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(Translated from Arabic)
Massud Barzani current President of the Governing Council: First we welcome Lakhdar Brahimi and his delegation and the Iraqi people welcome him as well. The Governing Council has been listening to his valuable observations. There will be close cooperation between the Governing Council specialized committees and Brahimi and the accompanying delegation and I, personally, am happy to extend every cooperation to him and wish him every success in his mission.
Question: Did you discuss the security situation?
Massud Barzani: Discussions with the United Nations focused on the question of elections and the transfer of power. This was an initial meeting, Brahimi will need some time to conduct consultations with all the parties both in the Governing Council and outside the Governing Council.
Question: Mr. Brahimi do you have an agenda for this visit?
Lakhdar Brahimi: First. I thank his Excellency the President of the Governing Council , Barzani, for this warm welcome and the brotherly atmosphere that was accorded to us today. We had a long talk about the mission which we are undertaking. This mission was defined in the letter from the Secretary General to the Governing Council’s President which can be summarized in two points:
This is the first step in this long journey, which "inch' Allah", God willing, will lead, in the end, to the formation of this government on schedule and to the well-prepared elections which will enable the Iraqi people to have a government that is elected through transparent, democratic elections. These will be steps towards the restoration of peace and stability which the Iraqi people need and aspire to.
Question: Will you be meeting personalities like Grand Ayatollah Sistani and others?
Lakhdar Brahimi: We will meet all the personalities that wish to contribute to this effort and wish to meet with us. We are the United Nations and the doors of the United Nations are open to all.