Dear Comrades and Friends,

I come to you from Iraqi Kurdistan-bringing you greetings from the Kurdish leadership-and a message from our people who hope for your support and solidarity in the struggle for democracy and liberation.
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For Iraqis, our D-Day is at hand. As we watch the military preparations and the game of cat and mouse which the dishonest dictatorship in Baghdad is playing with the UN inspectors, we sense, and we hope, that deliverance is near.

The anticipation and nervousness that must have been felt in Rome nearly 60 years ago is today palpable in Iraq, both in Iraqi Kurdistan, the Free Iraq that was liberated in 1991, and in the areas still under the control of the Ba'athist regime.

In my office in Suleymaniyeh, I meet almost every day some traveller who has come from Baghdad, and other parts of Iraq. Without exception they tell me of the continued suffering inflicted by the Iraqi regime, of the fearful hope secretly nurtured by so many enslaved Iraqis for a free life, for a country where they can think without fear and speak without retribution.

Today, I stand before you not only as a representative of the Kurdish people in Iraq, but also as a messenger for the oppressed peoples of Iraq.

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But, what we Iraqi democrats are hearing from many in Europe is that Iraqis should not ask for outside help to be liberated from tyranny; that the war is for oil; that war is always wrong; that the so-called Arab and Muslim "street" will rise up as one against those who liberate Iraq.

Friends, let me take this opportunity to tell you how misguided such sentiments could be. I know that many of those who believe such things mean well, that some of them are human rights activists who had noticed our plight long ago. I admire the passion of those who organize and demonstrate for their beliefs-it is a right that we have made great sacrifices for.

Sadly, persistence alone cannot rid us of the dictatorship in Baghdad. Instead, we have suffered for over 35 years of Ba'athist rule and over 80 years from the colonially created instability of Iraq.
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Some of the people demonstrating on the streets said that this war is for oil. Iraqis know that their human rights have too often been ignored because Iraqi oil was more important to the world than Iraqi lives. It would be a good irony if at long last oil becomes a cause of our liberation-if this is the case, then so be it. The oil will be a blessing and not the curse that it has been for so long.
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So to those who say "No War", I say, of course "yes", but we can only have "No War" if there is "No Dictatorship" and "No Genocide."

We hear much about Muslim solidarity and the so-called "Arab Street". I know the streets of Baghdad. I can assure you that they will be filled with jubilant Iraqis after the dictator has gone.

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