DATE=02/19/01

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=IRAQ OPPOSITION (L-O)

NUMBER=2-272769

BYLINE=LAURIE KASSMAN

DATELINE=LONDON

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: The U-S and British air strikes Friday against Iraqi command and control centers near Baghdad continue to evoke mixed reaction in Europe. But Iraqi opposition leaders welcomed the attack. Correspondent Laurie Kassman has more from London.

TEXT: U-S and British officials are defending the air strikes as a defensive measure to protect their pilots patrolling northern and southern no-fly zones in Iraq.

Some European Union members have raised concerns about the strategy and France has questioned the legality of the bombing raid.

But Iraqi opposition leaders trying to oust President Saddam Hussein have no doubts about the air strikes. Sherif Ali Bin Hussein, who heads the Iraqi Monarchy Movement, says the northern and southern no-fly zones need to be protected.

Mr. Ali is the official spokesman for the Iraqi National Congress - an umbrella group of opposition forces.

/// ALI ACT ///

I think in Iraq itself it helps our cause because let us not forget that the no-fly zones are to protect the Iraqi people from Saddam's air power. He has in the past used to hail chemical weapons down on the Iraqi people, killing thousands of men, women and children. And, if it were not for the no-fly zones, he would use that air power again to bomb Iraqi villages and kill innocent women and children.

/// END ACT ///

Since the end of the 1991 Gulf War, U-S and British aircraft have patrolled the mostly-Kurdish north and the predominantly Shiite southern areas of Iraq from Baghdad's threats of aggression.

Despite his support for the U-S bombing raid, Mr. Ali worries over Saddam Hussein's threats of retaliation.

/// ALI ACT TWO ///

Naturally, what we fear is that because he is impotent against exterior countries, stronger forces but he is a bully against his own people so, because he can not retaliate against the international community, he will probably retaliate against his own people inside Iraq. So we are alerted to further acts of suppression, further mass arrests.

/// END ACT ///

Exiled Iraqi opponents of Saddam Hussein have won U-S support for their efforts to oust him from power. The U-S Congress has approved 97-million dollars of aid for the Iraqi National Congress.

Mr. Ali and other I-N-C leaders were in Washington last week to consult with Bush administration officials about increasing military training and financial help. (SIGNED)

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