BAGHDAD, Nov 3 (AFP) - No change in the White House would be good news for Iraq and bad news for terrorism, Iraqi officials in the US-backed interim government said Wednesday, while warning that many challenges remained.
Big mistakes had been made by incumbent President George W. Bush following his landmark decision to invade Iraq and bring down Saddam Hussein, they said.
But a new, inexperienced US team under Democratic challenger Senator John Kerry would be worse than maintaining the status quo, the officials said, noting that Bush had promised to finish the "war on terror" that he started.
"We know that Bush has an overall vision for Iraq, he overthrew Saddam Hussein and liberated the country and I think he wants to see the job done," said Muwaffaq al-Rubaie, a special advisor to the interim government.
"Bush has a commitment towards Iraq and I think his re-election would be good news for Iraq and bad news for the terrorists," he told AFP.
Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said he hoped nothing would change in the role the US-led coalition played in Iraq whoever won the presidential race.
"Whoever is the winner will be our friend. The United States has liberated us from a dictator and a very long period of war and agony," Allawi told an Italian newspaper ahead of a visit to Italy Thursday.
"We thank America for everything it has done and continues to do," he said in the daily La Repubblica.
For his part, Iraqi Planning Minister Mehdi al-Hafez called for a "new phase" in Iraqi-US ties as Bush grabbed a firm lead.
"We hope that US-Iraqi relations will serve our common interests and hope for a new phase in ties that will see an end to all the negative aspects of many issues" in Iraq, Hafez told reporters while on a visit to Amman.
Nasser Chaderchi, a high-profile Sunni Muslim politician and member of the interm Iraqi parliament, welcomed the news that Bush looked the likely victor.
"Iraq needs help and Bush is the only person who is able to do the job," he said, noting that Kerry was a bit of an unknown entity.
"We know Bush's politics and yes, he has committed many errors, but we hope he will correct them after he is re-elected."
Ammar al-Saffar, Iraq's deputy health minister and a senior member of the Shiite Muslim DAWA party, was slightly more guarded about the likelihood of another four years of Bush.
"If Bush wins, he will face many challenges in the Arab world," he said.
"First of all, he will have to show the whole world a level of authenticity in terms of his declared policy on Iraq and his intentions to build a new model of a real democracy here and the Middle East as a whole," Saffar told AFP.
"Another thing regarding Iraq will be the issue of pulling out foreign troops as soon as the situation here stabilises."
11/03/2004 15:09 GMT - AFP