2006 press releases DIYALA PROVINCIAL RECONSTRUCTION TEAM INAUGURATION Diyala, Iraq October 05, 2006

“The objective of the PRT is for US and Coalition Partners, military and civilian, to work with Iraq’s provincial governments to develop a transparent and sustained capability to govern, enhance security and rule of law, promote political and economic development and to meet the basic needs of the community. We regard Iraq’s success as our own success. We are partners in building this new Iraq. The PRTs use all of our tools, military and civilian, to get behind the ideas the Iraqis feel are most important to build their national institutions to offer a better hope for the Iraqi people’s economic future” -Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad. Iraq reconstruction efforts took another significant step forward this week when U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad helped inaugurate the Diyala Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT). Located in Baquba, the capital of Diyala province, the PRT became the fifth reconstruction partnership to be inaugurated. Begun in 2005, PRTs combine a civil-military effort to assist Iraqi provincial governments with developing an open and sustained capability to govern, promoting increased security and the rule of law. In short, they give provincial and local authorities an opportunity to use their labor, military and political tools to develop their capacity, sustainability, and transparency. In addition, it enhances their ability to build national institutions that offer a better hope for the Iraqi people’s economic future. “The improvement of the provincial governments' capacity to improve the lives of the Iraqi people is not only important to the United States and to the Iraqis, but to the world as well,” Ambassador Khalilzad said. “A successful Iraq will reshape the future of the Middle East, and the future of the Middle East will reshape the future of the world. This is why the PRTs are not strictly an American venture. The United Kingdom launched a PRT in Basra in May, as did the Italians in Dhi Qar. Later this month, the Republic of Korea will lead a PRT in the Kurdistan region.” Diyala Governor Raad Rasheed Hameed al Tamimi, Task Force Lightning/MND-N Commanding General, Benjamin Mixon, and PRT Leader Dr. Kiki Munshi participated in the inaugural ceremony. The Diyala event closely followed a recent visit to Babil Province’s PRT in Hillah; next week, the Tikrit PRT (Salah ad Din province) will be inaugurated.

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