|
President Barzani:
Thank you very much Mr Prime Minister. Allow me to
express our thanks and appreciation for the warm
welcome and also the thanks and the appreciation of
the people of Kurdistan and the majority of the
people of Iraq for the brave role that you have
personally played and also for your courage in
helping the people of Iraq to be liberated.
And I would also like to express our condolences and
sympathies to the families of the British soldiers
who have sacrificed their lives in order to save
other people's lives and also to create freedom.
Mr Prime Minister, we have started a democratic
process in Iraq with the help and support from you,
from the United States and from other coalition
partners.
We are facing and confronting the terrorists who
have tried their best in order not to allow for this
process to succeed.
There might be voices here in Britain and in the
United States and in our country of people who are
anti-war, but this will have been imposed on us. If
there is any weakness in dealing with this war, then
the war will come to our doorsteps.
And I would like to assure you, Mr Prime Minister,
that we in Kurdistan will do our best so that the
election results will be very good so that after the
election we will be able to form a government that
will represent all the peoples of Iraq and also
succeed in our efforts with the democratic process
and we will try our best in order to work for the
implementation of the Constitution that was ratified
recently after the vote on the 15th of October so
that we will be heading towards a future that will
be prosperous for all of the people of Iraq and also
for us to live in peace because Iraq is a key.
And once again I would like to thank you and express
my appreciation.
Tony Blair:
Thank you Sir. Thank you very much.
Question and answer session
Question:
Mr Barzani, my question to you is regarding the
coming elections. The elections that have been
announced. Which of these lists to you feel is
closest to the Kurdish people's aspirations and do
you expect an alliance with the United Iraqi
Alliance after the problems with this government?
Prime Minister, if I may ask you regarding the
number of 26,000 Iraqi civilian deaths over the past
2 years, is this number as high as you expected and
what are the responsibilities of the coalition
troops to protect Iraqi lives?
President Baezani:
In Kurdistan we enjoy very good relations with all
the different groups and lists and we have to wait
for the results of the elections. We will work on
the basis of commitment to the Constitution that was
drafted and that was ratified. And we will continue
to play our role, which was a mediatory role, and
the role which we play with all the different groups
and our coalition will be with all of them.
Tony Blair:
Let me make it clear, we regret any civilian deaths.
Those who don't regret civilian deaths are the
people engaged in acts of terrorism deliberately
killing civilians, and that is not the Iraqi
Security Forces nor the Multinational Force. It is
the terrorists and insurgents who are killing people
in order to stop the democratic process, and my
point is very simple for everybody. Let the
democratic process work, let people vote freely, let
them decide their own government, and if the
violence stopped today, the multinational force
could leave tomorrow. It is the violence that keeps
us in order to support the political process. So
those who are responsible for civilian deaths are
those who are engaged in acts of violence to prevent
democracy.
Question:
The Cabinet Secretary has announced an enquiry into
allegations levelled by the Conservatives at David
Blunkett and his business dealings. Can you continue
to give him your full support whilst that
investigation is ongoing and the jury is still out?
Tony Blair:
I do give him my confidence. Look in respect of the
allegations about the shareholding, I know David is
looking into that. I have been dealing with other
things today. But I think that he should be allowed
to get on with his job which is very important in
reforming and reshaping our welfare system.
Question:
Two questions, the first for President Barzani.
After your visit and your meeting with the Prime
Minister, I know that important issues have been
raised and discussed. Could you give us some of the
basic things which have been discussed between you
which is relevant to the future of the Kurdistan
region?
And a question for Prime Minister Blair, the
coalition of the alliance between Kurdistan and
Britain, could we call that one of the bases of this
alliance is confronting terrorism?
President Barzani:
Of course we discussed the current situation in Iraq
and the future, and we also stressed our full
co-operation for the domestic process that we have
started in Iraq so that it will make progress and
will succeed and our views were identical.
Tony Blair:
Look, one of the interesting things about Kurdistan
is that there, because there has been the
opportunity for people to live and work in peace,
that region is so much stronger. It is economically
stronger, it is stronger in terms of the living
standards of its people and what it shows is what
Iraq itself could be like if the terrorism would
stop and proper systems of democracy then shape the
future of Iraq. This is a basic and important
struggle for not just the freedom of people in Iraq
against terrorism, but for the freedom of people
everywhere against terrorism. The self-same people
who are killing innocent people in Iraq are killing
innocent people in India, in Egypt, in this country,
in other parts of Europe, in other parts of the
world, and therefore the bond between us is a very,
very strong one. It is to stand firm for democracy
against terrorism, and to be prepared to carry that
fight to whatever corner of the world these
terrorists operate.
Question:
Forgive me President, this is for the Prime Minister
on a domestic matter again. If it is found that
David Blunkett had a conflict of interests in
holding on to these shares for his family, what will
be the consequences for him?
Tony Blair:
Well I think Gary, if you will forgive me, we had
better work out first of all what has actually
happened and as I said a moment or two ago in answer
to the earlier question, I know David is looking
into this issue to do with the shareholding, and I
don't think I have got really anything more to say
on it at this point except to say that I don't think
people should rush to a conclusion until we actually
know what has gone on.
www.krg.org
Top |
® 
