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The Vietnamese government and people vehemently condemn the military action waged by the American and British authorities against the Iraqi people, a spokeswoman of the Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.
They "strongly demand an immediate end to those actions and full respect for Iraq's national independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity so as to restore peace in the region and stability in the world," said spokeswoman Phan Thuy Thanh at a press conference.
She stressed, "The Vietnamese government and people's principled position is that in international relations, national independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity must be fully respected and that conflicts must be settled peacefully on the basis of equality, mutual respect, refraining from the threat or use of force."
She said the American and British authorities launched war against the Iraqi people, regardless of the protest of the majority of the world people, ignoring efforts by many UN members to prevent war and seek peaceful solutions to the Iraqi weapon issue.
She noted that "this action constitutes a gross violation of fundamental principles of international law, including the United Nation Charter. It also renders the United Nations ineffective, creates an extremely dangerous precedent in international relations, causes sufferings to the Iraqi people and undermines peace and stability in the Middle East and the world."
(Xinhua News Agency March 20, 2003)
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