As president of Iraq, I shall strive to represent the diversity of a country that has too often in the past denied difference.

I shall stand for freedom of thought and expression in a place where it has been trampled and penalized.

Trust is for lovers. In politics there are only converging interests.

Iraq is not occupied, but there are foreign forces on its soil, which is different.

Military confrontation is not a suitable alternative in confronting terror and current security threats.

The Kurdish people welcome the no-fly zone protection, contrary to the Iraqi regime that is against it.

Rather, it is through conciliation and compromise that we are building a fair Iraq, a just state for all its peoples.