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The letter reads, in particular:

“First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude for the words of condolence expressed in your letter regarding the inhuman terrorist acts committed against Russia.

Your warm words of sympathy have all the more meaning as the Iraqi people has felt the full force of the consequences of terrorism over the last year – terrorism is killing and wounding dozens of people every day, is destroying the country’s social and economic infrastructure and even the very foundations of society.

I fully agree with your conviction that we can and must fight terrorism only by uniting the forces and resources of the entire international community. We have called on many occasions and continue to call on all countries to adopt a joint action plan that will enable us to nip this universal evil in the bud and eliminate the conditions that allow it to develop.

I firmly believe, therefore, that Iraq, which is also fighting international terrorism, should receive the active and effective support of all civilised countries and I reaffirm our willingness to cooperate in every way in this area.

It is our view that actively pursuing the political settlement process and achieving constructive cooperation between all the country’s leading political forces that reject terrorist methods would help bring about rapid normalisation of the situation in Iraq. At the same time, the international community needs to mobilise additional resources to support the work undertaken by the Iraqi Interim Government. These are the objectives pursued by Russia’s initiative to call an international conference on Iraq.

Our peoples are bound by longstanding traditions of friendship and cooperation. Russian specialists were directly involved in establishing and developing basic sectors of the Iraqi economy and acquired unique experience working in your country.

In this respect I fully share your view that Russia should play an important part in Iraq’s economic rebuilding.”