World leaders, gathered in Stockholm, praised Baghdad's progress in combating violence and stabilizing the nation. AFP:World leaders, including UN chief Ban Ki-moon and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, on Thursday hailed Baghdad's progress in combating violence and stabilizing Iraq.
A declaration adopted by 100 delegations at a Stockholm conference said the participants "recognised the important efforts made by the (Iraqi) government to improve security and public order and combat terrorism and sectarian violence across Iraq."
It also acknowledged political and economic progress made, and said that "given the difficult context, these successes are all the more remarkable."
In a speech earlier to the conference, Ban said Iraq was "stepping back from the abyss that we feared most," adding that with international help the war-torn country could fulfill its "vision of becoming a free, secure, stable and prosperous nation."
He cautioned however that "the situation remains fragile."
The one-day conference in Stockholm, hosted by Ban and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, was attended by Rice, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and British Foreign Secretary David Miliband among others.
Rice said that while Iraq was "making good progress there remain challenges. Not everything that needs to be accomplished has been accomplished."
Miliband was also optimistic and noted that at the conference, "instead of talking about the last five years every speaker has talked about the next five years, and that is a really profound change of perspective."
Their comments came as two suicide bombings targeted police and security forces in northern Iraq, killing at least 20 people and wounding another 42, officials said.
The attacks shattered a relative calm, after the US military said violence across the nation had hit a four-year low last week.
In Stockholm, Maliki stressed that great progress had been made toward creating long-term stability in all areas, and asked world leaders "to end the international sanctions that were imposed on Iraq because of the previous regime and to write off debts."
Photo credit AFP
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