Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Media: AFP
Byline:
Date: 18 October 2006
AMMAN, Oct 18, 2006 (AFP) - Iraqi Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi on
Wednesday denied his violence-battered country was in the throes of civil
war, insisting however that reconciliation was a must to end the bloodshed.
"I don't think that what is happening now in Iraq is civil war," Hashemi
said at a joint press conference in Amman with Jordanian Prime Minister
Maaruf Bakhit.
"There is bloodshed and sectarian tensions and innocent people are being
killed but we are not in a civil war," Hashemi said before heading into
talks with King Abdullah II.
Asked about solutions to end the spiral of violence between Sunni and
Shiite death squads, he said: "Reconciliation, goodwill, and strong
determination."
Hashemi admitted that Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki was facing a "difficult
situation" in his effort to restore law and order across Iraq.
"The mission is not easy. Maliki is in a difficult situation but I think
Maliki will succeed in the end," Hashemi said.
Asked if the presence of US-led forces was part of the problem facing Iraq,
he replied: "It depends on their behaviour. It can be part of the problem,
it can be part of the solution."
He said the foreign forces were "needed for the time being although they
must obey the decisions of the Iraqi authorities", adding that a timetable
for withdrawal "is much needed".
On Tuesday Maliki renewed a pledge to fight armed groups in Iraq "by all
political or military means", after more than 60 people were killed in a
sectarian bloodbath between Sunni and Shiite rivals in Balad, northern
Iraq.
Hashemi renewed Iraqi accusations of "flagrant foreign intervention in
Iraqi affairs" but said rival factions "must see the importance of sitting
at a table of negotiations with either American or Iraqi forces".
"Enough of this bloodshed and this violence," he said.
The Jordanian prime minister renewed Amman's full support for
reconciliation efforts.
"We wish to see all the factions of the Iraqi people achieve reconciliation
in such a way as to guarantee the unity of Iraq," Bakhit said.
Byline:
Date: 18 October 2006
AMMAN, Oct 18, 2006 (AFP) - Iraqi Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi on
Wednesday denied his violence-battered country was in the throes of civil
war, insisting however that reconciliation was a must to end the bloodshed.
"I don't think that what is happening now in Iraq is civil war," Hashemi
said at a joint press conference in Amman with Jordanian Prime Minister
Maaruf Bakhit.
"There is bloodshed and sectarian tensions and innocent people are being
killed but we are not in a civil war," Hashemi said before heading into
talks with King Abdullah II.
Asked about solutions to end the spiral of violence between Sunni and
Shiite death squads, he said: "Reconciliation, goodwill, and strong
determination."
Hashemi admitted that Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki was facing a "difficult
situation" in his effort to restore law and order across Iraq.
"The mission is not easy. Maliki is in a difficult situation but I think
Maliki will succeed in the end," Hashemi said.
Asked if the presence of US-led forces was part of the problem facing Iraq,
he replied: "It depends on their behaviour. It can be part of the problem,
it can be part of the solution."
He said the foreign forces were "needed for the time being although they
must obey the decisions of the Iraqi authorities", adding that a timetable
for withdrawal "is much needed".
On Tuesday Maliki renewed a pledge to fight armed groups in Iraq "by all
political or military means", after more than 60 people were killed in a
sectarian bloodbath between Sunni and Shiite rivals in Balad, northern
Iraq.
Hashemi renewed Iraqi accusations of "flagrant foreign intervention in
Iraqi affairs" but said rival factions "must see the importance of sitting
at a table of negotiations with either American or Iraqi forces".
"Enough of this bloodshed and this violence," he said.
The Jordanian prime minister renewed Amman's full support for
reconciliation efforts.
"We wish to see all the factions of the Iraqi people achieve reconciliation
in such a way as to guarantee the unity of Iraq," Bakhit said.