| The Iraqi government is dissatisfied with the words of the Russian President about his reluctance to borrow the Iraqi model of democracy. The office of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said that with his “sarcastic remark, Vladimir Putin downplayed the importance of Iraq’s democratic experience.” “The Iraqi government is shocked by this remark. It ignores the daily sacrifice and extraordinary courage of Iraqis who turned out in large numbers to exercise their right to vote. We would like to remind Mr. Putin that not everyone in the region is happy with the changes taking place in Iraq. And they, unfortunately, support terrorism, which threatens this unique experience,” the document says.
The Russian president's remark, which offended the office of the Iraqi prime minister, was made on Saturday in St. Petersburg at a joint press conference with the US president. George W. Bush said he had informed Vladimir Putin of his desire to promote "institutional changes in various parts of the world, for example in Iraq, where there is freedom of religion and freedom of the press." And also that “many people in America want Russia to do the same.” To this, the Russian leader replied: “We, of course, would not want to have the same democracy as in Iraq, to be honest.”
The invasion of Iraq by American troops in the spring of 2003 brought not only liberation from the tyranny of Saddam Hussein, but also a bloody internal conflict that claimed the lives of about 40 thousand Iraqis. Just yesterday, a minibus exploded near a Shiite mosque in the city of Kufa, killing 53 people and injuring more than a hundred. Explosions yesterday also occurred in the north in Kirkuk province, where at least 13 people were killed.
In June, five employees of the Russian Embassy in Baghdad became victims of terror. Yesterday, Chairman of the National Anti-Terrorism Committee Nikolai Patrushev said that Vladimir Putin instructed the NAC to coordinate the activities of Russian special services to search for and eliminate terrorists involved in the murder of Russian diplomats in Iraq. Ivan SOLOVIEV
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