Last month, the Iraqi people went to the polls, voting in their first free election in more than 50 years.

It is important that the Iraqi people have confidence in the election results and that the voting process, including the process for vote counting, is free and fair.

We need to put a wholly Iraqi face on this election.

Sports can unify the Iraqi people - no Sunnis, no Shiites, just sport for the country.

The advent of self-government for the Iraqi people is a watershed moment in their history.

I was cynical about Iraq. But when I saw the Iraqi people voting . . . it was the start of a new Arab world... The Berlin Wall has fallen.