President denounces Kirkuk blast

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Iraqi President Jalal Talabani denounced Thursday’s suicide blast that left dozens of people killed or wounded in Kirkuk, pledging “terrorists will never be able to spoil the security achievements made or undermine national unity,” according to a presidential statement. “With heartfelt grief, we have received news of the death and injury of a large number of innocent citizens in a cowardly terrorist operation that targeted a crowded restaurant on the Kirkuk-Arbil highway,” Talabani was quoted as saying in the statement received by IraqiNews.com. “As we vehemently condemn this heinous terrorist operation perpetrated by the vanquished terrorist remnants, we stress for our great Iraqi people, particularly the steadfast residents of Kirkuk, that terrorists will never be able to upset the fantastic security achievements made all over the country’s provinces,” Talabani said. “Neither can the terrorists undermine the Iraqi national unity and the march of peaceful coexistence that is hundreds of years old among the diverse population in Kirkuk,” he added. Talabani had arrived in Kirkuk on Thursday afternoon. His visit was preceded by a deadly suicide blast inside a restaurant that left about 150 people killed or wounded. The oil-rich city of Kirkuk, a potpourri of Sunni, Shiite, Kurdish and Turcoman population, lies 250 km northeast of the Iraqi capital Baghdad. AmR (S) 1