Thursday, November 30, 2006
Bush praises Maliki
Politics, Security, Region
U.S. President George W. Bush today praised Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki as a "strong leader" following talks in Amman, Jordan. "He is a strong leader who wants a free and democratic Iraq to succeed," Bush said. "The United States is determined to help him achieve that goal. We believe the success of Prime Minister al-Maliki's government is critical to the success in Iraq," Bush added. "His government was chosen by the Iraqi people through free elections in which nearly 12 million people defied terrorists to cast their ballots." Speaking at a joint news conference, Bush said al-Maliki agreed that any partition of Iraq would only increase violence. Bush said they also agreed on the importance of speeding up training of Iraqi forces.
Both Bush and al-Maliki said they had discussed ways to accelerate the handover of Iraqi security responsibility from U.S. forces to Iraq. Al-Maliki was asked to comment on his recent trip to Iran and on proposals to involve Tehran and Damascus in talks on stabilizing Iraq. "We are ready to cooperate with everybody who believes and wants to cooperate with the national unity government, especially our neighbors," al-Maliki told journalists. "Iraq is for Iraqis, and its borders should be secure so that nobody can interfere in our internal affairs." The two leaders were to have met in Amman on the evening of November 29, but that meeting was called off for reasons that are still unclear.
Both Bush and al-Maliki said they had discussed ways to accelerate the handover of Iraqi security responsibility from U.S. forces to Iraq. Al-Maliki was asked to comment on his recent trip to Iran and on proposals to involve Tehran and Damascus in talks on stabilizing Iraq. "We are ready to cooperate with everybody who believes and wants to cooperate with the national unity government, especially our neighbors," al-Maliki told journalists. "Iraq is for Iraqis, and its borders should be secure so that nobody can interfere in our internal affairs." The two leaders were to have met in Amman on the evening of November 29, but that meeting was called off for reasons that are still unclear.
