|
|
 |
 |
 |
| Wednesday, 19 May 2004 |
 |
|
 |
World | |
| News Business Features Editorial Security Politics World Letters Sports Obituaries
|
Iraqi leader's killing won't delay handover :Bush WASHINGTON, Tuesday (Reuters) The killing of the head of Iraq's Governing Council will not delay the June 30 transfer of power from the U.S.-led coalition to an interim Iraqi government, U.S. President George W. Bush said on Monday. "On June 30, the flag of a free Iraq will be raised, and Iraq's new interim government will assume sovereign authority," Bush said in a statement reacting to the car bombing that killed Izzedin Salim. "The terrorists will find no success in their attempts to shake the will of America and our coalition," he said. Salim, a Shi'ite who edited several newspapers, was in the last car of a council convoy waiting to enter the "Green Zone" coalition headquarters in Baghdad when the bomb exploded at a checkpoint in central Baghdad, killing six people. "On behalf of the American people, I condemn the brutal act of terrorism against Iraqi Governing Council President Izzedin Salim and several Iraqi citizens. Mr. Salim was a man of courage who risked his life in pursuit of a free, democratic, and prosperous Iraq. I offer our deepest condolences to the victims' families," Bush said. The United States is bracing for an increase in violence in Iraq in the run-up to June 30. "The terrorists know that a free Iraq will be a major defeat for the cause of terror, so they are trying to shake our confidence and will. The terrorists have found little support among the Iraqi people. The vast majority of Iraqi people want a free society," Bush said. Meanwhile British Prime Minister Tony Blair ruled out a "quick exit" from Iraq and vowed to keep British troops there until stability was restored. "We are not going to have any so-called quick exit, there will be no cutting and running. We will continue until the job is done," he told a joint news conference with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara. "Of course it is difficult, but the task of leadership when things get difficult is precisely not to cut and run but to face the difficulties and to overcome them," he said. Meanwhile the new head of Iraq's Governing Council, said members of the U.S.-appointed body needed better protection and had been left vulnerable to attack. Ghazi Ajil al-Yawar said the U.S.-led administration in Iraq had cut short security training for council members' staff in January and had failed to supply equipment such as bullet proof vests for their body guards. "We need better protection, like more armoured cars. We need better locations to live in so that we can commute easily to our work without feeling a risk to our safety," he told Reuters in an interview. "Most of the members have just regular vehicles. These vehicles are very vulnerable," he said. U.S. military officials say the car bomb attack bore the hallmarks of al Qaeda. An Islamic Web site carried a claim of responsibility from an Iraqi group, the "Arab Resistance Group - al Rashid Brigades". Yawar said Iraqi security forces should play a wider role in cracking down on insurgents, both Iraqi and foreign. "We need anti-terrorism police. We need some kind of...very strong and robust security intelligence," he said. |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
Produced by Lake House |
