To: Jane4IceCream who wrote (29565 ) 12/16/1998 10:16:00 PM From: FawnVu Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 119973
It looks like gold and oil stocks will be good play for the next two days...Here is the article... Wednesday December 16, 9:53 pm Eastern Time Japan says Iraq attack to last up to 4 days (Adds further remarks from spokesman) TOKYO, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Air strikes against Iraq by the United States and Britain will apparently last for up to four days, Japan's top government spokesman Hiromu Nonaka said on Thursday. ''I have been informed that the attacks would last for about four days,'' Nonaka told reporters at his regular news conference. Asked to clarify, he said he believed the time frame was four days ''at the maximum.'' Asked to give a source for the information, Nonaka said he believed it was in a statement from a White House spokesman. U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen has said Washington will carry out attacks on Iraq for as long as needed, but gave no time limit. Other U.S. defence officials said they could last days. Earlier, Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi said Japan supported U.S. and British air attacks against Iraq carried out on Wednesday and urged Baghdad to comply with U.N. weapons inspections. Obuchi cited Iraq's failure to allow inspections of its facilities by U.N. inspectors as Japan's reason for supporting the air strikes. ''It is deeply regrettable but Iraq failed to cooperate with (inspectors from) UNSCOM, which has brought the situation to this pass,'' Obuchi said in the statement issued from Hanoi, where he is attending a meeting of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). A copy of the statement was issued by his office in Tokyo. ''For the above reason, Japan supports the action of the United States and Britain,'' Obuchi said. In an earlier news conference, Nonaka pressed Iraq to allow inspections. ''We strongly demand that Iraq immediately and unconditionally implement the U.N. Security Council's resolution (on arms inspections),'' Nonaka said. The U.N. Special Commission (UNSCOM) on Tuesday reported that Baghdad was not cooperating with its inspections aimed at eliminating Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. UNSCOM withdrew its inspectors from Iraq on Wednesday, after Washington advised chief weapons inspector Richard Butler to do so. Japan is the United States' leading ally in Asia, and its support for Washington was widely expected. Tokyo supported the U.S.-led ''Desert Storm'' operation in 1991 after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, contributing $13 billion to help defray costs. Japan was Asia's largest importer of Iraqi crude oil before Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, importing about 170,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) to 200,000 bpd of the 3.5 million bpd Iraq produced before U.N. sanctions were imposed.