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Cheer in Iraq, Iran over Rumsfeld exit

Atul Aneja

"Downfall reflects America's defeat"

DUBAI: A large section of Iraqis have welcomed the resignation of U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, one of the key architects of the war in Iraq.

Mohammed Dayini, a spokesman for the Sunni National Dialogue Council, said Mr. Rumsfeld should have resigned much earlier. "He is the one responsible for the criminal acts at Abu Ghraib and the thousands of innocent Iraqis who have died at the hands of the US," he said.

Ibrahim Ali an oil ministry employee was quoted as saying that Mr. Rumsfeld's resignation meant "efforts by American politicians to hide their failure are no longer working." Hamid Al-Mutlaq, another Sunni politician observed that Mr. Rumsfeld's departure showed that the downfall of the architects of the U.S. invasion of Iraq had begun.

However, some members of the Iraqi Government were taken aback by the Defence Secretary's resignation.

Ali Dabbagh, the Iraqi Government spokesman, said he was "shocked" to hear this news. However, he added that "Whether it is Republicans or Democrats, Secretary Rumsfeld or someone else, we have received the assurances that the U.S. government will continue to work with Iraq for our countries' common goals."

In neighbouring Iran, state radio described Mr. Rumsfeld as a "symbol of stupidity and unilateralism."

It said that his downfall reflected "America's defeat in Iraq, the end of the era of neo-conservatives and the failure of America's war policy — of which Rumsfeld was the architect."

Expressing some optimism, Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, hoped that the changes in the U.S. Congress "might soften the U.S. warmongering policy in the region." The hardline Iranian daily Keyhan said in an editorial that "the victory of the Democrats means the Bush administration will be forced to tread cautiously, instead of waging war around the globe."

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