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Date: 28th February 1991
Service: CEEFAX
Region: N/A
Original Broadcast Channel: BBC1
Current Page: 141
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P141 CEEFAX 141 Thu 28 Feb 22:1:/55 SADDAM ASSUMES POWER 1/4 Saddam Hussein, now likened by some western leaders to Hitler, assumed supreme power in Iraq in 1979. Before this he had been deputy chairmanof the Revolutionary Command Council which seized power in 1968 - reportedlythe real leader of Baathist Iraq. In September 1980 Saddam invaded Iran, which had been spreading Islamic fervour after the revolution in 1979. After an abortive Iranian-backed attempt on Tareq Aziz's life, Saddam decided to crush Shi'ite Iran - a move not unwelcome to Western governments. 101Headlines 140Gulf Plus Index Next News News Plus GulfIndex WorldNews
P141 CEEFAX 141 Thu 28 Feb 22:26/00 ARMS SALES TO SADDAM 2/4 After Iraq's invasion of Iran in September 1980, the UN did not meet immediately to consider the issue. The Security Council eventually called a ceasefire after a week, but many in both the West and the Gulf hoped Saddamwould stop the Islamic fundamentalist tide Iran was promoting in the region. To this end, the UN arms embargo imposed on both belligerents was widelyflouted, with arms going to Iraq from France, Britain, the US and the USSR. As a US official said at the time, Saddam was the lesser of two evils. 101Headlines 140Gulf Plus Index Next News News Plus GulfIndex WorldNews
P141 CEEFAX 141 Thu 28 Feb 22:23/45 ALLIED HELP TO SADDAM 3/4 The war Saddam Hussein launched against Iran dragged on for eight years. Based on a claim to the Faw peninsula, to provide Iraq with greater access to the Persian Gulf, Saddam's offensive lost initial momentum and soon falteredDespite the Islamic revolution making Iran's army inferior, stalemate set in.Alarmed, both the West and the USSR increased high-tech arms sales to Iraq,financed by credits from Gulf states - including Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. The war ended in ceasefire in July 1988101Headlines 140Gulf Plus Index Next News News Plus GulfIndex WorldNews
P141 CEEFAX 141 Thu 28 Feb 22:17/10 ALLIED HELP TO SADDAM 4/4 The end of the war with Iran left Iraq the strongest regional military power. It also left Saddam as the strongest Arab leader, seeking to assume Nasser'smantle as "father of the Arab nation". Saddam began buying more arms - from East and West - despite an $80 billion foreign debt resulting from the war. Saddam's economic problems deepened as oil prices weakened, exacerbated by theneed to repay debts to the Gulf states.The end of the 1980s saw a militarily powerful Iraq with a disastrous economy101Headlines 140Gulf Plus Index Next News News Plus GulfIndex WorldNews