Asharq Al-Awsat Exclusive Interview with Iraqi Prime Minister Dr Ibrahim Jaafari

"London, Asharq Al-Awsat- During Iraqi Prime Minister Dr Ibrahim Jaafari's short visit while en route to the United States to deliver Iraq's speech at the UN General Assembly, he gave this exclusive interview to "Asharq al-Awsat" yesterday:

(Q) You visited Tal Afar town. What is happening there and in the border town of Al-Rutbah?

(A) Presently Tal Afar has entered the second phase. What is happening over there is military operations to defuse the problem. The problem in Tal Afar did not originate from the town or the people themselves but from a group of terrorists who infiltrated it. A lengthy discussion lasting more than two months was held with the people of Tal Afar to reach a peaceful solution before the military one. I sent a group led by a personal envoy and it met the Turkoman and Arab Sunni and Shiite citizens and they asked us to send our armed forces and they also sent me a memorandum bearing their signatures. The most noticeable point in that memorandum was their request to resort to the military solution to purge the town. We prepared a plan for the operation that has now entered the second stage. It was successful from the start until it ended and no person was killed during it other than two persons who were slightly injured. I was there today (yesterday) and saw with my own eyes what was happening in Tal Afar and met our military units and also spoke to the division commander and officers. They gave me detailed reports and I was briefed on the prevailing atmosphere. The operation will now enter the third stage, that of rebuilding the town, compensating the losses, and returning the population to their homes.

(Q) Were terrorists arrested there or did you find remnants of their presence in Tal Afar?

(A) We found booby-trapped vehicles, explosives and weapons hideouts, and workshops confirming that the terrorists held training courses in them to booby trap vehicles and prepare explosives. This means that Tal Afar would have become the incubator and base for instigating damage in other areas. At the same time, the terrorists undermined the civilized social infrastructure of the town's citizens that were established over time. The Sunni and Shiite Turkomans of Tal Afar have been brothers for a long time and we are making efforts to restore the situation back to normal."
Asharq Alawsat