US envoy to Iraq vows to crush insurgency
58 minutes ago
BAGHDAD (AFP) - The man chosen as the next US ambassador to
Iraq said he would work with the population to crush the ruthless insurgency that has killed thousands across the country.
"I will work with Iraqis to break the back of the insurgency," said Zalmay Khalilzad, who stopped off for a protocol visit with President Jalal Talabani on the way to Brussels for an international conference on rebuilding Iraq.
"Foreign terrorists and hardline Baathists want Iraq to be in a civil war," Khalilzad told reporters, referring to members of former Iraqi strongman
Saddam Hussein's Baath Party.
"Foreign terrorists are using Iraqis as cannon fodder."
A relentless insurgency believed to be led by Sunni Arabs and Jordanian-born militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi kills scores of Iraqis almost daily, targeting members of the country's security forces in particular.
"I'm horrified by the daily suffering of the Iraqi people," said Khalilzad, who was born in
Afghanistan and just left his post as US ambassador there.
"Terrorists attack ordinary people, teachers, doctors, newly trained police and others."
The US envoy reportedly came close to being attacked himself last week while inaugurating reconstruction projects in Afghanistan, where authorities arrested three Pakistanis suspected of plotting an assassination.
On Tuesday, Khalilzad briefly outlined plans for a partnership with Iraqis and regional partners to create a unified vision for the war-torn country.
"This will be enshrined in an enlightened constitution that includes democracy, pluralism and individual rights," he said.
"We're going to work with the UN (
United Nations) regarding the constitution and the election" scheduled for December. |
