Iraq will not be a staging ground or a way station for terrorists after combat troops from the US-led coalition withdraw, the Iraqi prime minister said on Friday, insisting the country is united against terrorism.
Nouri Al Maliki, who is on a four-day visit to Australia, said militias and sectarianism had no place in the new Iraq, where citizens for the first time have a constitution that protects their human rights and parliamentary elections in January were run on political platforms rather than ethnic or religious affiliations. |