IRAQ: UN ADVISER LAKHDAR BRAHIMI SAYS ELECTIONS NEED TO BE WELL PREPARED/ US LINKS ABU MUSAB ZARQAW WITH AL QAEDA AND RECENT TERRORISM
Record ID:
647209
IRAQ: UN ADVISER LAKHDAR BRAHIMI SAYS ELECTIONS NEED TO BE WELL PREPARED/ US LINKS ABU MUSAB ZARQAW WITH AL QAEDA AND RECENT TERRORISM
- Title: IRAQ: UN ADVISER LAKHDAR BRAHIMI SAYS ELECTIONS NEED TO BE WELL PREPARED/ US LINKS ABU MUSAB ZARQAW WITH AL QAEDA AND RECENT TERRORISM
- Date: 12th February 2004
- Summary: (W6) BAGHDAD, IRAQ (FEBRUARY 12, 2004) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) (NIGHT VIEWS) 1. WIDE OF UM AL-MAAREK MOSQUES (MOTHER OF ALL BATTLES AND NAMED BY SADDAM) 0.06 2. CLOSE-UP OF ARABIC INSCRIPTION OVER MOSQUE ENTRANCE 0.11 (NIGHT SCENES) 3. SLV LAKHDAR BRAHIMI, SENIOR ADVISER TO U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL KOFI ANNAN, ARRIVING AT MOSQUE 0.26 4. (SOUNDBITE) (English) LAKHDAR BRAHIMI, SENIOR ADVISER TO U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL KOFI ANNAN SAYING: "I had a very good discussion with Ayatollah Sistani and we agreed elections in Iraq are necessary and possible and they need to be prepared well." (REPORTER ASKING WHAT DOES THAT MEAN " "I think the time when these preparations are complete" 0.47 5. VARIOUS OF BRAHIMI AND ENTOURAGE WALKING EXCOURTED BY SECURITY 1.09 6. VARIOUS OF BRAHIMI SEATED WITH DIGNITARIES 1.18 7. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) LAKHDAR BRAHIMI, SENIOR ADVISER TO U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL KOFI ANNAN SAYING: "I think the feeling which the team here has is that yes, elections are essential, and that is a decision from the Iraqi people, not from me, and that they are possible, and that the timing has to be defined very carefully. This is what we are focusing on. When we have finished gathering opinions our team will submit the report to the U.N. Secretary General and he in turn will see what are the best options for going forward." 2.26 8. WIDE OF AUDIENCE 2.31 9. CLOSE OF RELIGIOUS DIGNITARIES 2.36 10. SLV BRAHIMI LEAVING MOSQUE (WITH AUDIO OF IMAN CALLING THE FAITHFUL TO PRAYERS) 2.53 11. WIDE OF COALITION NEWS CONFERENCE AT BAGHDAD'S CONVENTION CENTER 2.57 12. CLOSE OF WILD CARD SHOWING PHOTOGRAPH OF MUSAB AL-ZARQAWI FOR WHOM THE U.S. HAS OFFERED A TEN MILLION DOLLAR REWARD 3.04 13. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (English) DAN SENOR, COALITION SPOKESMAN SAYING: "We will be alerting Iraqis to the Wild Card of Mr. Zarqawi. We'll also ensure that every Iraqi is intimately familiar with this blueprint for terror in Iraq document, Mr. Zarqawi's memorandum, his action plan to tear this country apart." 3.25 14. SMV MILITARY AT PRESS CONFERENCE 3.28 15. SMV (SOUNDBITE) (English) MARK KIMMITT, U.S. ARMY BRIGADIER GENERAL SAYING; "Zarqawi is a prime suspect in several terrorist attacks in Iraq, to include the August 2003 bombings at the Um Maarek mosque in an-Najaf, which took the life of Ayatollah al Bakir al Hakim, and he is also implicated in the U.N. headquarters bombing in Baghdad. There is no safe place to hide. Terrorists would do well to turn themselves in as we will continue to hunt them relentlessly until they're killed or captured" 3.57 16. CLOSE OF PILE OF ZARQAWI WILD CARDS 4.00 17. SMV REPORTERS 4.04 18. WIDE OF PRESS CONFERENCE 4.10 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 27th February 2004 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: BAGHDAD, IRAQ
- Country: Iraq
- Reuters ID: LVAB45GWJ1SG89GNQ6WB9QV6JWR
- Story Text: U.N. adviser Brahimi has said he agrees with
Aytatollah Sistani that elections are needed in Iraq but
the country needs to be well-prepared.
U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan's senior adviser
in Iraq has said that he had a very good discussion with
Ayatollah Sistani, the country's most powerful Shi'ite
cleric, and that they agreed elections in Iraq were
necessary and possible and that they need to be prepared
well.
Lakhdar Brahimi was speaking at Baghdad's Um al-Maarek
mosque on Thursday (February 12).
"I think the feeling which the team here has is that
yes, elections are essential, and that is a decision from
the Iraqi people, not from me," Brahimi said.
(Elections) "are possible and that the timing has to
be defined very carefully. This is what we are focusing
on".
"When we have finished gathering opinions our team
will submit the report to the U.N. Secretary General (Kofi
Annan) and he in turn will see what are the best options
for going forward."
It was not clear if an agreement on the need for polls
to be well prepared meant Sistani might be flexible on his
call for early elections -- likely to favour the Shi'ites,
who make up around 60 percent of the population.
Recent suicide bombings and attacks on U.S. troops have
deepened fears about security at an election that could
leave civilians vulnerable at polling stations.
A U.N. team led by Brahimi is touring Iraq to assess
the feasibility of early direct elections.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Thursday a
consensus was emerging for direct elections, but he too
stressed the need for careful preparation, leaving open the
key question of timing.
Brahimi, an Algerian, met Sistani in the holy city of
Najaf, accompanied by Iraqi U.N. guards into the reclusive
cleric's well-guarded complex. The 73-year-old leader has
not ventured out of his house or met a Westerner for years,
aides say.
Meanwhile, U.S. forces warn that they will continue to
hunt down the purported author of a letter who has alleged
links to Osama bin Laden.
Speaking at a news conference in Baghdad on Thursday,
coalition spokesman Dan Senor said a letter believed to be
written by Abu Musab Zarqawi will be distributed to Iraqis.
The letter urges suicide bombings against Iraq's
Shi'ite majority in a bid to spark civil war, according to
a copy released by U.S. forces on Wednesday.
"We will be alerting Iraqis to the wild card, Mr
Zarqawi. We will also be ensuring that every Iraqi is
intimately familiar with this blueprint for terror in Iraq
document, Mr Zarqawi's memorandum, his action plan to tear
this country apart," said Senor at the news conference.
The U.S. military said it had intercepted a computer
disc bearing the letter. It said Zarqawi, a Jordanian whom
Washington suspects of working for al Qaeda and on whom it
doubled a reward to $10 million on Wednesday.
The letter outlines a broad strategy for foreign
fighters to infiltrate Iraq and attack U.S. forces, Iraqi
police and security forces and minority Kurds, as well as
Shi'ites.
Published just after about 100 Iraqi army and police
recruits were killed in two bombings within 24 hours, it
called the growing strength of local Iraqi forces a serious
threat.
Kimmitt said the U.S. forces would pursue Zarqawi
relentlessly.
"There is no safe place to hide. Terrorists would do
well to turn themselves in, as we will continue to hunt
them relentlessly until they're killed or captured," he
said.
os/
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