KIRKUK, Iraq – The Kirkuk governor and coalition forces officials held a press conference about the implementation of the new security agreement between Iraq and the United States at the Kirkuk Government Building, Jan. 5.
The conference was chaired by Kirkuk Provincial Gov. Abdul Rahman Mustafa and Col. Matthew Russell, commander, 18th Engineer Brigade, Task Force Lightning.
The governor began with a brief statement about the return to normalcy in Kirkuk and how it will impact all citizens.
"The chaos in the past was terrorists who didn't care about the Iraqi people," Mustafa said. "Now those who work in the Iraqi land will obey the Iraqi laws"
Another part of the return to normalcy through the security agreement is allowing local residents traveling on the roads to pass military convoys. Due to security issues in the past, Iraqis were not allowed to travel freely past coalition forces vehicle formations.
Numerous topics were discussed during the question-and-answer session with the media during the conference. Many questions were asked about the Iraqi security forces working freely without CF involvement.
"The Iraqi police and Iraqi army are already doing most of the work with only guidance when needed and asked for from coalition forces," Russell commented. "The Iraqi people now have sovereignty, the most important thing."
"A lot of changes will occur and that is a good thing," Russell said. "These changes mean we are growing stronger together and we are communicating better."
| Date Taken: | 02.18.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 02.18.2009 05:07 |
| Story ID: | 30147 |
| Location: | KIRKUK, IQ |
| Web Views: | 441 |
| Downloads: | 428 |
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