[JURIST] US ambassador John Negroponte walked out of the UN Security Council Thursday as his Iraqi counterpart blasted the United States in a spontaneous and impassioned speech at the end of Thursday's UN Security Council open meeting on Iraq. Watch recorded video of the speech - and Negroponte's exit - from the UN. Here is a partial summary of the Iraqi statement, issued by the UN Information Service:

Despite the fact that Iraq had not crossed the Atlantic to attack the United States, had no link to the 11 September attacks and had no weapons of mass destruction, United States forces had crossed the Atlantic to control his region. The Council had been fooled when it was told by the United States and the United Kingdom that the Iraqi people would receive their forces with flowers and hugs. The Iraqi army, up until now, had not confronted United States forces. It was the Iraqi people who were facing the forces today. When the United States found itself before a fierce resistance by the Iraqi people, it had started to destroy them.

Yesterday, he continued, United States forces had destroyed 200 houses and continued to destroy residential areas. The Iraqi people would defend the principles of the United Nations and those of peace and security. He warned the Council that the United States and the United Kingdom were about to start a war of extermination against the Iraqi people. Halting the war was most important. He called on the Council to adopt a resolution to halt the war and restore peace. He added that Iraq was committed to the Geneva Conventions, and the world would see nothing from Iraq but what it did in self-defence.