Britain's Blair in Iraq to boost Maliki

Nouri al-Maliki, Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, Moqtada al-Sadr,
Harith al-Dhari and Massoud Barzani

BASRA, Iraq, Dec 17 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Tony Blair pledged his support for the Iraq government during a visit to Baghdad on Sunday and urged neighbouring states to support reconciliation and security in the country.

Blair's visit comes amid persistent Shi'ite-Sunni killing, with U.N. officials estimating more than 100 people are killed a day, and as the United States considers a change in strategy.

Blair said he and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki discussed the need for national reconciliation, building up Iraq's security forces and "the importance of the support of all countries in the region for this process".

The goal was for the "Iraq government and the Iraqi people (to) take full responsibility for their affairs", he told a news conference with Maliki in the fortified Green Zone in Baghdad.

Blair later flew to Basra in southern Iraq to visit British troops there.

Blair pledged his full support for Maliki "in assuring that your democracy is not destroyed by terrorism, sectarianism, by those who wish to live in hatred rather than in peace."

Read the rest at Reuters/Alternet

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