(20 May 2007)
Basra
1. Wide, exterior, British military base, AUDIO: sirens and explosion
Basra
2. SOUNDBITE: (English), Tony Blair, British Prime Minister:
"What you are doing here is of fundamental importance to the whole future, not just of Iraq, but of the wider region and the wider world. And if we don't sort this region out, then there is in my view a very troubled and difficult future for the world ahead of us."
Basra
3. Pan to close up of British Prime Minister, Tony Blair
4. Close up of soldier
5. Blair at table with troops (++PART MUTE++)
Baghdad
6. Blair greeted by Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki
7. Zoom-in to Blair and al-Maliki holding talks
8. Pan from Blair to al-Maliki in talks
9. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and al-Maliki walking towards news conference
Baghdad
10. Blair, al-Maliki and Talabani entering news conference
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Tony Blair, British Prime Minister:
"I have no doubt at all that Britain will remain steadfast in its support for Iraq, for the Iraqi people and for the Iraqi government as it tries to make sure that it overcomes the threat of terrorism and continues to make progress. The policy that I pursued is a policy for the whole of the government, so even when I leave office I am sure that that steadfast support will continue."
12. Cutaway of news conference
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Jalal Talabani, Iraqi President
"If you look to all Iraq, the situation is improving. A place like Anbar is now mainly liberated from terrorism. In other places people are cooperating with security forces. Kurdistan is calm and quite secure. The south is also. So even if you look to the car bombs, which were used in Baghdad, the number was from 10-14 before now it is daily two or three. And if you look to Baghdad, the eastern part of Tigris is totally liberated from terrorist activities. And in the western part also many good steps have been done for the section and places."
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Tony Blair, British Prime Minister:
"Every time there is an attempt to make progress, of course the terrorists redouble their efforts and our response should not be then to walk away or to give in. It should be to stand up to them. Because they don't represent the true will of the Iraqi people, these people do (indicating Talabani and al-Maliki). They were elected. You can't just write them out of the picture and say they don't have a voice."
(Journalist: I am not writing them out of the picture.)
"Hang on a minute. Let's just wait and see today, when he talks on behalf of Iraq and when he talks on behalf of Iraq (indicating Talabani and al-Maliki) how much that is covered as having some authentic voice of what is actually happening here. Because these guys are facing this danger every single day all the time. But they are not giving in in the face of it, they are standing up to it. And we should be standing up to it."
15. Cutaway of news conference
16. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Nouri al-Maliki, Iraqi Prime Minister:
"If people only knew the extent of the support (the insurgents were receiving from forces outside of Iraq) they would know just how much the Iraqi government has achieved in curbing the insurgency and rising up to the challenge of cutting off support given to terrorists both internally and externally. What they (insurgents) are doing now is nothing compared to what they had planned for the destruction of the political process in Iraq."
Baghdad
17. Cutaway of news conference
18. SOUNDBITE (English) Tony Blair, British Prime Minister:
(Journalist: So, no regrets then about removing Saddam?)
Baghdad
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