Iraq called Sunday on the Palestinians, who have been clashing with the Israeli army, to engage in holy war against the Jewish state and not accept negotiations.
"Occupied Palestine will not be freed through bargaining coming from a position of weakness," the Iraqi cabinet, chaired by President Saddam Hussein, said in a statement.
"The liberation of Palestine must come through Arab mobilization and support for the Palestinians, who will be at the vanguard of the jihad (holy war) to free plundered land," said the statement, carried by the official Iraqi News Agency.
Iraq also expressed "its pride and high esteem toward the Palestinian people for their desire for jihad and the enthusiasm that sets alight each inch of Palestinian territory occupied by the Zionist aggressors."
The Palestinians' "courage and tenacity" are not surprising, as "the Arabs cannot but reject aggression when they are offered the least bit of freedom of action," it said.
The statement was Baghdad's first since violence broke out Thursday between the Israeli army and Palestinian demonstrators. As of Sunday, 35 Palestinians had been killed, including one Israeli Arab -- BAGHDAD (AFP)
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