Erbil, Kurdistan
Region (Iraq), October 6, -- US Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice arrived Friday in Erbil, in Iraq's
Kurdistan Region, for talks with regional president
Massoud Barzani on efforts to ensure that Iraq's oil
resources benefit the entire country, an AFP
journalist traveling with her said.
In comments to journalists on Thursday, Rice said
"we believe that oil has to be a resource for the
Iraqi people as a whole. It has to benefit the Iraqi
people as a whole.
"Our view, which has been communicated to the Iraqis
and which I think most Iraqis agree with, is that
oil needs to be a unifying factor and not one that
would help to make the country less unified."
Rice, who arrived in Baghdad on a surprise visit
Thursday, urged Iraqi leaders to live up to their
promise to halt the brutal wave of violence
engulfing their country.
AFP |
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice , left, talks
with reporters during a news conference after
meeting with the President of the Kurdistan region
(Iraq) , Massoud Barzani, right, in Erbil, Iraq
Friday, Oct. 6, 2006 |
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