| ||
| ||
| ||
 |
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Kurd leader open to U.S. bases in Iraq
ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- A top Iraqi Kurdish leader Thursday praised the U.S. presence in Iraq and said he would not oppose establishment of permanent American military bases in the war-wracked land. "If there would be a necessity, why not?" said Jalal Talabani, founder and secretary-general of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, one of the two Kurdish groups controlling northern Iraq. "The Americans have in many places military bases." He pointed to U.S. troops based in Germany, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait and said such forces in Iraq would be to "keep peace and prosperity" and to "prevent regional forces from interfering in Iraqi internal affairs." Until a democratic system is installed, he said, "we will not ask coalition forces to leave immediately," and he said the coalition is administering the land well for now. Talabani spoke to the CNN World Report conference in Atlanta via satellite from Iraq. In a news conference last month, U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld denied reports the United States planned to establish a permanent presence in Iraq and said he had never discussed the issue. He did not explicitly rule out any U.S. interest in such a military relationship with Iraq, but he described it as unlikely. "The likelihood of it seems to be so low that it does not surprise me that it's never been discussed in my presence," Rumsfeld said Talabani spoke optimistically about Iraq's future, repeating a vision of growing unity throughout the country among the different ethnic and religious groups. "We the Kurds, Turkmens and Arabs are brothers," the Kurdish leader said. "We lived together for decades. We can live and we must live together in peace and prosperity." He said there may be trouble from pro-Saddam forces trying to thwart a new Iraq, and maintained that remnants of "the fascist Baath Party" and Fedayeen Saddam had perpetrated recent attacks against American troops. He said the coalition was helping Iraq achieve stability, which could result in a politically democratic and secure nation. "I think we will be able to be the model of democracy and prosperity in the Middle East," said Talabani, calling Iraq's "liberation" an "important step" in the region's history. Asked by reporters about the difficulties in forming a new political system in such a diverse nation, Talabani said the Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds have more similarities than differences, and he does not see the nation headed for any kind of split. Referring to comments criticizing coalition troop presence in Iraq by Ayatollah Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim, the Shiite clergyman who returned to Iraq from exile in Iran, Talabani called him a "very wise man" and "a man of vision," and said he doesn't think the ayatollah favors "immediately" ending the presence of coalition forces. Asked about delays in the development of an interim government, Talabani said a preparatory committee for a national Iraqi conference is being formed that would represent all strata and regions of the society. The Kurds, he said, must be "partners" in a central government. The "joint high leadership committee" made up of the PUK, the Kurdish Democratic Party and other Kurdish groups would determine the makeup of the Kurdish presence in the central government. Would he be interested in being a candidate for Iraqi leadership? "It depends on the decision of the joint high leadership committee of" the KDP and the PUK, he replied.
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
