YouSaid · the spoken record

Haider Al Abadi

lines on the record: 31
first: 2015-09-24
most recent: 2016-09-24
sittings or episodes: 2
sources: un-general-debate

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“He has visited Iraq many times, and we thank him for his support of our development plans.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“We would like to reiterate our gratitude to the United Nations and our friends for their support to Iraq and the Iraqi people through their various humanitarian programmes aimed at caring for displaced people and refugees. We also thank them for their support of the Iraqi Government’s efforts to achieve security and stability and the reforms and economic development that our people aspire to. We would like to congratulate the President on his election to lead the Assembly at its seventy-first session. We would also like to thank Mr. Lykketoft for his leadership at the seventieth session, and to warmly congratulate the Secretary-General on the forthcoming conclusion of his term of office at the end of this year. We pay tribute to him for his excellent stewardship of the United Nations.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“Such policies result in more suffering among our peoples and deeper divisions in our region, which continues to be racked by internal wars and external interventions that have made our civilian populations ever more miserable. We appeal to the international community to support and respect Iraq’s sovereignty and to demand that Turkey withdraw its forces from our territory, where their continued presence, despite the fact that Iraqis have rejected it, is an obstacle to our efforts to liberate Ninawa. The Iraqi Government is working hard to help the Iraqi people live in peaceful coexistence with one another and to treat all citizens equally on a basis of good citizenship, regardless of their religion, sect or ethnicity.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“We call on nations worldwide to commit to implementing the relevant Security Council resolutions on preventing support to, financing or arming terrorist groups that kill civilians, as well as General Assembly resolutions on safeguarding Iraq’s cultural heritage. Thanks to a cooperative effort between Iraq and UNESCO, the wetland areas of southern Iraq have now been added to the list of World Heritage sites. We are also keen to meet the inclusion requirements for the rest of the cultural sites and treasures of Iraq’s ancient civilization. We take this opportunity to call on the international community to exert efforts to end conflicts, prevent wars, support peace and security, encourage development opportunities and reject policies involving interference in the internal affairs of other States.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“Our religious leader, His Eminence the Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali al-Sistani, supported this defence. His historic fatwa led to a broad-based mobilization of the entire Iraqi people, and religious leaders and clergy of all religious creeds in Iraq widely embraced and supported the fatwa. Iraq is keen to participate alongside all countries in advancing development efforts and attaining the Sustainable Development Goals — combating poverty and discrimination, protecting the environment, enhancing child-care programmes and improving standards of health and education. Our intent is to create an environment that promotes freedom, human rights, equality and the vitally important participation of women in the State and society.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“We are confident that we can win the battle of reforms, just as we won the battle to liberate our lands. We and our people stand together shoulder to shoulder in our fight against terrorism and corruption. We are working together to build a State that is based on peaceful coexistence and respect for religious, ideological and sectarian diversity, guided by the values and principles of justice and equality. Each Iraqi contributes to the victory achieved in the fight against ISIL. It is a national and non-conventional, existential battle, involving all the Iraqi people. Our armed forces, federal and local police, the popular mobilization forces, the tribal mobilization forces and the Peshmerga forces represent all religions, ethnicities and sects; they share one goal, namely, to defend our homeland and its sacred values.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“Apart from terrorism, we have had to face the global decline in oil prices, which caused a budget loss amounting to 70 per cent of revenues, in addition to the burden of increased military and security expenditures to free Iraqi cities from terrorism and to rebuild them. It was only natural that this would negatively impact development, investment and reconstruction plans. Despite all these daunting challenges, we continued to implement our comprehensive reform programme and to combat the corruption that corrodes our State agencies and social institutions. From the outset, we realized that this reform programme would be no less difficult and dangerous than tackling terrorism. However, we are determined that it will be implemented despite all the challenges.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“Their atrocities have been directed at the entire ethnic spectrum of Iraq and involved takfir, displacement, female enslavement, genocide and the destruction of antiquities, mosques and churches. Such heinous crimes were perpetrated against cities, such as Amerly, Sinjar, Taza, Anbar, Mosul, Salahuddin and Diyala, and against the victims of the Camp Speicher massacre, not to mention the cowardly terrorist attacks on civilians in the districts of Baghdad and the rest of Iraq’s provinces. Iraq encountered two external factors that affected stability and economic and social growth.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“If we are to combat this pernicious scourge, which has spread among some young people and exploited their feelings of disaffection and despair, countries and organizations must take a determined stand. They must review the programmes and curriculums of educational institutions and address feelings of frustration, with a view to absorbing disaffected young people into the mainstream of society. Any attempts by such terrorist organizations to re-establish themselves in future must be pre-empted. ISIL, which falsely claims that it is defending Sunnis, has so far killed Shiites, Sunnis, Christians, Yazidis, Arabs, Kurds and Turkmens, and Shabak as well.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“It has been active in capitals and cities worldwide — killing and terrorizing civilians in France, Belgium, Germany, the United States of America, Russia and elsewhere. We have no choice but to cooperate to win the war against these evil terrorists. We deem any victory achieved against ISIL anywhere in the world to be a global triumph. The danger of the formation of terrorist organizations such as Al-Qaida or Da’esh/ISIL will not end until we address the problem of their radical ideology. These backward groups rely on sectarian segregation and hostility towards all other faiths and beliefs, and their ideology is fuelled by a short-sighted vision that has hindered national development opportunities.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“But we will be satisfied only when the whole world becomes free from terrorism that threatens our peoples and nations. This requires serious collaboration to contain terrorism, cut off its ideological and financial resources and dismantle its networks and recruitment hubs all over the world. Without such cooperation, terrorism will spread everywhere, giving rise to increased numbers of refugees fleeing conflict areas. Those numbers have already reached unprecedentedly high levels. We assure Member States that ISIL is indisputably a greater enemy of Islam than of other faiths. ISIL has murdered thousands of Muslims, wrought destruction and spread its evil to many Arab and Islamic States.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“It prioritized citizens’ services by streamlining procedures, removing many obstacles, simplifying the procedures to deal with citizens’ affairs and removing impediments to investment. The Government also strengthened procedures for creating private-sector partnerships and had a good measure of success in that regard. As for fighting corruption, we have signed a memorandum of understanding with the United Nations Development Programme to benefit from international expertise to aid Iraq in capacity-building to fight corruption. The past few weeks have seen practical steps in that regard. We look forward to making more progress in fighting terrorism and bringing the perpetrators to justice. We look forward to the day when Iraq and the whole region are free of the criminal acts perpetrated by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“We commend the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and other international organizations for supporting the plans and efforts of the Iraqi Government to reform the Iraqi economy, overcome the financial crisis and fight corruption in all its forms. We greatly appreciate the constructive position of the Group of Seven States and thank the donors conference for the reconstruction of Iraq recently held in Washington, D.C. In the area of economic and financial reforms, the Government implemented an ambitious reform programme to reduce government expenditure, despite having to spend more to support the war against terrorism. As part of its administrative reforms, the Government initiated the restructuring of many State institutions.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“We call on the international community to provide further support for sheltering and returning IDPs, especially in the light of the forthcoming battle to fully liberate Ninawa and the anticipated increase in the number of displaced persons. We thank all those who have stood beside our people in the face of economic and security challenges, and we look forward to further support and collaboration. We would commend the United Nations system for providing humanitarian assistance to the people of Iraq and for its role in addressing IDP issues. We applaud the support extended by the States of the international coalition aimed at tackling terrorism, as well as of friendly countries.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“I commend all of the valiant soldiers who are working to liberate peaceful Iraq from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). We have declared 2016 as a year of liberation and victory. Our fundamental goal is to liberate our people and the land and to save the civilians from ISIL, which has ruined all aspects of life and destroyed archaeological monuments of the ancient civilization of Mesopotamia. Assisted by our friends in the international community, we have started to implement programmes for the return of internally displaced persons (IDPs) to the liberated areas. In that context, we developed an integrated programme for stabilization and the provision of services, particularly water, electricity, schools and hospitals.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“A year ago, as I stood at this rostrum (A/70/PV.21), large areas of Iraqi territory were occupied by the terrorist organization Da’esh. Today, as we stand here again, we are able to declare before the General Assembly that Iraq is being liberated and that Iraqis have been able to free most of their land and towns, thanks to their unity and determination. Currently we are in the process of liberating Ninawa, the last province controlled by Da’esh, where we have regained major areas. We shall complete its liberation by the end of the year. Let me report that today our heroic forces liberated the city of Al-Sharqat in Salahaddin province and other neighbouring areas and major towns. That is testimony to the great confidence and capabilities of our forces, who enjoy the full support of the local residents.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“We believe that each and every leader of the region must assume responsibility to stop the bloodshed. The leaders of the region have a responsibility to end this killing, which is an evil visited on humanity at large.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“We are eager to build relations with our neighbouring countries. We respect their sovereignty and do not interfere in their internal affairs. We therefore call on them to promote the same quality of relationship. We want them not to interfere in our affairs and to respect Iraqi sovereignty and our right to uphold the sanctity of Iraqi lives. In conclusion, I thank the United Nations and other international organizations for supporting Iraq’s efforts to achieve development, and salute the efforts of international organizations and all other world leaders and their representatives. It is truly my hope that next year we will meet in better circumstances. I urge all countries of the region to work together to achieve peace instead of killing and destruction.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“ISIS continues to recruit thousands of volunteers from throughout the world, but particularly from countries that have stressed their solidarity with Iraq. This terrorist organization receives assistance and weapons and continues to fight us, so our problem is 6/28 15-29701 30/09/2015 A/70/PV.21 really an external one, embodied in the support enjoyed by such terrorist organizations. While the popular mobilization forces in Iraq are a legitimate organization that is supported by the Iraqi State, ISIS and associated entities are illegitimate terrorist groups that do not respect the State or the law and kill anyone who happens to think differently. Even those who happen to confess the same faith have been killed and displaced by ISIS. More than 3 million people have been displaced by ISIS from the cities they once called home.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“The political process in Iraq is democratic and governed by the peaceful turnover of power. Five Governments have succeeded each other in Iraq; our Government is the latest of these and therefore takes pride in our democratic processes. However, there are political blocs that have different points of view. We are proud of the fact that others have the right to express their opinions, which shows that there is a political sphere for the free expression of opinion. Our problem in Iraq is not an internal one. Our problem is that a terrorist group has crossed our border from a neighbouring country. That organization is supported and armed by others, has occupied vast areas of Iraq and killed thousands of Iraqis and violated their rights.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“Iraq expects all countries of the world to implement Security Council resolutions 2170 (2014), 2178 (2014) and 2199 (2015), which call for ending all support, financing and arming to terrorist groups. I also cite General Assembly resolution 69/281, adopted on 25 May 2015 to salvage the cultural heritage of Iraq, the implementation of which would allow Iraq to rebuild its country and achieve development. The Government and people of Iraq understand the importance of communicating with the peoples and Governments of the world. We are eager to build peace and understanding in our region, and therefore we seek to open prospects for new relations with the countries of the region and to promote such relations without interfering in the internal affairs of others so as to guarantee a bright future for us all.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“The important items included in the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals and their achievement by 2030 require us all to work more tirelessly to achieve further cooperation among the peoples and countries of the world, instead of fighting each other. That would provide the United Nations with sufficient opportunity to work constructively in order to expedite the achievement of these objectives and share its expertise through programmes to be undertaken throughout the world. Iraq will earnestly and enthusiastically work to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals within the time frame assigned. We know that this development will affect not just Iraq alone but all countries, because no country can achieve sustainable development unless it is enjoyed by neighbouring countries as well.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“The importance of the Declaration is not limited to the pursuit of development for the human individual. It focuses on sustainability, which includes advocating a clean environment, the preservation of the rights of future generations, the promotion of peace and security, the elimination of poverty and discrimination, improving the health and educational standards of children and achieving wider freedoms, living in peace and bridging the gap between the poor and the rich. These are only some of the reforms that we are trying to attain in Iraq today by bridging these gaps and by redressing the injustice experienced by many sectors in our society and the world.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“Providing more support is very important because it is the Iraqis who are fighting this war. We therefore thank the brotherly countries that have provided assistance, but would request further assistance to address the problems of refugees. Increased logistical and military support would bring us closer to our ultimate victory and promote peace and security in all countries of the world. Iraq understood the importance of international efforts to draft a new development document to be adopted by the United Nations after the Millennium Declaration. Iraqi experts and national institutions participated in the international efforts made in our region to draft the new Declaration adopted in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (resolution 70/1).”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“We have therefore provided economic, administrative and financial reform packages. We have started working to invigorate the private sector in our country. We have provided financing for small and medium-sized projects, despite the difficulties we experienced after the huge drop in oil revenues, which account for 92 per cent of our income. The reform package was respectfully accepted by our people, who expressed their views in detail. The reform enjoys the support of the highest religious authorities and other stakeholders in society. We are determined to pursue our reform without disregarding our important role in directing the security and military effort to fight ISIS. On behalf of the Iraqi people, I should like to salute the efforts of the brotherly and friendly countries in the international coalition in our war against terror.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“The Iraqi Constitution bans carrying arms outside the legal framework of the State. The Iraqi security forces protect demonstrators and give them full freedom to express their demands. While we may be in a state of war, many governorates have peaceful demonstrations and there are excellent relations between the demonstrators and the security forces. This is a unique experience indeed. I personally decided to entrust a working task force to follow up the demands of the demonstrators so that we can assist in implementing these demands. The Iraqi Council of Representatives has enacted the Government’s programme of work. The Council represents the Iraqi people. We have adopted a progressive vision of reform, sanctioned by the highest religious authority. We have listened to the demands that our people expressed over the past two months.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“We also look forward to an effective contribution on the part of countries and international organizations to repairing our infrastructure and helping our reconstruction efforts. Despite all this, Iraq is pursuing its democratic policies to promote respect for the Constitution, the peaceful transition of power, freedom of expression, and the elimination of racial ethnic and sectarian discrimination. Despite the challenges, we are aware of public demands and have worked to establish an organizational framework known as the Popular Mobilization Committee, which receives its instructions from the President of the Republic and the armed forces. Thus, the popular mobilization forces operate within the law as they fight terrorists and organized crime, particularly those who carry arms outside the framework of the State.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“These evil forces terrorized civilians throughout Iraq and pursued a policy of ethnic cleansing, particularly in those areas that they claimed to support. Many people who once lived in the western and northern parts of Iraq are today refugees or displaced internally by these merciless gangsters. They are suffering with those who are still besieged in their villages and cities. While we highly appreciate the support and solidarity extended to us by the United Nations and the international community in our just war against terrorism, we also recognize the tireless efforts made to restore stability to the regions that have been liberated by our armed forces, the popular mobilization forces and the tribal fighters.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“Our national institutions tried to bridge the development gap in fulfilment of the Millennium Declaration (resolution 55/2) adopted by the leaders of the world at the General Assembly in 2000 by concentrating on targets that were supposed to have been achieved by 2015. We in Iraq made tangible progress in decreasing mortality rates, increasing school enrolment, reducing gender inequality and improving living standards. However the ill-will of terrorist groups, foremost among which are Al-Qaida and ISIS, as well as those associated with the old Ba’ath regime who joined them, obstructed our development process and spread death and destruction on our people and infrastructure. In persisting in their atrocities, those terrorists did not distinguish between an infant and an elderly person, or between a man and a woman.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“Since the United Nations Development Programme launched its first Human Development Report in 1990, the countries of the world, including Iraq, have anticipated improvements in their human development levels. We have pursued this goal so that people would become the means and targets of the development process. As a result of the flawed policies of the past dictatorial regime of Saddam Al-Hussein, the standard of human development fell after a series of wars that were fought by that regime and the deprivations and siege that Iraq suffered as a result of international sanctions. The situation improved after the political regime changed and once a democratic atmosphere was promoted, particularly with the assistance provided by the United Nations, its specialized agencies and other international organizations.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“The seventieth session of the General Assembly is being held amidst the grave challenges the world is facing on more than one level, especially in fighting terrorism, foremost among which is the terrorism of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Sham (ISIS). We in Iraq stand steadfastly and patiently with the world to ward off the monstrosity of those whose actions affect our country, the region and the world. This is happening, while international efforts continue to strengthen the pillars of peace and security, promote communication among the peoples of the world and attain human development. These efforts are all made under the auspices of the United Nations, which has worked tirelessly to uphold its major pillars of health care, education and raising living standards.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)