Home>News Center>World
         
 

Bush determined to see Iraqis vote January 30
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-12-06 00:06

WASHINGTON - President Bush, on a day of new violence in the Middle East, expressed determination to see Iraq hold elections on Jan. 30 and said they would show that terrorists cannot stop the march of democracy.

Meeting Ghazi al-Yawer, the interim Iraqi president, Bush said that a free society in Iraq "will be a major defeat for the terrorists." If terrorists were allowed to stop the election, it would "send a wrong signal to the world and send a wrong signal to the Iraqi people themselves."

Al-Yawer — an influential leader in Sunni Muslim regions of Iraq where the fiercest battles against insurgents have been waged — wants Iraq's Jan. 30 election held on time, but other Sunni leaders want it to be postponed, saying the ongoing violence in these areas would keep people from voting.

"The attacks in Saudi Arabia remind us that the terrorists are still on the move," Bush said. "They're interested in affecting the will of free countries. They want us to leave Saudi Arabia. They want us to leave Iraq.

"They want us to grow timid and weary in the face of their willingness to kill randomly, kill innocent people," Bush said. "That's why these elections in Iraq are very important."

Bush thanked Saudi Arabia for quelling the attack and said, "We will find out more about who caused the attacks." He said he was confident Saudi Arabia would share information with the United States.

The president said the United States would do everything it could to make the elections in Iraq as safe as possible. "You can never guarantee 100 percent security," he said.

Al-Yawer expressed resolve to defeat the insurgents. "Right now we are faced with the armies of darkness," the interim president said. But he said that "victory is not only possible, it is a fact."

The majority of Iraqi's want to hold the Jan. 30 elections, he said. "We in Iraq, the whole Iraqi society, are willing to participate in the elections," he said. "Nobody in Iraq wants to boycott elections except some politicians."

Al-Yawer's visit to the White House is seen as a way to persuade Iraq's political minorities not to boycott the ballot.

"I don't know how many Sunnis are going to be open to the message, but in Middle Eastern terms, it's very symbolic to invite somebody into your house from a community you've been fighting with," said James Phillips, a specialist on Iraq and the Middle East at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington think tank.

"It shows an openness to some kind of political settlement. It's trying to encourage them (the Sunnis) to include themselves in the power structure — and therefore help weaken the insurgency," Phillips said.

The Sunnis, who represent just one-fifth of the Iraqi population, wielded the power under Saddam Hussein. They fear the election will give Shiite Muslims, with 60 percent of the population, an overpowering grip on the nation. U.S. and Iraqi officials worry that a Sunni boycott could undermine the legitimacy of a new government.

Following his session with al-Yawer, Bush meets with Jordan's King Abdullah II and, following that, with Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade. The agenda likely includes discussion of efforts to restart peace negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians as well as the Iraqi election.

To bolster security ahead of the voting, the United States announced last week it was increasing its military force in Iraq to the highest level of the war, including the initial invasion in March 2003.

The 12,000-troop increase is to last only until March, but it says much about the strength and resiliency of the insurgency that U.S. military planners failed to foresee when Baghdad was toppled in April 2003.

The 135 American troops who died supporting U.S.-led operations in Iraq in November matches April of this year for the deadliest month since fighting began in March 2003.

Last week, al-Yawer told reporters in Baghdad that the security situation in some areas of Iraq remained "very bad."



 
  Today's Top News     Top World News
 

Key economic policies mapped out for 2005

 

   
 

Hu shares views with Chirac over phone

 

   
 

SARS vaccine found safe in test

 

   
 

Probe into coal mine blast begins in earnest

 

   
 

Schroder opens bid to broaden China trade

 

   
 

Vanuatu PM assaults Chinese ambassador

 

   
  Seven blasts reported in Spain after ETA threats
   
  Musharraf: Bin Laden trail has gone cold
   
  Attackers strike US consulate in Jiddah
   
  Russia: Korea nuke talks in late Jan.
   
  Taliban vows to disrupt Karzai's swearing in
   
  Weekend attacks kill at least 70 in Iraq
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
  Related Stories  
   
Musharraf: Bin Laden trail has gone cold
   
Iraq asks Australia to help train its spies
   
Weekend attacks kill at least 70 in Iraq
   
String of Iraq suicide attacks kill 16
   
26 die in Baghdad attacks during US sweep
   
30 killed in pair of major attacks in Iraq
   
Attacks at Baghdad police stations kill 20
  News Talk  
  Are the Republicans exploiting the memory of 9/11?  
Advertisement
         
主站蜘蛛池模板: 四虎影视在线影院4hutv| 天堂√在线官网| 亚洲AV无码专区国产乱码电影| 爱情岛永久地址www成人| 四影虎影ww4hu32海外网页版| 黄色性生活毛片| 草草影院国产第一页| 天堂а√在线中文在线| 中文字幕免费视频精品一| 日本高清不卡在线观看| 亚洲AV日韩AV永久无码色欲| 欧美日韩国产综合在线| 任你操在线观看| 精品一区二区三区在线观看视频 | 久久人人爽人人爽人人av东京热| 桃子视频在线观看高清免费视频 | 中文字幕一区日韩精品| 日本工囗邪恶帝全彩大全acg| 九色在线观看视频| 欧美丰满大乳大屁股流白浆| 亚洲欧美一区二区三区九九九| 片成年免费观看网站黄| 免费**毛片在线搐放正片| 美国一级毛片免费| 国产a一级毛片含羞草传媒| 里番acg里番本子全彩| 国产在线午夜卡精品影院| 成人福利在线视频| 国产成人综合野草| 免费在线视频你懂的| 国产理论在线观看| jizz18高清视频| 国产精品区免费视频| 18禁男女爽爽爽午夜网站免费| 国产精品视频无圣光一区| 91香蕉成人免费网站| 国内精品视频在线观看| 94久久国产乱子伦精品免费| 在线天堂资源www在线中文| 99久久国产综合精品麻豆| 在线看亚洲十八禁网站|