorism."
In Dubai, a person claiming to be a member of the group told the independent Qatari "Al-Jazira" television by telephone that they wanted "to liberate the land of Iraq".
"We are determined to free Iraq working from inside as well as outside, and you will all hear news very soon", the member told "Al Jazeera", Arab world’s equivalent of the CNN.
"I reject the words "occupation or assault" (of the embassy), the operation aims to free the land of Iraq, that's all", the opposition member added, according to the French news agency Agence France Presse (AFP).
In London, a spokesman for the Iraqi National Congress — a leading umbrella group for opponents of Saddam — said the group had no knowledge of the embassy incident.
He believed the Iraqi Democratic Opposition of Germany was a new group, founded several months ago. He added the Iraqi opposition "has never resorted to any violent action outside the country against the regime", According to American news agency Associated Press.
The operation took place more than one week after representatives of most of Iraqi groups opposed to Saddam Hussein had gathered in Washington and met with senior Bush advisers and officials, including Defence Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, State Department Secretary Collin Powel and vice-President Dick Cheney, who talked to the group via satellite.
In the opposition's highest-level session with U.S. officials in recent times, Cheney said the administration is committed to ousting Hussein and supporting a democratic and multiethnic government that would abandon Hussein's totalitarian ways. Cheney and Rumsfeld urged the fractious and historically ineffectual opposition groups to toil together, declaring that the United States will work with them.
Iraqi opposition leaders arrived in Washington last week at the administration's invitation to demonstrate solidarity against Hussein. The six organisations represented were the Iraqi National Congress (INC), the two main Iraqi Kurdish groups of Democratic Party of Kurdistan and the Kurdistan Patriotic Union and the Supreme Assembly of Iraq Islamic Revolution, which based in Tehran. –although none of the groups top leaders came for the meeting--.
At the opening of the meeting, they even read a joint statement to Cheney, declaring their determination to work together and their support for the U.S. policy of ending Hussein's dictatorship, said INC member Nabeel Musawi.
The official added that the administration told the Iraqis that they must "engage more deeply and prominently" with one another and with an international community that doubts their intentions and abilities. The administration is starting with public sessions with the best-known groups but is also working with others, including former military officers with connections to Hussein's forces. ENDS IRAQ BERLIN EMBASSY STORMED 20802