(12 Jan 2004) IRQ SPAIN 120104N 1. Exterior Coalition Provisional Authority headquarters 2. Spanish Foreign Minister Ana Palacio, and Chief US administrator in Iraq Paul Bremer, leaving among media 3. Security guard with gun 4. SOUNDBITE: (English) Paul Bremer, Chief US administrator in Iraq: "We have said all along that we think it is important to implement the November 15 agreement, which was agreed by the Governing Council and has been submitted to the United Nations as the best way forward for the return of sovereignty to the Iraqi people, and to provide for elections in about a year now to a constituent assembly. The Governing Council is in discussions with the Grand Ayatollah for whom we have the greatest respect and I think it is probably best if I leave those discussion between the Governing Council and the Ayatollah." 5. Palacio and Bremer talking to press 6. SOUNDBITE: (English) Paul Bremer, Chief US administrator in Iraq: "We have never announced that the Coalition was in favour of militia, on the contrary, we believe that in unified Iraq there is no place for political parties having armed groups and we believe it is important that those militia which exist be phased out as Iraq moves towards sovereignty. So that is our position." 7. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Ana Palacio, Spanish Foreign Minister: "I want to say that this meeting with ambassador Bremer was just like the previous ones. I can not say we have regular meetings but it is part of a continuous contact that the (Spanish) government keeps with the CPA and we have these continuous contacts for a very simple reason. It is because we share the objective to make this process of reconstruction to be as successful as possible and as fast as possible. We have therefore been talking about how this process is advancing." 8. Coalition Provisional Authority headquarters 9. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Ana Palacio, Spanish Foreign Minister: "There is something else that I think is very important, especially for me as a Spaniard. Yesterday at the press-conference in Diwania I saw more Iraqi journalists than Spanish journalists and this means that different opinions and the freedom of information, this basic freedom that is so important in society, is now starting to happen here." 10. Bremer and Palacio talking and posing together for media 11. Palacio and Bremer walk away STORYLINE: The United States is opposed to Iraqi political parties maintaining armed militias, the U.S. administrator said on Monday, adding that groups vying to fill the country's power vacuum will have to lay down arms in a future democracy. Speaking after a meeting with Spanish Foreign Minister, Ana Palacio to discuss the status of the reconstruction process Bremer said "We have never announced that the coalition was in favor of militia." Bremer made the comments after being asked about the status of a reported U.S. plan to create an anti-terrorism group with the several militias that had opposed the regime of Saddam Hussein. Some of the militias are run by Kurdish parties in northern Iraq, which had been outside Saddam's control for more than a decade. Others are from the majority Shiite Muslim population. "We believe it is important for those militias that exist to be phased out as Iraq moves toward sovereignty," Bremer said. Despite their unease over the militias, U.S. officials have moved carefully because of the political risks of a major showdown, especially with the Shiites and the Kurds. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives ​​ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/22496fef48ed472246d4121a1bcc8b82

• published: 21 Jul 2015
• views: 1265