Kurdish Deputy Prime Minister: Things were worse under Saddam

[sabra]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aBT8wW6nTiYI&refer=us

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Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh, a Kurd, told reporters at the Pentagon that while problems faced by Iraqis are serious, ``they pale in comparison to the tyranny and the horrors'' endured under Hussein's regime.

``I don't want to tell you that things are rosy in Iraq. They are not.'' he said during a televised briefing. ``The important thing is that the mainstream Iraqi leadership are aware of the challenges.''

The Iraqi government is committed and determined to create ``the real political equilibrium that will sustain stability,'' Saleh said, listing several measures being introduced to help get the country on track.

By the end of the year Iraq should pass an oil bill, so that ``instead of oil being a resource that we will fight over, we very much hope -- and we are confident that we will get to that - - that we will turn it into a resource that will unify Iraqis,'' Saleh said.