US COMMITMENT REAFFIRMED

[Talon]

US COMMITMENT REAFFIRMED

Colin Powell has said that Washington will stand strong in Iraq, despite the worsening foreign hostage crisis and persistent clashes between US troops and insurgents.

The US Secretary of State was speaking on an unannounced visit to Baghdad, where he held talks with officials.

"We are facing challenges in the weeks ahead, but we are determined to overcome them," he said.

"I reaffirm our determination and commitment to keep working with the interim government as they go about the process of establishing democracy on the basis of freedom and human rights in Iraq."

Mr Powell paid tribute to the Iraqi government, praising their "courage and determination... in the face of adversity" and pledged to speed up reconstruction, despite admitting that the kidnappings had a "deterring effect".

The secretary of state is the most senior US official to visit the country since the US-led occupation authority returned sovereignty to a caretaker government last month.

Iraq's president President Ghazi Yawar stressed that Baghdad was dealing with the United States as a sovereign partner and denied that recently appointed US ambassador John Negroponte was manipulating the government.

"Ambassador Negroponte is working 100 percent as a diplomat, an ambassador of a superpower like any other US ambassador anywhere in the world," Mr Yawar said.

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