Britain`s Straw tells WEF: "challenge for 2004" is Iraq
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Davos, Jan 21, IRNA -- Britain`s Foreign Secretary Jack Straw on Wednesday told the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos that rebuilding Iraq is the "challenge for 2004." "The challenge for 2004 is to rebuild a new Iraq that the Iraqi people want and governed by Iraq at peace with its neighbours and nations," Straw said during a panel discussion on Iraq -- a topic expected to overshadow the five-day Davos WEF conference. "We still have a long way to go," Straw said, adding that he "firmly" believed "that life in Iraq is steadily improving." According to the British foreign secretary, the "key event" in 2004 would be a "transfer of full authority to Iraqis by the 1st of July." "Our job is not to dictate Iraq`s future, but to support the concensus of the Iraqi opinion," Straw said vowing that his government "in partnership with Iraqis will work to promote a stable internationally recognised federal government whose leaders can be chosen by the Iraqis and a government which respects the diversity of the Iraqi people and protects the rule of law and human rights." The British diplomat whose country was a key ally to the United States in the war against Iraq concluded by saying that London`s "committment to reconstructing Iraq is firm, and we`ll continue to help the new Iraqi public administration to run effectively and provide advice and guidance when that is what the Iraqis want." This year`s WEF has brought together over 30 heads of state and government as part of over 2,200 political and economic particpants from around the world, including UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and US Vice President Dick Cheney. Iran`s President Mohammad Khatami is scheduled to make a keynote speech at the conference later on Wednesday following the opening of the main forum. 2052/212 End
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