Official declares Iraq '80 per cent secure' [View All]

[sabra]

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,16621413-38201,00.html

Official declares Iraq '80 per cent secure'


IRAQ'S government has been in talks with the US-led coalition for weeks about taking back responsibility for security, a senior Iraqi official said overnight, claiming 80 per cent of the troubled country was now safe.

The comments, by national security adviser Muwaffaq Rubaie, came against a backdrop of suicide car bombs that have left more than 170 people dead in two days.
Security adviser Mr Rubaieinsisted such attacks were the exception and about 80 per cent of the country was stable.

"We feel that some of the areas, urban areas, small towns and cities, are ready for the Iraqi security services to assume responsibility for security," he said.

"Eighty per cent of the country is secure, and there is no problem at all. It is only the 20 per cent which are the hotspots," he said.