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Iraqi first lady 'Hero Talabani' warning
on youth
23.5.2006 |
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High unemployment levels
in Iraq are making disaffected youths easy targets
for extremists, the wife of President Jalal Talabani
has said.
Hero Ibrahim Ahmad, a respected businesswoman, said
the level of unemployment had "exceeded all limits".
She also spoke out about the number of civil
servants paid by the state "despite having nothing
to do".
Iraq's first lady was speaking at the Women in
Business International Conference in London.
Her address, given in Kurdish and translated into
English by an interpreter, was her first
international public speech.
Mrs Ahmad founded the Kurdistan Women's Association
in 1989.
Referring to the country's "rampant" inflation, she
said Iraq could not grow if it continued to believe
in state dependency. |
Hero Talabani, Iraq first lady - wife of Iraqi
President Jalal Talabani
Photo: Internet |
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"If the
most desirable career path remains in the civil
service, I have no doubt that this will create more
hardship in the near future for all the communities
in Iraq," she said.
A stable Iraq could only be achieved by equality and
tolerance, she added.
"I believe that if we are to genuinely try to end
the misery and misfortunes of all of the people of
Iraq, we must work together regardless of ethnic
background, nationality or religion to achieve
freedom of the individual and a respect for human
rights and dignity equally for both women and men."
'Personal distress'
Earlier, Mrs Ahmad spoke about her life growing up
in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.
An attack on Iraqi Kurds in the 1980s, known as the
Anfal operation, had "razed thousands of villages to
the ground".
"Hundreds of thousands of natives were killed... a
holocaust against humanity and nature.
"This is a matter of such personal distress that I
shall move on quickly."
She had been welcomed to the conference by UK trade
and industry minister Margaret Hodge.
"It is clear that the task of promoting and
supporting women in business is close to your heart
because you have chosen this event as your first
public overseas address," Ms Hodge said.
"Your presence is groundbreaking for us and I
applaud your courage."
BBC
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