By NNN-KUNA,
Washington : U.S. President Barack Obama on Saturday congratulated the Iraqi people on holding “significant” provincial elections, and said it was important that the Iraqi councils get seated, select new governors “and begin work on behalf of the Iraqi people who elected them”.
“Millions of Iraqi citizens from every ethnic and religious group went peacefully to the polls across the country to choose new provincial councils,” Obama said in a statement released by the White House.
The elections were managed and organized by the Iraqi government with help from the United Nations Assistance Mission to Iraq, the President noted.
“Iraqi police and military forces helped secure the polling sites and protected voters as they cast their ballots,” he said. “This important step forward should continue the process of Iraqis taking responsibility for their future”.
The United States is proud to have provided technical assistance, along with the United Nations and other international organizations, to Iraqs Independent High Electoral Commission, “which performed professionally under difficult circumstances,” Obama said.