Foreign Minister Naji Sabri said on Monday Iraq would turn the desert into a grave for invading U.S. and British forces if they did not retreat or surrender. He added the number of volunteers from other Arab countries had risen to 5,000 from 4,000 a day earlier.
"We will turn this desert into a big grave for the Americans and British," Sabri told a news conference in Baghdad. "They will not emerge from our land safely."
Urging the advancing troops to retreat or surrender, he said: "With the passing of every day, they are sinking deeper into the mud of defeat and their losses are increasing."
Sabri said the American and British forces were using tactics of divide and rule but would not succeed. He branded U.S. and British leaders criminals from the dark ages. "I call on all U.S. and British soldiers to surrender to us because this is the only way to survive or else they will die," he said.
Sabri gave no figure for the number of U.S. and British prisoners of war but said: "They are all being treated well in accordance with Islamic and Arab customs."
The Iraqi forces are heavily outgunned but Sabri said they have been boosted by volunteers from other Arab states, adding: "Now the number of volunteers has exceeded 5,000." He said Arab states that have not supported Iraq would face "severe punishment" by their own people. (Albawaba.com)
