British Prime Minister Tony Blairon Tuesday expressed his hope that all Iraqis would take part in the Jan. 30 elections since the country was facing a "battle between democracy and terror."
"I hope it goes ahead on an inclusive basis," Blair, who arrived here on a surprise visit to the country earlier Tuesday, told reporters in a joint press conference with the interim Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.
"Whatever people’s feelings and beliefs about the removal of Saddam Hussein, and the wisdom of that, there surely is only one side to be on in what is now very clearly a battle between democracy and terror," Blair said.
"I think that everyone understands there will be violence that will continue even after the election... On the other hand we will have a very clear expression of democratic will," he added.
For his part, Allawi said his government was committed toholding the elections as scheduled on Jan. 30, 2005, despite calls for a postponement due to surging violence in parts of the country.
"We have always expected that the violence would increase as we approach the elections," Allawi said.
"We now are on the verge, for the first time in history, of having democracy in action in this country," he added. Blair’s visit to Baghdad was the first since the topple of Saddam in April 2003 and the third to Iraq after he visited the British troops stationed around the southern Iraqi city of Basra inmid-2003 and in January 2004.
