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Iraqi Premier, Ministers Hold News Conference on Tall Afar Operation

Posted on: Sunday, 11 September 2005, 15:00 CDT

Iraqi Prime Minister Dr Ibrahim a Ja'fari, Defence Minister Sa'dun al-Dulaymi and a number of other ministers have held a news conference to discuss the start of the joint Iraqi-American military campaign against insurgents in the northwestern town of Tall Afar. The 50-minute recorded news conference was broadcast by Iraqi Al- Sharqiyah TV at 0910 gmt on 11 September. The conference was held on 10 September.

"We could no longer tolerate the losses"

Al-Ja'fari opens the news conference with the following statement: "In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. We welcome and greet you all. A number of ministers and I meet you today after the start of military operations in Tall Afar. I issued orders to Iraqi forces affiliated with the Defence Ministry and Interior Ministry to start the operation in coordination with the multinational forces. This came in response to a distress call by our sons and kinsfolk in Tall Afar. We could no longer tolerate the losses that this wronged and steadfast city has suffered over the past few weeks. The harassment and presence of saboteurs, criminals and terrorists in Tall Afar led to a marked exodus that affected many Iraqi cities. This is a dangerous situation, as it opens the door for demographic changes to Iraqi society.

One of the objectives of these saboteurs in Tall Afar is to isolate the city from the Iraqi political whole, which breathes with an open lung and plays its role in the political process in open air without any obstacles. But the saboteurs barricaded themselves in Tall Afar in a way that indicated they wanted to isolate the city from the political process, especially as we stand at the doorsteps of a constitutional birth - the draft constitution and preparation for the referendum to obtain people's endorsement of the constitution.

It is our duty to preserve citizenship rights for every citizen and to safeguard the homeland and dedicate all our efforts to serving our country and people, regardless of their backgrounds and geographical areas and whether they are of a different religious, denominational, ethnic, political and regional affiliation. The entire government is responsible for all the people and the government must keep its promises and obligations: it proceeded from the people; it works through the people; and it dedicates its effort for the sake of the people.

"Innocent people of Tall Afar were wronged"

Praise be to God, our military force is developing and competent. It grew in size in the past period and levels of training, performance and armament improved. We now have about 190,000 soldiers. So we are not suffering a shortage in terms of numbers, training, or weapons. At the same time, the armed forces and the police force - as part of the policy of the state - are not politicized. In other words, they are not affiliated with a certain political party or quarter; they represent the unity of Iraqis and work hard to defend Iraqis and the sovereignty of Iraq. They are the strong shields that protect Iraq. The Iraqi military forces, therefore, will continue to ward off any threat to Iraqi sovereignty.

In addition to our military preparations, the nature of the operation [in Tall Afar] requires preparations on the level of services, humanitarian aspects, medical supplies and other things. So when we drew up the plan, we took into consideration the series of measures that must be taken to serve the citizens, minimize damage and address the consequences to avoid any disaster, God forbid. At the same time, there is a budget for compensations. The innocent people of Tall Afar were wronged. They suffered from aggression and they sustained losses. So there is a budget to compensate them. Committees have been set up to assume this responsibility.

"Punish the enemy forcefully, determinedly and with an iron hand"

We are in constant touch with Tall Afar to learn what is happening on the ground. I repeat what I said at the beginning: this swift action by the government at the highest levels came in response to a request by Sunni and Shi'i tribes of Tall Afar. They insisted on recording their wish in writing. I received their request and signatures. I responded to their call and, God willing, I will measure up to their expectations. My brothers the ministers will also do what is necessary. There will be a follow-up committee. I delegated brother Dr Haydar al-Ibadi the mission of following up the field situation and services, along with Defence Minister Dr Sa'dun [al-Dulaymi], Interior Minister brother Bayan Jabr, Health Minister Dr Abd-al-Muttalib and Trade Minister Abd-al-Basit.

All the brothers are sons of this people. All of us are servants of this nation. We will continue to serve our people persistently and to punish the enemy forcefully, determinedly and with an iron hand. God willing, we will meet the expectations of our people and do everything dictated by the national interest."

"Clear Tall Afar of terrorists, killers and vampires"

After this statement, Al-Ja'fari gives the floor to Defence Minister Sa'dun al-Dulaymi. He makes the following statement:

"In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. As the prime minister pointed out, the basic military operation to clear Tall Afar of terrorists, killers and vampires began effectively today. Preparations and deployment to positions began a week ago. We drew up the plan three months ago. We made all peaceful attempts to drive the terrorists out of the positions they took up in that peaceful city. Upon the instructions of the prime minister and the government, we gave priority to peaceful solutions. However, when we do not find anybody to respond to such attempts in any Iraqi city or village, we have no option other than maintaining security and safeguarding people's interests and blood.

I believe the situation in Tall Afar has become a problem and a dilemma for Iraqis. It appears that the people of the city, as the prime minister said, could no longer stand the terrorists who came from abroad and those who sheltered them and created the appropriate climate for a situation where a person would kill his neighbour. Since this is categorically unacceptable from the national and religious points of view, we decided to launch the military operation.

"Our forces are strong and able to drive the terrorists out"

The military operation began today and God willing it will end sooner than you think. I would like to point out that the commander of the military operation is Major General Khurshid. The Third Division is conducting this mission. There are 11 regiments along with three Public Order regiments affiliated with the Interior Ministry inside Tall Afar. There are also three support regiments from the coalition forces. I tell the media outlets that do not care about accuracy that this is basically an Iraqi operation. I believe that in the next two days, God willing, you will see that our forces are strong and able to drive the terrorists out of their hideouts and eliminate them, with God's help.

I would like to mention the losses of the terrorists. In the past two days and until 1000 [0600 gmt] this morning, 121 of them were killed and 197 others were arrested. Thirteen arms caches were uncovered. On the side of our forces, there were five martyrs and three wounded. This shows that we indeed gained sufficient immunity in our resistance against terrorists and that we are able to defeat them anywhere they hide. We have requests from other Iraqi cities. We say to our people everywhere, in Al-Qa'im, Rawah, Samarra and Al- Ramadi, that we are coming and that there will be no hideout for terrorists, killers and vampires."

"Movement of terrorists across the border"

The interior minister then speaks. He says the Interior Ministry units are offering support for the Iraqi Army's Third Division, "which is playing the main and basic role in the process of purging the city from terrorists and killers." He says the Interior Ministry has another mission: "securing the border with Syria". He says "a series of new measures will be taken to control the movement of terrorists across the border". He says that immediately after the "liberation" of Tall Afar, the police Commando Units will deploy and control the city. But ultimately, he adds, the security of the city will be maintained by 1,700 policemen. "Now we have 700 policemen in the city and we are taking measures to recruit another 1,000 from among the people of the city." He says the city's tribal and religious leaders will play a role in this recruitment process.

The health and trade ministers then review the plans of their ministries to deal with the aftermath of the military operation. They stress that sufficient medical and food supplies and other relief material are ready to help the people of Tall Afar and satisfy the needs of refugees.

The prime minister then gives journalists a chance to ask questions.

Answering a question about the participation of American forces in the operation, Prime Minister Al-Ja'fari reiterates that "the operation is being launched based on an Iraqi decision. The order was given by the prime minister in his capacity as commander-in- chief of the Armed Forces. The order was given to the Interior Ministry and Defence Ministry to wage the battle. The presence of multinational forces in Iraq has a justification. When Iraqi forces need support, depending on the nature of the confrontation, these forces will intervene to support us."

"We began our siege on Tall Afar three weeks ago"

The defence minister says in an answer to a question: "We began our siege on Tall Afar three weeks ago. We prevented terrorists and foreigners from leaving the city. We also stopped the entry of supplies to them. Let me say that this encouraged the people of Tall Afar to seek the government's help to save them from those who kidnapped them by force." He describes the operation in Tall Afar as a "quality experience" for Iraqi forces and says this experience will be "repeated successfully and unhesitatingly in any city that fails to comply with the rule of law".

Asked why the government usually acts late and only when problems aggravate, Prime Minister Al-Ja'fari says the government exhausts all peaceful means before it resorts to military action. "This does not mean the government is absent or that it does not have a striking hand to eliminate others when they endanger citizens," he says.

Asked if there is a timeframe for the military operation, the defence minister says: "If you read military history, you find that there is no timeframe for any military operation in the world. But I say this operation will end sooner than you imagine. It may not take more than three days."

Asked about the identities of insurgents in Tall Afar, Prime Minister Al-Ja'fari says: "They generally descend from the culture of the defunct Ba'th, which has for long raised the slogan: We either rule Iraq or burn Iraq, kill its sons and leave it a scorched earth without people. There are also political hypocrites who came from outside Iraq. The elements of evil in these two groups joined forces to pose a threat to the region."

"They come from everywhere to shed the blood of sons of this poor country"

Answering a question about the identities of the armed men who were arrested in Tall Afar, the defence minister says: "I regret to say that instead of sending us aid and assistance to redress our wounds, Arab brothers are sending us terrorists, whether through official approval or not - I am not discussing this. But they are from all nationalities, regrettably. There are Egyptians, Syrians, Jordanians, Palestinians, Saudis, Sudanese - and this surprises me because the Sudanese have a thousand problems they need to solve. There are also Algerians, Tunisians and Moroccans. They come from everywhere to shed the blood of sons of this poor country, to sabotage its interests and to perpetuate chaos in it. This is not the situation in Tall Afar only. This exists also in Al-Qa'im. We tell the people of Al-Qa'im: Be patient. We will come to you, God willing, to free you from the vampires."

Source: BBC Monitoring Middle East

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