World Reactions
This is a day of great hope for Iraqis and a day that terrorist enemies hoped never to see...Their bombs and attacks have not prevented Iraqi sovereignty and they will not prevent Iraqi democracy.
US President George W Bush
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Today's obviously an important staging post on the journey of the people of Iraq towards a new future - one in which democracy replaces dictatorship, where freedom replaces oppression and in which all the people of Iraq can look forward to the possibility and the hope of an Iraq that genuinely unites, a future for people from whatever part of Iraq they come.
UK Prime Minister Tony Blair
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It is an important move forward in implementing Resolution 1546 of the UN Security Council which provides for the restoration of Iraq's sovereignty. Russia was insisting on the earliest possible handover of sovereignty... The security situation in Iraq is deteriorating, and the Iraqi government's decision to conduct a quicker transfer of power is aimed at demonstrating that the country's sovereignty is being restored and at calming those who strongly insist that the occupation of Iraq be ended.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
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We have taken note of this step, naturally. The transfer of sovereignty is an event which was expected and is significant. It is a stage in the political process which will continue until 2005... Further stages will follow, in which France wishes success to the interim government and the people of Iraq.
French presidency
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We have always made clear that we are interested in an early transition of sovereignty... Now that it has happened earlier I can only welcome it.
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder
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The Spanish government does not plan any participation in the process under way in Iraq... We hope - as I have said on many occasions, in a very difficult process as the facts demonstrate every day - that sovereignty will be regained [and] that territorial integrity will be upheld.
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero
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I very much welcome the bringing forward of the handover. It was a sensible thing to do, given the security position. There's no reason why it shouldn't have taken place a couple of days earlier. I congratulate the people of Iraq for the act of faith in a democratic future that is involved in this historic handover. They will need our help and our support.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard
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Even if it is partial, the transfer of authority to the Iraqis is very good. The fact that this took place ahead of schedule was also significant. Now, it should be everyone's duty to support the Iraqi government. The Iraqi government should be able to exercise sovereignty in the real sense of the word. All countries should assist in this.
Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul
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This is an important event in Iraq's political transitional process. We express congratulations to the Iraqi people and hope that the Iraqi interim government will unite all the Iraqi people in stabilising the security situation with the help of the international community - including the United Nations - in pushing forward Iraq's political transitional process, in achieving the goal of "Iraqis administering Iraq" as early as possible, and in making joint efforts to build an independent, peaceful and prosperous Iraq.
Chinese foreign ministry
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The South Korean government evaluates the 28 June handover of sovereignty to Iraq as very significant progress for an early normalization of the situation in Iraq and welcomes it... Our government hopes that various political schedules in Iraq will move ahead smoothly so that a legitimate sovereign government, chosen by the Iraqi people, will be established successfully.
South Korean foreign ministry
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Today, a government of Iraqis was established by Iraqi people in Iraq... Japan will continue its own reconstruction support.
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi
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We welcome any move that will give sovereignty back to the majority of the Iraqi people and ends the occupation of our neighbour. We hope this is a step in this direction and will lead to a government based on the opinion of the Iraqi people.
Iranian government
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We are pleased with the transfer of power to the Iraqi people... Kuwait is ready to give Iraq any sort of help to recover its stability.
Kuwaiti Prime Minister Shaykh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah
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The unity of the Iraqi people at this stage is the only guarantee to prevent those who try to destabilize the security and stability of Iraq.
Jordanian King Abdallah II
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Despite all problems facing the new Iraqi leadership and the opposition by forces that want to push the Iraqi people into the chaos of lawlessness and a fratricidal domestic conflict, this historic moment is already a fact... The handover of power is just one important element of the plan for the political transition. Bulgaria will continue to help the Iraqi people in this historical transition period.
Bulgarian foreign ministry