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

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

We must acknowledge that for scores of years the Iraqis have offered martyrs and victims but have not been able to change the regime.

The justice of our cause must be reflected in the manner in which we rectify the crimes of the past.

All I wanted was to be a university teacher.

We need to make a distinction between misled Iraqis, those who believe that they are carrying weapons to liberate Iraq from what they call occupation, and criminal gangs that came from outside and wants to wage a deadly war on the Iraqi people, killing women and children in mosques and churches.

Our plan is to struggle against terrorism and have security for the country and help draft a democratic constitution as soon as possible.