TONGE : "WE MUST WIN HEARTS AND MINDS"

11.52.00am GMT Tue 25th Mar 2003

Smart bombs targeting Saddam's henchmen must be matched by humanitarian aid targeting civilians if US and UK forces are to win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people, Liberal Democrat Shadow International Development Secretary Dr Jenny Tonge said today.

Responding to International Development Secretary Clare Short's statement in the Commons today, Dr Tonge said:

"This is not a war for land. It is not a war for money. It is a war, we are told, to find and destroy Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction."

"Our quarrel is not with the Iraqi people and we must make sure we minimise the number of civilian casualties in Iraq.

"If our aim is to rebuild Iraq, turn it from a dictatorship into a"

"democracy, then we must win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people."

"The longer military action continues, the more desperate Iraqi civiliansvwill be for food, clean water, and medical supplies. While we drop bombs on Saddam's palaces and military buildings, we should also deliver food aid, water, water purification tablets and medicines into civilian areas.

"Iraqi civilians must see our forces as saviours and friends, not just killing machines."