For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
May 17, 2004

Statement by the President

On behalf of the American people, I condemn the brutal act of terrorism against Iraqi Governing Council President Izzedin Saleem and several Iraqi citizens. Mr. Saleem was a man of courage who risked his life in pursuit of a free, democratic, and prosperous Iraq. I offer our deepest condolences to the victims' families. I pray that God may give them strength in this hour of grief.

On June 30, the flag of a free Iraq will be raised, and Iraq's new interim government will assume sovereign authority. The terrorists know that a free Iraq will be a major defeat for the cause of terror, so they are trying to shake our confidence and will. The terrorists have found little support among the Iraqi people. The vast majority of Iraqi people want a free society. And the terrorists will find no success in their attempts to shake the will of America and our coalition.

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