Blair in historic Baghdad visit
Tony Blair praised the “heroes of a new Iraq” who were pushing ahead with the country’s historic elections as he made his first trip to Baghdad today.
The Prime Minister met with Iraqi leaders during his visit to the city’s Green Zone administrative centre and was briefed on preparations for the poll on January 30th.
His visit, the first by a British Prime Minister since Winston Churchill, comes amid increasingly frequent attacks by insurgents attempting to derail the elections.
While security concerns demanded that his destination remain secret, however, Mr Blair rejected the flak jackets worn by the military officials and press who accompanied him in favour of a civilian suit.
Speaking to a news conference, Mr Blair insisted January’s poll would take place as planned and said he hoped all Iraqis would take part “on an inclusive basis”.
He praised members of Iraq’s Electoral Commission for risking their lives “to make sure the people of Iraq get a chance to decide their own destiny”.
“I said to them that I thought they were the heroes of the new Iraq,” he told journalists.
Speaking alongside interim prime minister Ayad Allawi, Mr Blair added: “There is only one side to be on in what is very clearly a battle between democracy and terror.”
For his part, Mr Allawi said the violence, which included two attacks on the holy Shia cities of Najaf and Kerbala on Sunday, would not stop the progress of democracy.
“We now are on the verge, for the first time in history, of having democracy in action in this country,” he said.
He added: “Our enemies are determined to break our will… We will not allow them to prevail.”
