ANKARA, 18 May 2004 — British Prime Minister Tony Blair said yesterday that there can be no “cutting and running” in Iraq and yesterday’s assassination of the head of the US-appointed Governing Council underscored the need for countries to remain in Iraq.
Britain is the second largest troop contributor in Iraq.
“The assassination today... just underlines how important it is that we stay until the job is done,” Blair said at a press conference here after talks with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“There will be no cutting and running in Iraq. We will continue until the job is done,” Blair added amid British press reports that London and Washington were drawing up plans to speed up the pull-out of coalition forces.
The head of the Iraqi Governing Council, Izzedin Salim, also known as Abdel-Zahraa Othman, was killed in an apparent suicide car bombing in Baghdad just a few hours before Blair arrived in Ankara.
In yesterday’s talks, the two sides were scheduled to sign a memorandum of understanding on enhanced cooperation against terrorism, a British diplomat said.
Blair arrived in Turkey yesterday for a brief working visit amid street protests at his country’s role in Iraq and bomb attacks against the offices of a leading British bank.
The one-day visit was overshadowed by bomb explosions overnight in front of the branches of British bank HSBC in Turkey’s biggest city Istanbul and capital Ankara, which caused minor damage and no casualties. It was not immediately clear who was behind the blasts.
Police stepped up security for Blair’s visit with armed paramilitary troops taking up position on the main road from the airport into town.
As the British leader arrived in Turkey, protesters took to the streets in both Ankara and Istanbul to denounce London’s involvement in the US-led occupation of neighboring Iraq and abuse of prisoners in Iraqi jails, the Anatolia news agency reported.
“Bloody-handed Blair, take your hand off Iraq. Get out murderers, this country is ours,” chanted the protesters from a leading trade union in a central park in Ankara.
In Istanbul, demonstrators gathered in front of the British consulate, holding up a banner which read: “We do not want Blair, who is responsible for torture and massacres in Iraq, in our country.”
Blair is also facing a tough time at home over the worsening situation in Iraq, where both US and British soldiers have allegedly abused Iraqi detainees.
