BAGHDAD, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid condemned Saturday the expansion of the conflict in the Gaza Strip to a broader scope after the U.S.-led airstrikes on the Houthi military sites in Yemen, warning that such an expansion would have a devastating impact on everyone.
"We strongly condemn any attempts to expand the scope of this conflict, as it will burn everyone," Rashid said in a televised speech during the ceremony commemorating the late Shiite cleric Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim, who was assassinated in a bomb attack in the city of Najaf in August 2003.
Rashid reiterated Iraq's condemnation of Israeli attacks on Gaza that caused the suffering of the Palestinian people, especially as most of the victims are women, children, and the elderly.
He urged the international community to put an end to this conflict by taking a more decisive position to achieve peace and secure the interests of the Palestinian people by establishing their independent state.
On Friday, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry condemned the airstrikes by the United States and Britain that targeted Houthi military sites in Yemen. The strikes came in response to the Houthis' recent attacks in the Red Sea on what they called "Israeli-linked ships."
The ministry decried the attacks as "aggression against Yemen and its sovereignty." ■
