Iraq’s foreign minister believes country has averted civil war

IRAQ’S foreign minister last night said he believes his country has averted a civil war after five years of “tears and blood” and warned an abrupt US troop withdrawal would be disastrous.

Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said mistakes had been made, but Iraq has reached a turning point.

“These past five years I think were full of hopes and promises but also of tears and blood... and we’ve gone through a very, very difficult transformation,” said Zebari, a Kurd who has held his post in each successive Iraqi administration since the US-led invasion on March 20, 2003.

He noted the Iraqis had established a government and gained freedoms that were absent under Saddam Hussein’s rule, despite violence that has killed tens of thousands of Iraqis and about 4,000 US troops.

“At the same time divisions have deepened, unfortunately,” he said. “But... I think we averted a sectarian war. We passed the possibility of a civil war.”

Zebari said it was premature to set a timeframe for the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq, noting negotiations on a long-term security agreement with the United States to replace a UN mandate had just begun.

He expressed concern about weariness by the American public with the war and promises by rival Democratic presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama to begin withdrawing forces quickly if elected. Zebari said changes could be made but warned the consequences of a premature withdrawal would be “disastrous”. All the security gains from a US troop buildup “would evaporate”, he said His comments came a day after presumptive Republican presidential candidate John McCain and Vice President Dick Cheney stressed the need for a sustained US commitment in Iraq during parallel visits to Baghdad.

“There is a certain responsibility, an international and moral responsibility, to help the people of Iraq to reach a stable form of governance,” said Zebari.