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Journalism of Courage
Iraq’s interim Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said today that Iraqis, who now have full sovereignty, will handle the security of the country better than the US-led coalition have.
‘‘I think we will do a better job, I can promise you, than our coalition friends so far,’’ Zebari told BBC Radio shortly before sovereignty, in a surprise move two days earlier than scheduled, was handed over to an interim Iraqi administration.
‘‘There are no assurances, no guarantees actually that it will stop,’’ he said, referring to a persistent insurgency that has dogged the US-led occupation. Zebari was speaking on a BBC Radio interview from Istanbul where NATO leaders met today to endorse an accord to help train Iraq’s new Army.
‘‘We have the confidence in ourselves and our abilities,’’ he said. ‘‘These are our people, this is our culture, and we know better than our coalition friends how to manage the situation.’’
‘‘We will be in charge, we will be in control,’’ he added. Zebari said the new Iraqi administration under Prime Minister Iyad Allawi would ‘‘do our best to carry out these elections in a reasonable, acceptable security conditions or atmosphere’’. — (PTI)
