NICE, France, Feb 9 (AFP) - US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld predicted Wednesday that elections in Iraq will result in a moderate leadership even though the transition to democracy will be tough.
"And we need moderate Muslim leadership in this world to help in this struggle against extremism," Rumsfeld told US sailors in a speech aboard the USS O'Bannon, a destroyer anchored off this resort on the French Riviera.
"We now have (President Pervez) Musharraf in Pakistan, we have Mr (Hamid) Karzai and his team in Afghanistan. We'll have new leadership in Iraq that will be moderate Muslim leadership in my view," he said.
Rumsfeld arrived here earlier for an informal meeting of NATO defense ministers Thursday at which he is expected to appeal for more help from European allies in Iraq now that the country has held elections.
"I wish I could assure that everything is going to turn out well," he told the sailors. "But I can't."
"I suspect there are going to be more people killed, that there will be more difficulties, that it will be a bumpy road, a tough road," he said.
He said transitions to democracy from dictatorships or authoritarian regimes have never been smooth.
But, he said, "instead of talking about killing people... what is happening in Iraq today is politics."
"People are talking, they are discussing, they are wondering who got the most votes, they are wondering who ought to be the president, who ought to be the deputy president and who might be prime minister," he said.
"They are discussing how to reach out to the Sunnis who didn't participte fully in the elections to make sure they have a single country," he said.
02/09/2005 13:57 GMT - AFP