Rice defends Iraq, protesters cry 'war criminal'

Sydney, Mar 16: To Australian protesters' cries of 'war criminal' and 'murderer', US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice defended her government's role in Iraq today and said patience and sacrifice were needed to finish the job.

Speaking to students at the University of Sydney's Conservatorium of Music, Rice said she understood why people found it hard to be positive about Iraq when all they saw on their television screens was violence.

''I am confident that the Iraqis will triumph, that we will win in Iraq but we must be patient with these people,'' said Rice, who repeatedly thanked Australia for being among the first allies to send troops to Iraq.

There has been a new wave of sectarian killings in Iraq since the February 22 bombing of a major Shi'ite shrine, raising concern the country is edging closer to civil war.

Soon after Rice began her speech, two protesters were removed from the room after shouting ''Condoleezza Rice you are a war criminal'' and ''Iraqi blood is on your hands and you cannot wash that blood away''.

Rice, who is on a three-day trip to Australia, immediately shot back she was glad democracy was alive at the university, where she said people were free to speak their minds.

''I am also especially glad to note that democracy will now also be alive and well at the University of Kabul and the University of Baghdad,'' she said.

About 15 minutes into her address another protester interrupted her speech when she referred to freedom. ''What kind of freedom are you talking about, you are a murderer'', said the demonstrator before being led away.

Several protesters were moved away from outside the auditorium before Rice began. Sharp-shooters were positioned on on surrounding buildings and security forces looked on from boats in Sydney Harbor.

Australia was among one of the first countries to offer troops to help with the US war effort in Iraq and still has about 1,300 in and around Iraq, with a promise to stay into 2007.

But with support dwindling for the war in Australia, Rice sought to justify the US invasion of Iraq in March 2003 and said Iraqis were now more free.

Earlier, at a news conference with Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, Rice said it would take several years for Iraqis to build a stable and secure Iraq but she was confident they would do it.

''We are going to look one day at a stable and secure Iraq and be very grateful to those like Australia and the United States who were determined to see the Iraqi people have this chance,'' she added.

Rice will visit Australian troops at Victoria Barracks in Melbourne tomorrow to personally thank them for their help in Iraq.

She will also lay a wreath at the Shrine of Remembrance.

One student asked about abuses committed by US forces at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq to which Rice said it had made her ''sick to her stomach''.

However, she defended the use of the prison for foreign terrorism suspects at the U.S. Naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where human rights groups say detainees are being held in inhumane conditions and their continued detention flouts international laws.

Reuters