For the fifth year running, Iraq has approved a month-long military training camp for schoolboys, termed the "lion cubs of Saddam", in the course of their summer holidays, the official press reported Monday.
The boys aged between 12-17 are due to receive training in small arms and combat techniques "to defend the country, if need be," the Iraqi cabinet decided Sunday.
Furthermore, they will participate in conferences on military, political and religious themes at the camp, which last year attracted an estimated 30,000 participants, according to AFP.
The program was launched back in 1998 to prepare young volunteers for "Saddam's Fedayeen," a paramilitary force which was established in late 1994 as United States troops boosted their presence in the Gulf to ward off any new threat to Kuwait.
Iraqi ministers and senior officials, who were recalled to boot camp earlier this month for military training, will also go back to barracks for a second week for weapons training and combat techniques, newspapers said.
The training comes amidst repeated U.S. warnings that it wants to oust Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein on suspicion of developing weapons of mass destruction.
Iraq announced last year that an army of 6.5 million volunteers has been trained to liberate Jerusalem from Israeli rule. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
