U.S. Visits
On December 4, 2006, al-Hakim met with George W. Bush whereat he made a commitment to help end violence,
| “ | We have gone a long way to establish a democratic and pluralistic society in Iraq ... We ... a government that deals and will deal with all the sources of terrorism regardless where they come from. | ” |
Al-Hakim also gave his assessment of the situation in Iraq:
| “ | The Iraqi situation has been subjected to a great deal of defamation, and the true picture is not being presented in order to show a dark side of what's happening in Iraq. We see the attempts to defame and distort the situation in Iraq not taking into consideration the democratic steps that that country has taken, writing the constitution and establishing a state that depends heavily on the constitution, that it is unified and that it is strong. There are attempts to show the sectarian strife in an attempt to weaken the position in Iraq. | ” |
On December 5, 2006, on behalf of The Catholic University of America and American University's Center for Global Peace, he spoke at the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center. The title of his speech was "Freedom and Tolerance in Shi'a Islam and the Future of Iraq". Notable guests at this event included Archbishop Donald Wuerl of Washington, D.C. and Rabbi Professor Ephraim Isaac from the Institute of Semitic Studies in Princeton, New Jersey.
Read more about this topic: Abdul Aziz Al-Hakim
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