The US strategy would be in favor of the Iraqi people, Iraqi President Jalal
Talabani said Wednesday.
At a press conference in Sulaimaniya with Zalmay Khalilzad, US ambassador to
Iraq, Talabani said that he was not attentive of the strategy's details, yet he
was confident that it would bring about security and stability to Iraq.
Talabani pointed out that the new security plan; set by Premier Nouri Al-Maliki,
aimed at ending sectarian violence and at the prevalence of law. He added that
the Peshmergas (armed Kurdish fighters) would not partake in the plan.
Talabani, a Kurd, called for delaying the executions of Saddam Hussein's two
co-defendants in light of sectarian tensions and the poor conduct of Saddam's
execution process. He also urged all Iraqi powers to adopt a more tolerant and
forgiving mind-set, as it would inevitably contribute to national
reconciliation.
He said that Iraq's constitutional ban on Baathists, Hussein's party members,
from participating in government should stand, yet they should be granted their
nationalistic rights despite their political affiliations.
In his part, Khalilzad urged countries neighboring Iraq not to take advantage of
the current difficulties the country is going through and hoped that the new US
strategy would succeed in Iraq as it did in the Kurd region.
The exact execution timing of Saddam's half brother and former intelligence
chief Berzan Takriti and Awad Bandar, former head of Iraq's Revolutionary Court
was not determined yet, but rumors say that they are expected to be hanged
within days.
Berzan and Bandar were sentenced to death for their roles in the 1982 massacre
of Shiites in Dujail, north of Baghdad. The crackdown occurred shortly after a
failed assassination attempt against Saddam Hussein.
