Iraqis slam Israeli assaults on Lebanon and Gaza (speaker of parliament)

[Barrett808]

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Iraqis from both sides of the country's sectarian divide have condemned Israel's attacks on Lebanon and Gaza.

The Sunni speaker of parliament, Mahmud Mashhadani, issued a statement warning that the Israeli offensives would undermine the entire region.

"The Israeli escalation of actions against Gaza and Lebanon, which have caused dozens of deaths of innocent civilians, is a dangerous attack on the stability of the entire Middle East," he said.

Mashhadani added that the attacks showed Israel cared little for international treaties or for international society.

A conservative Islamist, Mashhadani is a member of the Sunni Arab National Concord Front, the largest Sunni bloc in Iraq's parliament.

"I call on the (UN) Security Council and other countries to condemn the attack and put an end to it," the statement quoted him as saying.

(more)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060714/wl_mideast_afp/mideastunrestiraq