Iraq may sue Israel for 1981 nuke attack

Iraq is reportedly considering ways to force Israel to pay reparations for launching airstrikes on its nuclear reactor near Baghdad.

IDFAF F-16A block 10 #243 is the plane
that hit the Osirak nuclear reactor in Iraq in 1981

Iraqi legislators are looking into adopting a resolution that would urge Tel Aviv to pay billions of dollars in compensations for its 1981 attack on the Osiraq (Tammuz) nuclear reactor, Iraqi daily al-Sabbah reported on Thursday.

The lawmakers leading the campaign say they have based their case on United Nations Security Council Resolution 487, insisting that the official UN condemnation gives Baghdad the right to appropriate money for what it has suffered.

Mohammed Naji Mohammed -- a member of parliament with the United Iraqi Alliance coalition -- is leading the campaign against Israel.

Israeli warplanes struck the Iraqi nuclear reactor in a surprise attack code-named Operation Opera in June 1981. Israeli officials at the time claimed that its operation was aimed at preventing then dictator Saddam Hussein from using the reactor weaponization.

After the attack, however, the UN Security Council announced that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had testified that its safeguards had been "satisfactorily applied" in Iraq.

The UN resolution had also called upon Israel to urgently place its nuclear facilities under IAEA safeguards. Tel Aviv, widely believed to have acquired some 200-300 nuclear warheads as the sole nuclear power of the Middle East, has so far rejected the call.

The Iraqi lawmakers say they are seeking the adoption of the parliamentary resolution for the sake of the country's development and that it does not mean supporting the Saddam regime.

The Iraqi parliament has not made any decision on the issue yet. Source