IRAQ: While the main problem facing the new Iraqi government is security, other challenges include restoration of essential services and development of the country's oil and economy, a senior Iraqi politician told the Oireachtas foreign affairs committee yesterday.
Adnan Pachachi, a senior member of Iraq's council of representatives and chairman of the Iraqi independent democrats movement, warned that corruption inherited from the Saddam regime, problematic relations with neighbours and the departure of the current multinational force needed to be addressed.
Mr Pachachi added that Ireland could play an important role in providing technical support and expertise to Iraq.
Mr Pachachi, who spent 32 years in exile before returning in May 2003, was speaking as part of a cross-party delegation of Iraqi parliamentarians who were invited to address the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs on overcoming sectarian division through democracy.
He said that many insurgents felt they had been unfairly treated in the new Iraq and committed attacks in the name of religion, while in reality their primary motivation was power and monetary gain.