Interfax's Interview

 "I disagree with those who think that those criminals' execution will make the security situation worse. On the contrary, this was something the Iraqi people had been waiting for. This will ease strains and promote reconciliation," the ambassador said.

Hussein was hung on December 30, 2006, and two of his co-defendants - his half-brother and former Iraqi security chief Barzan Ibrahim, and former head of the Iraqi revolutionary tribunal Awad Hamed al-Bandar - were executed on Monday, January 15.

Meanwhile, spokesman of the Russian Foreign Ministry Mikhail Kamynin told Interfax on Monday that "The execution of Hussein's nearest associates, like the execution of Hussein, as we said earlier, is not strengthening the country's stability."

The court's verdict for Hussein was fair and based on the law. "The Iraqi people had asked to execute him," the ambassador added.

Speaking about the de-Baathification law, the ambassador said, "This paved the way for reconciliation among the Iraqi people. The execution of Hussein and his associates responsible for crimes will alleviate tensions in Iraq".

Had Hussein and his co-defendants remained alive, this would have hobbled the political process in Iraq, the ambassador said.

At the same time, "Iraq is in an emergency situation now, it is suffering from domestic terrorism, which is sponsored from abroad, both financially and by providing fighters with means," Hashim Mostafa said. "These terrorist actions are aimed both against Iraq and against its friends," he added.

The names of organizations involved in terrorist attacks in Iraq are published every day, the diplomat said. "Spain recently published the name of an organization that trained guerrillas and sent them to Iraq. Algeria has seized eight people who were preparing to commit terrorist attacks in Iraq. France has made public a terrorist network acting in Iraq," he said.

In this connection, the Iraqi government is against all foreign armed forces leaving Iraq because this would be dangerous, the high-ranking diplomat said.

Both the Iraqi and the American military believes a buildup in the numbers of foreign troops in Iraq may be conducive to peace, he said commenting on the recently proposed 20,000 increase in the number of U.S. troops in Iraq.

This is the first strategy since the start of the Iraqi war the authors of which include the Iraqi government, he said.

U.S. President George W. Bush said for the first time last week that the United States had made mistakes in Iraq, Hashem Mustafa said. The reason for those mistakes was that the United States had not sought approval for its moves from the Iraqis, the ambassador said.

As part of the new strategy, security in Iraq is mainly a task for Iraqi troops though foreign troops are to support them, he said, adding that one other new goal set by the strategy is to get Iraq's neighbors involved in seeking a peaceful settlement.

It will be impossible to put together a schedule for the withdrawal of foreign troops, but such a schedule will be drawn up eventually because it is the ultimate goal of the Iraqis that all foreign armed forces should leave the country, the ambassador said.

Iraq's ambassador also admitted that Iran and Syria do influence processes in Iraq, but said that Baghdad is seeking to build friendly relations with its neighbors.

"Our strategic goal in relation to Iraq's neighbors is to stop fighting with them. Saddam Hussein's policy was the reason for Iraq's hostile relations with its neighbors. We are trying to build good relations with the neighboring countries based on mutual assistance, without external interference, and we hope that our neighbors will pursue the same policy," he said.

"We should agree that Iran and Syria are influencing the situation in Iraq. They do, but not always. There is also influence on the part of Jordan and Saudi Arabia. The official positions of the governments of the neighboring countries are based on the presumption that the Iraqi people are entitled to elect their government themselves. However, there are also people's positions, which differ from the governments' positions. There are forces supporting the mujahedeen. These forces can even be called terrorist, as they are called in Russia, particularly in Chechnya," he said.

Asked how the Iranian president's recent visits to Tehran and Damascus go along with Washington's accusations that these countries are destabilizing the situation in Iraq, the diplomat said, "This proves that there is an U.S. policy and an Iraqi policy in Iraq. The Americans have their policy both inside Iraq and in the Middle East and throughout the world. We all remember how George W. Bush included Syria, Iran, and North Korea in his axis of evil, but I am not in a position to comment on this," he said.

The ambassador dismissed the notion that Iraq’s neighbors influence developments in the country along confessional principles. “Some say so, considering that Iran, being a Shiite state back Shiites in Iraq, while Syria and Saudi Arabia supports Sunnis in the country. I do not think it is so,” he said, adding that the current Iraqi president is a Kurd, and members of the government and the parliament represent all ethnic groups in Iraq.

Speaking about the search for criminals, who killed five employees of the Russian embassy to Iraq, Hashim Mostafa said that "As far as I know, the investigation into the tragedy involving the Russian Embassy workers in Iraq is ongoing. The Russian authorities have also been invited to join it."

The diplomat once again said he regretted the incident in which the Russian Embassy building in Baghdad was fired upon last week. "The Iraqi authorities have made a lot of efforts and will do all they can to protect the Russian Embassy and other foreign diplomatic missions," he said.

"We understand what life in Baghdad is like now. Russian Ambassador to Iraq Vladimir Chamov is my colleague and a good friend. We frequently speak on the telephone. We meet every time he comes to Moscow. During Vladimir Chamov's last meeting with Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, the Russian ambassador described the embassy building's security as efficient. The Iraqi Foreign Ministry then also proposed additional assistance in providing security to the diplomatic mission," he said.

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