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The following are excerpts from an interview with Muhammad Majid Al-Sheikh, Iraqi Ambassador to Iran: that was broadcast on Jaam-e-Jam 2 TV on January 18, 2005. The interview was conducted with the help of a Farsi-Arabic translator:
Interviewer: Today's guest is Mr. Muhammad Majid Al-Sheikh, Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iraq to Tehran. Welcome, sir. was I correct in saying, "The Islamic republic of Iraq?" Or is it still just "The Republic of Iraq"?
Muhammad Majid Al-Sheikh: It's still the Republic of Iraq...
Interviewer: Well, I'd like to say that-
Muhammad Majid Al-Sheikh: It is the Republic of Iraq.
Interviewer: Yes, it is still the Republic of Iraq.
In your opinion, will the occupation forces leave Iraq after the elections?
Muhammad Majid Al-Sheikh: I believe that when all measures are taken, when the Iraqi army has been rebuilt, when the Iraqi police has been rebuilt and reorganized, and when the border police announces it is prepared to protect Iraq, we will ask the coalition forces to leave. Today, however, we need them in Iraq. If these forces are not there, Saddam's regime will regain power, and the terrorists will return. You will see.
Interviewer: You just said something important. Is it at all possible that Saddam's regime will return? Perhaps this is a way of frightening the Iraqis: If you don't accept and tolerate the coalition forces, Saddam's regime will return. How can a regime return when it has collapsed to its foundations?
Muhammad Majid Al-Sheikh: As I've told you, the Iraqi army has been dismantled. The Iraqi police has been dismantled. The border police has been dismantled. If these forces are not reorganized, what is left of Saddam's regime will undoubtedly return.
Abu 'Ali, a caller from the US: I'd like to ask the Iraqi ambassador a question. He claims that the Americans will leave Iraq, when they are asked to do so. I think this is a delusion. America came there and has been getting free oil. It occupied a rich country like Iraq. Will it leave just like that? The US sent a million Jews to northern Iraq, and they settled there.
Muhammad Majid Al-Sheikh: I don't know where he got these figures. Where did he get the figure of a million Jews? Where were they? Where are they now? Where did they settle? This is a news item which is unsubstantiated. We have seen many such items in the past.
As for the oil--the oil. All the oil is controlled by the Iraqi government. The oil revenues are controlled by the Iraqi government. All the money is controlled by the Iraqi government. The Americans do not profit from the oil. When the Iraqi government becomes sovereign,“ according to the Security Council resolution, all the revenues will be ours. None of the American and coalition forces deserve these revenues.
A journalist asked me: "No weapons of mass destruction have been found?" I said to him: "Why search for these weapons? Saddam Hussein himself was a WMD for Iraq. He himself committed mass murder in the region.
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