[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 21 (Monday, May 24, 2004)]
[Page 913]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on the Death of Iraqi Governing Council President
Izz al-Din al-Salim

May 17, 2004

    On behalf of the American people, I condemn the brutal act of 
terrorism against Iraqi Governing Council President Izz al-Din al-Salim 
and several Iraqi citizens. Mr. Salim 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.