LOC20:53
17:53 GMT
BAGHDAD, June 8 (KUNA) -- There are subversive elements in Iraq that seek
to oust the elected government, reverse all democratic gains, eradicate the
constitution, and pave the way for the return of the defunct regime of the
past, said prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, in a statement issued by his office
on Friday.
Some of those elements reside under the roof of the parliament, he said, as
he warned anti-government conspirators to watch their backs because the new
Iraq would not allow them to weaken it or interfere in its domestic agenda for
the welfare of the nation.
Al-Maliki's statement reviewed details of his visit today to the city of
al-Kut, south of Baghdad, and his meeting with heads of tribes in that region.
He affirmed in the statement the imperative that the nation's borders be
adequately monitored and urged all factions of society to abide by the
conditions of the national cociliation, which have been legally codified for
the benefit of all Iraqis.
Those who profess that they seek to take part in the national conciliation
process ought to put their money where their mouths are by standing up to
terrorism and get involved in the political process, he said.
There is no room amongst the Iraqi people for those who say one thing and
do another; the government needs true partners who mean what they say and do
what is right for the country, he urged.
The door is open now for everyone to help in the decision-making process
through democratic means; Iraq is no longer manipulated by one party acting as
a baton in the hand of a dictator. Those days are gone, he said.
What the country needs most, he added, is the ability to spread the rule of
law in all corners of the nation and that is what the government is currently
expediting through extensive training of national security forces.
While he acknowledged subversive infilterations among the ranks of the
police and security forces, he promised that all efforts would be exerted to
beef up these forces and deploy them where security is most fragile.
The sooner Iraq could handle its domestic security with adequacy, the
sooner the multinational forces would be ready to leave, he underlined, as he
noted that the government does not have a magical wand to solve the nation's
problems with, especially that the defunct dictatorship of the past left
behind a horrendous legacy of entangled problems that require a long time to
disentangle. Nonetheless, he said that up till now Iraq has done very well.
(end)
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