US ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad gives final presser in Iraq
(26 Mar 2007) SHOTLIST
1. Wide of presser
2. SOUNDBITE: (English) Zalmay Khalilzad, outgoing US Ambassador to Iraq:
"I think that Iran can play a helpful role and an unhelpful role and it's a decision that the Iranian leadership can make. We would like them to play a helpful role of course. I think their record so far has been a mixed one - on the one hand there has been positive relations between Iran and (the Iraqi) government and some of the key personalities here, but on the other hand there has been clear evidence to my satisfaction that there has been arms training and assistance provided to groups involved in violence against the coalition and against Iraqis."
3. Wide of presser
4. SOUNDBITE: (English) Zalmay Khalilzad, outgoing US Ambassador to Iraq:
"I believe it is very important for the Iraqis to take the opportunity that the presence of these forces provide, to make the decisions and the compromises that are necessary, and I believe that as long as that is the case the Unites States will stay and support Iraq, although the size and composition will vary because our goal is as soon as Iraqis can take matters into their own hands and can stand on their own feet, look after their own security, the better."
5. Wide of presser
STORYLINE:
The outgoing US ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, said Iran "could play a helpful role" in the region if its leadership chose to do so.
Khalilzad was commenting at a press conference in response to questions over the capture of 15 British sailors last week.
"I think their record so far has been a mixed one," said Khalilzad who said on the one hand there had been positive relations between the two government.
"But on the other hand there has been clear evidence to my satisfaction that there has been arms training and assistance provided to groups involved in violence against the coalition and against Iraqis."
Khalilzad also spoke about the recent "surge" in US troop numbers, and said it presented an opportunity for Iraqis - "as Iraqis can take matters into their own hands and can stand on their own feet, look after their own security, the better."
The Afghan-born Khalilzad, began his mission in Iraq on 21 June, 2005. He is a Sunni Muslim and therefore suspect among many of the Shiites who dominate Iraq's post-Saddam power structure.
Khalilzad has deep conservative credentials and led the transition team at the Pentagon at the start of the first Bush administration.
He served as an counsellor to former Defence Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, whose military strategy came under increasing criticism for not having dispatched sufficient American troops to Iraq.
When he arrived in Baghdad from his native Afghanistan, where he had been the top US diplomat for about 19 months, Khalilzad vowed to break the back of the insurgency, the Sunni Muslim and al-Qaida fighters largely responsible for killing American soldiers and bomb attacks that had ravaged Shiite neighbourhoods in the capital and elsewhere.
In weekend reports, Khalilzad said he had held talks last year with men who purportedly represented major insurgent groups in an effort to bring militant Sunni Arabs into politics.
He leaves his post this week with the US military and Iraqi security forces battling to prevent a sectarian conflagration in Baghdad.
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1. Wide of presser
2. SOUNDBITE: (English) Zalmay Khalilzad, outgoing US Ambassador to Iraq:
"I think that Iran can play a helpful role and an unhelpful role and it's a decision that the Iranian leadership can make. We would like them to play a helpful role of course. I think their record so far has been a mixed one - on the one hand there has been positive relations between Iran and (the Iraqi) government and some of the key personalities here, but on the other hand there has been clear evidence to my satisfaction that there has been arms training and assistance provided to groups involved in violence against the coalition and against Iraqis."
3. Wide of presser
4. SOUNDBITE: (English) Zalmay Khalilzad, outgoing US Ambassador to Iraq:
"I believe it is very important for the Iraqis to take the opportunity that the presence of these forces provide, to make the decisions and the compromises that are necessary, and I believe that as long as that is the case the Unites States will stay and support Iraq, although the size and composition will vary because our goal is as soon as Iraqis can take matters into their own hands and can stand on their own feet, look after their own security, the better."
5. Wide of presser
STORYLINE:
The outgoing US ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, said Iran "could play a helpful role" in the region if its leadership chose to do so.
Khalilzad was commenting at a press conference in response to questions over the capture of 15 British sailors last week.
"I think their record so far has been a mixed one," said Khalilzad who said on the one hand there had been positive relations between the two government.
"But on the other hand there has been clear evidence to my satisfaction that there has been arms training and assistance provided to groups involved in violence against the coalition and against Iraqis."
Khalilzad also spoke about the recent "surge" in US troop numbers, and said it presented an opportunity for Iraqis - "as Iraqis can take matters into their own hands and can stand on their own feet, look after their own security, the better."
The Afghan-born Khalilzad, began his mission in Iraq on 21 June, 2005. He is a Sunni Muslim and therefore suspect among many of the Shiites who dominate Iraq's post-Saddam power structure.
Khalilzad has deep conservative credentials and led the transition team at the Pentagon at the start of the first Bush administration.
He served as an counsellor to former Defence Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, whose military strategy came under increasing criticism for not having dispatched sufficient American troops to Iraq.
When he arrived in Baghdad from his native Afghanistan, where he had been the top US diplomat for about 19 months, Khalilzad vowed to break the back of the insurgency, the Sunni Muslim and al-Qaida fighters largely responsible for killing American soldiers and bomb attacks that had ravaged Shiite neighbourhoods in the capital and elsewhere.
In weekend reports, Khalilzad said he had held talks last year with men who purportedly represented major insurgent groups in an effort to bring militant Sunni Arabs into politics.
He leaves his post this week with the US military and Iraqi security forces battling to prevent a sectarian conflagration in Baghdad.
Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter: Twitter: AP_Archive
Facebook: Facebook: APArchives
Instagram: Instagram: APNews
You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
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