July 22, 2003	Tuesday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 21, 1424

WASHINGTON, July 21: The US administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, insisted on Sunday that Iran should withdraw its border posts from Iraqi territory, the latest salvo from Washington against what it calls Iran’s meddling in Iraqi affairs.

“The incursion that we’ve seen by the Iranians so far is pretty minor. It’s between a kilometer and a half and three kilometers on seven border posts in the south. It’s not a very hospitable part of Iraq to annex. It’s in the marshes,” Bremer told Fox News Sunday.

“But nonetheless, symbolically, it’s important, and we think they should pull back.”

Mr Bremer, echoing the words of other US officials, criticized as unhelpful Iran’s current role in Iraq.

“I think it’s very hard to put together a country that is as shattered as Iraq is by 35 years of dictatorship, when the neighbors are trying to pick it apart,” he said. —AFP