SECRETARY-GENERAL WELCOMES IRAQ ‘BACK INTO FAMILY OF INDEPENDENT AND SOVEREIGN NATIONS’

SECRETARY-GENERAL welcomes IRAQ ‘back into family

of independent and sovereign nations’

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for Secretary-General Kofi Annan:

Today, the Secretary-General welcomes the State of Iraq back into the family of independent and sovereign nations.  He calls upon all Iraqis to come together in a spirit of national unity and reconciliation, through a process of open dialogue and consensus-building, to lay down secure foundations for the new Iraq.  Their first duty is to assist their Interim Government to establish security for the population so that the difficult process of return toward normalcy can commence.

The Secretary-General commits the United Nations to do everything possible, as circumstances permit, to help the Iraqi people in this challenging yet vital process.

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