We need to change the perception of Iraq as a country torn by war

Haider al Abbadi a member of the Iraqi Parliament recently addressed the Foreign Press Association in London. The audio file of his comments and the questions is also available here.

Haider al Abbadi, a member of the Iraqi Parliament and Chair of its Economic and Reconstruction Committee, today briefed an audience at the Foreign Press Association in London on economic and political progress in Iraq. Mr al Abbadi outlined his hopes regarding Iraq’s trade and investment, and its plans to tackle unemployment and national reconstruction. A substantial question and answer session followed.

Mr al Abbadi expressed the ‘huge responsibility’ of developing ‘a new Iraq’ after the years of deprivation and conflict suffered by the country. He emphasized that reconstruction could not be achieved without proper security, acknowledging that whilst there had been a substantial decrease in levels of terrorist activity such gains needed to be fortified. He outlined government plans to address unemployment, preventing people from being recruited to criminal and terrorist organizations by creating more jobs in both the public and private sectors. He also affirmed the need for national reconciliation, calling upon the expertise of exiled professionals in rebuilding the country.

He spoke of the crucial investment made in arming and training the military in preparation for the withdrawal of US troops from the region, saying that he was ‘happy’ that Iraqi security forces would be able to take over by the end of 2010, as they had originally proposed, and would be secure by the agreed deadline at the end of 2011.

Mr al Abbaddi was optimistic about Iraq’s political progress, and about the ‘positive impact’ of its democracy in ‘the whole Arab region’. He expressed hopes that the regional elections would provide ‘a new face for the country’, explaining that alliances were increasingly being formed on the basis of common economic and political programmes rather than along sectarian and ethnic lines, a change which he expected to witness in the next parliamentary elections. ‘It is often said that the Middle East and democracy don’t mix’, said Mr al Abbadi, ‘in fact Iraq shows just the opposite.’

Mr al Abbaddi outlined efforts to reduce Iraq’s dependency on oil by reinvesting in its own economy. He ended by affirming Iraq’s keenness to build new economic partnerships both within the region and through investment from the US, Europe and Asia, saying ‘there are still a lot of challenges ahead, but we believe Iraq is building relations with the rest of the world’.

Hana Chambers