Bush meets Iraqi ministers in Oval Office

(22 Sep 2003) SHOTLIST 1. US President George W Bush with ministers in Oval Office 2. Cutaway 3. Cutaway 4. Cutaway media 5. SOUNDBITE: (English) George W Bush, US President "These two good souls have found that the system they inherited wasn't conducive to taking care of the citizens. Infrastructure was old and tired, power was centralised, really they inherited the system of a corrupt tyrant and their job now is to improve life, and I love their spirit. I love the fact that they are dedicated to doing their jobs, and I also appreciate the appraisal of what is going on in Iraq, the assesment that we are making good progress towards achieving our objective and thank you for all coming here to America. We're proud of you, we're proud of you being pioneers for a free people. Welcome, if you would like to say a few words madam minister." 6. SOUNDBITE: (English) Nesreen Berwari, Iraqi Public Works Minister "Forming the government and Iraqis taking care of their own affairs has been received very well by the Iraqi people. A sense of progress is being sensed on the streets of Iraq. More work has been done, work on restoring services to pre-war levels has been achieved. Now we are working on planning for the next year's programme. We have great plans to improve services. Our mission is to show a different government. We want to tell Iraqis that the change that happened four months ago is for their own benefit through improving the public service." 7. Cutaway Condoleezza Rice, Dick Cheney and Carl Rove 8. SOUNDBITE: (English) Ayham Sameraei, Iraqi Electricity Minister "This is the freedom that we missed before and we got it over the last five months. If the Iraqi people and the Americans help us for the next year and a half, I almost gaurantee it, I garauntee it to the president, I almost garauntee it to the American people that we will have a different Iraq. Iraq will going to help the US and free world nd the area becuse we are going to build a democracy in Iraq which will become an example for all the Middle East areas and all the countries around us. 9. Bush with ministers STORYLINE: George W. Bush cited "good progress" in Iraq as he met with two visiting Iraqi ministers in the Oval Office on the eve of his speech to the UN. He met with two officials from Iraq chosen by the Governing Council, Public Works Minister Nesreen Berwari and Electricity Minister Ayham Sameraei. Both agreed with the administration's contention that more time is needed before Iraqis receive full self-control. "We only need help in the beginning and then we'll do it ourselves," said Berwari. The two are part of an Iraqi delegation seeking to claim Iraq's U.N. seat on Tuesday. "These two good souls found that the system they inherited was not conducive for taking care of the citizens," Bush said. "I love their spirit. I love the fact that they are dedicated to doing their jobs." "I also appreciate the appraisal of what's going on in Iraq, the assessment that we're making good progress toward achieving our objectives," Bush said. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...