Presser as US ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad prepares to leave post
(25 Mar 2007) SHOTLIST
1. Wide of Nouri al-Maliki, of Iraqi Prime Minister US and Zalmay Khalilzad, outgoing US Ambassador to Iraq
2. Pan of Iraqi and foreign officials sitting
3. Al-Maliki and Khalilzad
4. Wide of officials
5. Al-Maliki and Khalilzad leaving the room
6. Iraqi and foreign officials walking in the corridor
7. Wide of news conference
8. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Nouri al-Maliki, Iraqi Prime Minister:
"His excellency the ambassador, Zalmay was a lover and supporter of the Iraqi people through his experience in his position in Iraq and we hope that this love will continue in his new post and we hope that the next US ambassador to Iraq will be equivalent and be useful to Iraq and the whole region."
9. Wide of Iraqi and Foreign officials sitting
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Zalmay Khalilzad, outgoing US Ambassador to Iraq:
"Mr Prime Minister, you can count on me as your friend as a friend of the people of Iraq. No matter where I am and what position I hold, I'll do my very best to be helpful to Iraq."
11. Wide of news conference
12. Al-Maliki and Khalilzad shaking hands
13. Cutaway of silver palm tree in a glass box given as a gift to Khalilzad
14. Al-Maliki and Khalilzad shaking hands
STORYLINE
The outgoing US ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, pledged to continue to do his best to be helpful to Iraq in a farewell meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki on Sunday.
Al-Maliki, described Khalilzad as "a lover and supporter of the Iraqi people."
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.
He leaves his post this week with the US military and Iraqi security forces battling to prevent a sectarian conflagration in Baghdad.
US military and Bush administration officials recently have been cautiously optimistic about their latest operations.
They cited diminished numbers of sectarian murders, which fell to as low as seven one day early on in the crackdown. But that figure has been steadily rising and now has climbed back to 30 or more a day.
Khalilzad's diplomacy was a moving force in bringing down both the sectarian murder rate and the overall US death rate, in the short term, by persuading Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to pressure one of his key political backers into pulling Shiite militia fighters, the Mahdi Army, off the streets of the capital.
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1. Wide of Nouri al-Maliki, of Iraqi Prime Minister US and Zalmay Khalilzad, outgoing US Ambassador to Iraq
2. Pan of Iraqi and foreign officials sitting
3. Al-Maliki and Khalilzad
4. Wide of officials
5. Al-Maliki and Khalilzad leaving the room
6. Iraqi and foreign officials walking in the corridor
7. Wide of news conference
8. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Nouri al-Maliki, Iraqi Prime Minister:
"His excellency the ambassador, Zalmay was a lover and supporter of the Iraqi people through his experience in his position in Iraq and we hope that this love will continue in his new post and we hope that the next US ambassador to Iraq will be equivalent and be useful to Iraq and the whole region."
9. Wide of Iraqi and Foreign officials sitting
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Zalmay Khalilzad, outgoing US Ambassador to Iraq:
"Mr Prime Minister, you can count on me as your friend as a friend of the people of Iraq. No matter where I am and what position I hold, I'll do my very best to be helpful to Iraq."
11. Wide of news conference
12. Al-Maliki and Khalilzad shaking hands
13. Cutaway of silver palm tree in a glass box given as a gift to Khalilzad
14. Al-Maliki and Khalilzad shaking hands
STORYLINE
The outgoing US ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, pledged to continue to do his best to be helpful to Iraq in a farewell meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki on Sunday.
Al-Maliki, described Khalilzad as "a lover and supporter of the Iraqi people."
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.
He leaves his post this week with the US military and Iraqi security forces battling to prevent a sectarian conflagration in Baghdad.
US military and Bush administration officials recently have been cautiously optimistic about their latest operations.
They cited diminished numbers of sectarian murders, which fell to as low as seven one day early on in the crackdown. But that figure has been steadily rising and now has climbed back to 30 or more a day.
Khalilzad's diplomacy was a moving force in bringing down both the sectarian murder rate and the overall US death rate, in the short term, by persuading Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to pressure one of his key political backers into pulling Shiite militia fighters, the Mahdi Army, off the streets of the capital.
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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