US official expresses satisfaction at conditions in Iraq

IRBIL, North Iraq, Nov 29 (KUNA) -- A visiting US official has expressed satisfaction at improvement of political and security conditions in Iraq where authorities made headways in restoration of normal conditions despite a bloody insurgency.
US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte, speaking at a news conference in the northern resort town of Salah-Eddine late on Wednesday, described as very significant the Iraqis' achievements on the political front. He added that he would get acquainted with detailed work concerning the national conciliation and efforts to work out a law for the distribution of oil returns among provinces of the country.
The Sunni natives of Iraq, majority of whom live in central Iraq, have campaigned for fair distribution of the yields of oil among the provinces of the country.
The bulk of the country's oil wealth is located in the mainly-Shiite South Iraq and predominantly-Kurdish northern regions.
On status of the rebel Kurdish group, the Workers Party of Kurdistan (the PKK), entrenched in mountainous regions in northern Iraq, Negroponte affirmed desire of the US, Turkey, and Iraq to uproot the organization that constitutes a threat to the national security of the two neighboring countries.
The prime minister of Kurdistan, Nechirvan Barzani, meanwhile affirmed significance of Negroponte's visit. "We in Kurdistan are part of Iraq and this region can turn into a gateway for Iraq at present and in the future at various levels," he said. He affirmed that the Kurdish leadership was bent on staying aligned with the central government in Baghdad.
Negronponte, on a current mission in Iraq, had arrived in Irbil from Baghdad. He started the visit with an inspection of the US forces in the governorate of Al-Anbar, holding talks with local officials and tribal chiefs in the province, located west of Baghdad.
His mission coincided with recent reports indicating that Washington might withdraw 5,000 troops out of the country soon, as part of a plan to hand over security responsibility to the local authorities in phases.
Washington, since it led a military campaign that ousted the former regime of Saddam Hussein in 2003, has been a main supporter of the central government.
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