Afghanistan's Karzai welcomes Talabani's election as Iraqi president

KABUL - Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Wednesday congratulated former Kurdish fighter Jalal Talabani on his election as president of Iraq, a palace statement said.
"I am pleased that Iraq is taking a further step towards a strengthened democracy," it quoted Karzai as saying.
"I congratulate President Talabani, and the Afghan people join me today in congratulating the Iraqi people on the election of their new President," Karzai said.
Iraq's parliament on Wednesday chose Talabani as the country's first freely elected president, paving the way for the creation of a government more than two months after landmark elections.
The choice of Talabani by the 275-seat assembly is considered a major political victory for the long-suffering Kurdish minority in Iraq, which was violently oppressed under ousted dictator Saddam Hussein.

04/06/2005 15:09 GMT