 Good afternoon everyone. My name is Nancy Lindbergh. I'm the president of the United States Institute of Peace and Welcome everybody. I'm delighted that you're able to join us here today For those of you visiting for the first time US Institute of Peace was founded by our Congress in 1984 dedicated to the proposition that peace is possible that it's very practical and it's essential for security and we work with partners around the world to provide peoples organizations governments with the kind of very practical tools and approaches to resolve and prevent violent conflict a Couple of very quick housekeeping notes first our speaker today will be speaking in Arabic Please make sure that if you need a headset you are turned to channel one To listen to English and channel six to listen in Arabic Secondly if you are active on social media Please use our Twitter hashtag hashtag Jaburi US IP which you also see on the screen behind me Mr. Speaker Welcome back Thank you for being here with us during your visit to Washington We are honored to host you once again here at US IP Also, I'd like to welcome ambassador Yassin. It's always great to have you here with us at US IP And especially at this moment because after years of conflict Iraq is poised for its new stage in the next Trajectory as a new democracy, so we congratulate the Iraqi people the Iraqi government the Kurdistan regional government on the very important progress to eliminate ISIS from their country this Also progress on returning displaced families home and on providing safety and security for the Iraqi people and I think as we all know these are critically important military defeats and it also opens the door to a number of additional challenges as Iraq prepares for parliamentary elections this spring We have the importance of having ongoing dialogues between the Kurdish regional government and Baghdad Over territories in northern Iraq There's the challenge of the presence of sectarian militias is still in many liberated areas and the continued displacement of thousands of families All of these present important challenges going forward And there is simply the imperative of creating confidence in them in the minds of the Iraqi people That next year's election will be free and fair and it will be an opportunity really to determine the country They all want It's the opportunity to show that progress is possible for peace with all of Iraq's people the she is the Sunnis the Kurds the minorities that it is possible and practical It's also a very important time for the United States government and all of Iraq's international partners to continue essential engagement with Iraq to help ensure the safety and legitimacy of the upcoming elections and Continue to support those development initiatives that foster peaceful coexistence US Institute of Peace has been working in Iraq since 2003 with the goal of bolstering the abilities of Iraqis to halt communal violence to save lives to build Social cohesion and over the last decade US Institute of Peace has supported dialogue initiatives that bring people together across divides and forge sustainable agreements to stem the tide of violence and conflict at the local level in their communities and the results of these initiatives have provided the safety and security that have allowed Thousands of Iraqis to return to their homes already. So today USIP is working with leaders from liberated areas across Iraq including in Hawija Talifar Bartala to ensure Sustainable and inclusive security for their populations And we also work with Iraq Iraq's minority communities to strengthen their participation in decisions that affect their safety Their rights and their inclusion as an integral part of Iraqi society Mr. Speaker USIP remains committed to working with you with the Iraqi government and with the people of the of Iraq as you create Innovative and effective solutions facing to the obstacles that are facing your country Ladies and gentlemen, we are honored to have his Excellency speaker Salim Al-Jaboury With us here today and Dr. Al-Jaboury has devoted much of his career in the service of his country He was first elected a member of Parliament in 2005 Where he served as chairman of the human rights and legal committees Dr. Al-Jaboury was elected speaker of the Iraqi Parliament in July 2014 After having served in Parliament for nearly a decade He's a former law professor and one of the most prominent Sunni leaders in Iraq We're delighted to have you back for a second time to US Institute of Peace Everyone, please welcome me in join in please join me in welcoming Speaker of the Iraq Council of Representatives dr. Salim Al-Jaboury In the name of Allah, I Would like to thank USIP For their kind invitation and for their efforts that exerted in Iraq during difficult Conditions in Iraq Especially with the sensitive Issue they are dealing with the national reconciliation in a very complicated areas in Iraq with our Tallafar and Yathrib and other Areas, we are very grateful and thankful for USIP and we would like to express our willingness to continue this partnership I Would like to thank USIP for their kind invitation and I wish today's discussion Will come with a mutual understanding that serve the mutual interests of Our countries and the humanity at large. It is imperative to listen to your views And valuable advice. I would like to seize these minutes to give you some thoughts As an introduction to open a window for deep dialogue regarding the serious issues that politicians and decision makers Should seriously examine and arrive with mature solutions for the present problems Two years ago, we met here and discussed a couple of issues. I Still remember that I said that the solution For Iraq starts with the Establishment of a civil state and in neutralize the any arms possessed beyond the arms and the Constitution Let us start with the military side where our soldiers are fighting Iraqi army is a close to finalize combat operations against ISIS and their alleged state That possessed a territory an army and an entity We can say that ISIS has been eliminated as a geographical entity Thanks to the profession that Iraqi army fought with and the advice and assistance Iraq received for for from the United States led coalition. It is a true that our country Wouldn't have been able to overcome this crisis without the US led international support Neither would have the Iraqi army survived Nevertheless the military victory is not enough alone to confront terrorism It should be accompanied by political victory starts with the treating the causes that led to the appearance of ISIS Now is the time to begin a nationwide campaign to confront extremist thought and sectarianism by activating educational institutions attracting the youth concentrating on achieving comprehensive stability and promoting national reconciliation Peaceful coexistence the return of the IDPs and tackling the economy development and investment in the areas affected by terrorism We had successful meetings with officials from the World Bank and the IMF and Explained to them how important it is to support Iraq to activate governing and Support the stability and approving the legislations that fight terrorism and support the private sector I believe that the next phase in fighting ISIS will be harder Not for Iraqis who gained battlefield experience to counter especially organized surprise attacks But the difficulty is for the remaining countries That suffer terror attacks targeting public institutions and the civilians. I Believe that their threat will grow more Because as you know, this terror entity has adopted the lonely wolves technique as a fighting Strategy to target more civilians and cause as lethal attacks as possible as a means of a pressure on the Western world to manifest the strength of the terror organization and its Existence and brutality the next phase in Iraq does not require more arming and the training as much as an open mentality and to adopt coexistence and protect the diversity and Winning the hearts of the people and convince them of peace and the necessity of supporting stability These requirements possibly will not need more financially funded programs, but Educational reinforcement that to protect the society from extremism in all its forms and rejects sectarianism and ethnic propaganda To win the voices of the frightened and those who are worried about their future Because of fearing the other that he claimed by the benefited Allow me to say that the international community is Responsible of supporting us in this effort and facilitate the tools for its achievement We are facing a serious problem in the next stage where weapons are spread among the community and The society get metallurized due to the confrontation done by the Iraqi community Engaged in this historical confrontation Today we are close to the end of this war but facing other challenges and Responsibilities stated in the Iraqi constitution that is ending weapons positions outside the state control and Preventing these weapons to affect the elections which are supposed the elections to be civil democratic participation While we appreciate the great sacrifices of all our fighters We are facing the challenging of insuring stipends and arming of these fighters in addition to ensuring the appreciation these fighters deserve as The threat of ISIS started to fade and while we were about to start a new phase of Stabilization and reconstruction We faced another serious a problem that is threatened the unity of Iraq And it was no less dangerous than the crisis of terror confrontation The conditions got complicated to an extent. We never hoped for a Loving part of the homeland was about to vote for cessation. I Personally Endevoured to contain this crisis and I engaged in a detailed talks between Baghdad and Erbil before the referendum I Believe the solution starts Where we all believe an unconditional unconditioned dialogue from either side. I believe that Erbil is more realistic today an accepting dialogue as Well as Baghdad that recognize how important is that The containment all the Iraqi components including the city's hit by terror is a great opportunity For the state in the meantime they represent serious danger on the state if the Iraqi authority adopted the idea of Containing and supporting the Iraqi communities that possess the real power and looking for stability and accelerate the construction and job creation Job creation plans and moving with the national reconciliation faster in the liberated areas The Iraqi people living there will be a perfect opportunity to build real security and stability Capable of confronting the terrorist sleeping cells and end these cells and understand the hard lessons if Marginalization and diminishing policies were adopted again The terrorist groups will use the IDPs and those who lost their loved ones and Properties as a new material for recruitment by mobilizing Secretarianism and promoting the spirit of hatred and revenge The case of IDPs can turn into a serious problem if it is not solved very soon It is imperative to work on their return a quickly without conditions Any demographic change will complicate the national reconciliation and eventually end our hopes of stability. I Believe we ladies and gentlemen. I believe we have an opportunity To invest in the role of the youth and women in these areas to achieve stability Which relies on three factors? first the return of the IDPs The start of the reconstruction third supporting and reinforcing social diversity and coexistence between peoples in single areas Confront any cultural any culture of isolate isolating components or Demographic changes targeting specific group Moreover, it is very important to perform a real political reform where we can achieve Decentralizing decentralization and these governor race as the constitution states Elections cannot be held unless the tools necessary for its success are available We are withholding the elections within the legal and constitutional timing Yet we reiterate that there are serious and important priorities Need to be fulfilled promptly before it is too late These priorities are the return of the IDPs Achieving stability for them to ensure widest participation of all Iraqi components in the elections Iraqi people have suffered a lot and deserve a better life for the sacrifices they made In a brief we have any brief we have a great opportunity to achieve stability that all the region can enjoy But this will not happen without the help of Iraq's a friend eliminating terrorism in all its titles is that is an objective and Those who are calling for sectarianism and division must be confronted a Promoting democracy principles believing in the principle of the state and preventing any Regional country or regional power for manipulating Iraq internal affairs We are against any negative interference that target the social fabric of the country Iraq recently started initiative to engage a more In public diplomacy with the Arab countries and we are on the road to maintain our sovereignty and engage in bilateral relations based on mutual interest with all countries in the region it is important to for Iraq to be an example For investment and stability buildings the problems that Iraq is Facing can reflect negatively on the region unless they are treated in the meantime if there is a type of stability And an a international aid to Iraq all positive effects will reflect in the region And we can achieve a kind of stability To Iraq and the region this is our message that we delivered to all the officials What are in the White House and the Congress? That the United States within the international coalition as the United States helped Iraq in the campaign against ISIS the United States can apply a great role in contributing to Iraqi reconstruction Would you care to take the stage? Mr. Speaker, thank you for your opening remarks and to addressing the US Institute of Peace for the second time We welcome you back My name is Michael Yaffe. I am the vice president for Middle East and Africa programs here at the Institute And I have the honor to continue the dialogue with you One set of housekeeping is that I will begin by asking a couple questions to you And then we were open to have the audience pose questions We are asking you to do that by writing them down and then passing them to the sites where they will be brought forward to me And I will read them to you Let me begin by Talking more about what it means For Iraq in the context of the defeat of ISIS You have been speaker of the council representatives since 2014 and During that time we saw the expansion of ISIS and then we saw the defeat of ISIS You you talked a lot and your opening remarks about Notions of moving Iraq on a domestic agenda, but I'm still curious to know what the council is going to do in terms of solidifying the defeat of ISIS how it will help the military what happens to the Papua mobilization forces How do you see the agenda of these particularly going forward into the May? 2018 elections Shukran Thank you very much on June 10th ISIS started Targeting targeting Iraq the Iraqi Parliament started started in 20 on July 1st There was a public concern about what's happening in Iraq and that Iraq was occupied by extremists and Terst and the forces of ISIS arrived at the outskirts of Baghdad And they were very close to to enter Baghdad and people started complaining Why the government the Parliament is active and what is the use of the Parliament? We had a challenge to prove everybody That if we want to clear Iraq from ISIS, we should continue work. We should have the desire and the willing to adopt practical steps and And take the steps Towards the reform of Iraq and this way we can get rid of ISIS if we compare Iraq's today and the beginning of our Parliament term in July 1st 2014 3rd of Iraq was occupied by ISIS today. It's liberated Due to the efforts first the the Iraqis who who confronted ISIS in Iraq and Of course with the US led coalition Iraq's relations was disrupted with the countries in the region and Iraq was a Field for proxy wars We suffered three millions IDPs who left their Their towns without exceptions minorities as EDS questions We were watching the sufferings that Iraq was enduring. I Do not claim that all the problems in Iraq have been solved But we have developed we have progressed positively today our relations is much better with the Arab countries with the regional countries today Iraq is seeking to Maintain its own sovereignty Our job as a parliament Has a lot to do in this regard along with the with the work done by the Iraqi cabinet Our message is not to be desperate Even if we witnessed some Some chaos, but the origin and the principle is to build the national state of Iraq the question have we Built the Iraqi state in the right way. The answer is no the there are other challenges remain the position of arms With military groups be outside the government Seeking political programs seeking To interfere in Iraqi affairs whether by himself or pushed by other regions Iraqi Parliament passed a ruling a bill to to legalize the PMF What is the end of those who carried those weapons? Those volunteers are divided into two categories the first group are Affiliated with the Iraqi army and receive orders from the Prime Minister Those who meet military requirements can be enrolled in the army The second group are military groups Not affiliated with the army and the prime minister These factions must be dissolved Not be allowed to participate in the elections And stop them from preventing any Any attacks against the community those who are outside the PMU and the Iraqi army Are considered outlaws The other thing is that the Iraqi army has seen a lot of obstacles What is the impact on the Iraqi state? You talked about education you talked about jobs But again, I wanted to hear how The Iraqi council represented us is taking up those issues with specific issues of legislation and particularly How is that legislation being Spread out throughout Iraq at the local level because that is where issues of inclusiveness are most felt to be part of the overall state And not just necessarily in the individual provinces But I want to hear if you could what again is the agenda of the council in bringing that forward There are two issues to be clear It is a mistake to that the state depended heavily on the public sector And those who get enrolled in the public sectors Felt they are guaranteed by a monthly salary Today due to the economic condition of Iraq The Iraqi government see how important it is to concentrate on the private sector During our talks to the World Bank and the IMF We discussed how we can encourage Private sector how we can encourage the youth to be more engaged in the private sector This is the basic problem Regarding the legislations we should adopt to encourage youth and make use of the energy they have Ignoring the youth Can lead to serious negative reactions We proposed a couple of suggestions to form the economy of Iraq We are going to have International conference of donors in Kuwait under with the international community and the donor countries Private sector companies will be invited including companies in the United States We talked to the US Chamber of Commerce another challenge is confronting Corruption in Iraq that can help Iraq's development. I believe the next phase the basic To to to guarantee stability is to concentrate on development and economy To create an environment for job creation and allow people to live peacefully So I'm going to now turn to some of the questions we're getting from the audience And I will tell you that at least the initial questions a number of them are centered on the elections coming up in May 2018 If I can kind of summarize where these questions are there they are asking for a variety of issues They're asking what do you what are your expectations with regard to the provincial elections particularly in Ninova and Kabbalah There is the question of will there be a single Sunni coalition in the election and And will there be a coalition centered on Mr. Abadi regarding the elections before saying my opinion the problem Here that we have two parties With their own arguments The first team of politicians Say that we should respect the timing of the elections stipulated in the Iraqi constitution Because if we if elections are not held We will have no road map for the future of Iraq and will end up in a dark dead-end tunnel This team says that the elections must be held anyway Because this is better and it's a better guarantee for Iraq. The second team says that If the elections are held all the tools should be provided how elections could be held while So many people are IDPs and cannot return to their homes. How can we have elections? While there are military groups that may May pressure the community to change the elections map There are certain concerns That that some parts of the community will not be represented in the next elections They are concerned to hold the elections in this time And they are talking about the possibility to postpone the elections Pasponing the elections will require a legal and constitutional justification. I believe if we started from now To find a road map and end all the obstacles in the face of the elections Including the return of the IDPs Preventing those who carry arms to participate in the elections and to hold transparent credible elections within a legal framework otherwise, I Believe it would be difficult and complicated to hold the elections. This is regarding the elections Regarding the Sunni coalitions political coalitions I would like to draw your kind attention About the the mentality those who think about the elections before 2014 before this legislative term Most of the components including the Sunnis were divided One team acclaimed that One team was in the political process Participating in the political process, but other Sunni components were outside the political process and were outside the country What is in you today? Both teams those who were outside and inside the country have united and agreed on the general framework of Building a state they did not start a coalition Election coalitions is something else They talked about what they want from Iraq They agreed That it's better for everybody to build the state and contribute to the building of Iraq in the right way And that they should be a factor contributing to rebuilding Iraq and to And not to be ignored by others This was not available in the past But because those who are involved in politics and from the beginning Delivered a message that they can work together on this. I do not deny that some effects from inside Iraq and from outside Iraq also contributed For those all political factions to come into an understanding and Agreement that they will should all work for the good of Iraq Is it possible for these coalitions to support the current prime minister? We are waiting first for the elections and the results of the elections The constitution is a clear about this and it says and says the largest political Group in the parliament Nominates the prime minister and presented to the others to vote for the question is what is the largest political Party in the parliament and the in the previous elections The the largest political group was a kind of sectarian Largest groups when we were talking about Sunni Shia and Kurdish groups what we are expecting that the next Largest political group will be across sectarian a group with a political dimension rather than sectarian dimension You should put it in those terms as well because a number of questions have focused on that idea of sectarianism and The the issue of how to bring incorporate people into that political process and what could be done to particularly to bring faith leaders Into the positive role of reconstructing the state and And bringing stability another element that has been raised is this issue of corruption and The issue of saying that corruption embezzlement And a lack of state security has reduced people's confidence in in the government and the question posed is What is the government going to do to address? to restore people's confidence in The government in the state and what can the international community do to to assist in that process Let me start with the second point sir with regarding corruption the Corruption that has been diagnosed Is being turned over to the court? And the court takes the necessary measure Against these cases the more Corruption is being fight it the more trust people will get again If we just got a public show and a media show With a slogan to fight corruption. This is not convincing anymore for the community The state should start clearly as to Diagons where corruption is to hold those who are involved accountable Regardless to his position or his political ranking. I believe this is the basic point Where the courts should cooperate with other branches to fight corruption regarding the the Devoted politicians it's a matter of a trust The question is are we building the state of Iraq in the right way so those devoted to Iraq will contribute to the building of Iraq Some are participating in the political life. Some are watching some politicians are watching what will happen and I believe there are a lot of competent Iraqi figures that can make Concrete change and they have not Started yet their role did not start yet either because The opportunity was not given to them To to them or they are waiting for signals from the Parliament and the Cabinet as the duty of the state to allow those devoted people to contribute specific question regarding the Proposed legislation on personal status The question is the Parliament is considering a new civil status law that will allow girls of nine years old to be married many consider this to be a violation of human rights and An unacceptable What is your views on this proposed legislation and do you see that this legislation will pass? Talking about reforming the current civil status law, let me go in some details if time allows What has been proposed to the Iraqi Parliament is not a bill What the media has said is not right What has been proposed is a suggestion an idea and according to Iraqi constitution a Proposition can made by a member of the Parliament and suggest a bill to be discussed Again then a question would be raised is it is that idea is accepted or not? What happened is only the early stage There are still so many stages to be to be followed till this turns to a bill First to be discussed examined in details and then voted for in general my personal Position, I'm against this law Everybody Is against the marriage of minors Although I read the bill in details. It doesn't it did not refer That the law allows the minors girls to get married This Point does not exist in the law But I said that the different Islamic Justifications allow Allow the marriage of the minors the civil the current civil status Law allows a girl in the age of 15 to get married, which is a minor I'm not defending the issue, but I'm saying that the bill is Just a proposal and based on my personal rejection and And the rejection of other MPs will not find the way to be passed There has been a lot of argument and controversy controversy regarding the bill Thank you I like to turn a little more now to the international elements and The question is is that well this week as you have come to Washington you have been meeting with The speaker of the House of Representatives Paul Ryan And this is part of a long relationship you now have with the United States How do you see the future of the relationship between the United States and Iraq going into the future particularly in this now post-ISIS stage frankly speaking In the past there was a clear cooperation between Iraq and the US and fighting ISIS and the US let coalition helped a lot to end terrorism in Iraq Today there's a dividing line to a next stage, which is achieving stability Talking about that Iraq is left alone To reconstruct itself and achieve a stability alone should come to an end Everybody should Realize including the United States should realize that supporting Iraq and the post ISIS period should continue and increased The post ISIS period requires stability and we should learn from the lessons of the past and And and prevent terrorism from reappearing in Iraq. We have a lot of potentials Economy and development leaving Iraq vacant Will cause others to come and interfere Our past experience showed that when the US left Iraq many negative interferences Came to happen in Iraq. It is important to prevent this from happening in the future In many respects what you just said is a sort of lesson learned of what has happened In the past few years. I wonder if you could also draw some other lessons that could that we should take from the most recent fight against ISIS and particularly more broadly beyond just Iraq itself and as these fighters are moving around What do you also see in terms of what happens to the families of the fighters and how are those Individuals going to be treated. There's this fear that if they are not somehow Integrated into the communities that this becomes a foundation for what could be ISIS 2.0 So wonder how you view that What's happening now The families of ISIL members women and children are being isolated and camped and kept in a special camps These camps are called camps for ISIS families. I Had discussion with the Ministry of Immigration Personally, I am against this. This what's happening with this first. Those are children When you keep those children in a special camp And entitle them as ISIS you are pre-accusing them of being ISIS numbers and This fact will remain with him in all his life And he will always be called. He is an ISIS camp family or ISIS camp child First he should be treated as a child who made no mistake He had no mistake of what his parents or his father done even the woman woman should be also Reconsidered indeed many of the wives of ISIS members participated in the fight But other other have not We should have a transition period Where we can reintegrate the children and the women in Iraqi community This child in the future Will look to his friends and colleagues And he will feel inferior for not having the education he deserves We should not repeat The mistake of the prisons my colleague former minister of interior the the prisons In Iraq after 2003 were extremists and high liners were kept In these jails some of them were wrongly accused some them were convicted those Detainees left the jail more extremist than the way he was Detained in the beginning We do not want temporary camps To turn into a production unit of extremist and hard-line or hard-line north the my next question concerns the Iraqi army and This issue that the army has been a uniting element in Iraq's history and The the issue is that the army of course Basically suffered a defeat in 2014 by ISIS What are the steps to go forward where the? Iraqi army could regain the respect of the people How do you see the the emerging role of of the army in uniting Iraq? today people Have more trust and confidence in Iraqi army Today the community is not looking to the Iraqi army the way they looked at it in 2014 Where terrorist group could easily control the areas? Controlled by the army today the army is welcome regardless to the The army has been very wise with a lot of complicated issues during the fight in the meantime, it is very important to To make Balance inside the Iraqi army the constitution clearly says That the army should be balanced and a lot of high-ranking officers made Heroic victories in the on the army The military institution Represent a basics for the reform for the next phase To some extent till now The Iraqi army is a great value and to all Iraqis So my next question is How do you envision the role of the council going forward? How do you see it shaping itself in order to provide for a more inclusive Iraq? What is your long-term vision for the parliament itself in many respects? I'm asking What do you expect to be will be your legacy as the president of the council? The current Parliament is the result of the elections law The elections that were held in 2014 Today we are Revising the next elections law some say That the the current elections law led to the appearance of a small political parties and did not maintain large political units I believe that the the revised law of elections adopted a system where large Political parties are maintained in the meantime allowing the small parties to be represented in the parliament and Represent the people who voted for Like any establishment a experienced difficult conditions on some drawbacks. I can say during this term The Iraqi Parliament has never witnessed a kind of sectarian Agenda even the problem with Kurdistan was politically addressed in the past In the previous terms of the parliament sectarianism was very clear Second this the the only legislative term Which were ministers brought into hearing and investigation is this the current parliamentary term? Eight ministers were questioned in the parliament and some of them Were were released The Prime Minister visited the prime the Iraqi Parliament 15 to 20 times these Did not happen in the previous Parliamentary terms Today Iraqi community Feels that there's a cooperation between the cabinet and the the parliament a Problems and this argument do exist, but there's an understanding That All should work for the country We faced some problems Led that the people Demonstrate and enter the parliament This is what we have done And we are proud of It's a really good place for us to stop here We want to thank you for being so candid in your conversation with all of us We thank you for your remarks, and we welcome you back to the to us IP And we hope you come and see us again when you come to Washington So please join me in thanking mr. Speaker Ladies and gentlemen, please remain in your seats until the official party departs