Better late than never: Iraq threatens to sue Israel for bombing its nuclear reactor in 1981
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Deputy Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament said that Iraq is determined to sue Israel for bombing the nuclear reactor and force it to pay reparations.
By MAAYAN GROISMANDimona nuclear reactor(photo credit: REUTERS)
In a surprising move, First Deputy Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament Humam Hamoudi announced that his country is determined to sue Israel for bombing the Osirak nuclear reactor in 1981.In a statement issued on Tuesday, Hamoudi said: "Iraq is determined to sue Israel for bombing the nuclear reactor and force it to pay reparations for this attack," without specifying when it will take such a measure."The Foreign Ministry and the Parliament's Committee on Foreign Relations should promote this issue internationally and draw special attention to it, in light of the 35th anniversary of the Israeli attack on the nuclear reactor," Hamoudi added.The senior Iraqi official also called on the United Nations to implement Resolution 487 (1981) that allows Iraq to demand reparations for the Israeli military strike on the nuclear reactor and heavily denounces the attack.The head of the Parliament's Committee on Foreign Relations, Abdel Bari Zibari, told the Turkish news agency Anadolu: "Until now, Iraq has not received international support to sue Israel for bombing the nuclear reactor. In order to do so, it will need this support, and especially the support of the permanent members of the UN Security Council."The Iraqi nuclear reactor that was located in southeast Baghdad was bombed by the Israeli Air Force on June 7, 1981, which ruined big parts of the reactor that was still under construction.
