- News>
- World
Annan praises US decision to speed Iraq toward self-rule
Santa Cruz (Bolivia), Nov 15: UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has praised a reported US decision to accelerate the transfer to self-rule for the Iraqi people.
Santa Cruz (Bolivia), Nov 15: UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has praised a reported US decision to
accelerate the transfer to self-rule for the Iraqi people.
"The transfer of power to the Iraqis has always been my position," Annan told reporters here yesterday on the sidelines of an annual summit involving 21 leaders from Spain, Portugal and their former American colonies.
"This is a positive development," Annan stressed from Santa Cruz, where this year's meeting is taking place.
Annan spoke one day after US President George W Bush reportedly ordered Iraq overseer Paul Bremer to "develop a strategy" to accelerate the transfer to self-rule as early as 2004, as attacks against coalition troops continue to mount.
The UN chief ordered his international staff out of Iraq in the wake of an August 19 suicide truck bombing which killed 22 people at its headquarters in Baghdad.
Bureau Report
"The transfer of power to the Iraqis has always been my position," Annan told reporters here yesterday on the sidelines of an annual summit involving 21 leaders from Spain, Portugal and their former American colonies.
"This is a positive development," Annan stressed from Santa Cruz, where this year's meeting is taking place.
Annan spoke one day after US President George W Bush reportedly ordered Iraq overseer Paul Bremer to "develop a strategy" to accelerate the transfer to self-rule as early as 2004, as attacks against coalition troops continue to mount.
The UN chief ordered his international staff out of Iraq in the wake of an August 19 suicide truck bombing which killed 22 people at its headquarters in Baghdad.
Bureau Report