[NYTr] Arab Lg, Iraqi Elders aghast at US Senate vote to partition Iraq

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

See also: "US Imperialists as Brit Colonialists - Arab Lg, Iraqi VP So
No to Senate Chop Shop" 9/27/07
http://blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/Week-of-Mon-20070924/069161.html


sent by Dave Muller (southnews)

Arab League aghast at US Senate vote to partition Iraq

The US plan to crack up Iraq into homogeneous ethnic and sectarian 
entities - approved not by an Iraqi referendum, but by the US Senate 
with 75 to 23 votes yesterday - created upheaval at the headquarters of 
the Arab League.

Reuters - Sep 27, 2007

Arabs criticize U.S. Senate resolution on Iraq

CAIRO (Reuters) - The Arab League and an Iraqi vice president
criticized on Thursday a U.S. Senate resolution advocating the division
of Iraq into federal regions.

Ali al-Jaroush, the head of the Arab relations department at the 
Cairo-based league, said the idea was "hostile to Arab interests" and 
the best response would be to help the Iraqi people drive occupying 
forces out of the country.

The non-binding Senate amendment, sponsored by Delaware Democrat Joe 
Biden and passed on Wednesday, says the United States should actively 
support a political settlement among Iraqis based on a federal system
of government.

The amendment has been widely interpreted as a proposal to divide Iraq 
along sectarian and ethnic lines into Sunni Arab, Shi'ite Arab and 
Kurdish regions.

Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdul-Mahdi, a Shi'ite Muslim, told reporters 
in Cairo that it was up to Iraqis to decide the future of their country.

He added: "Iraq has been united for thousands of years and it has the 
ability to preserve its unity and its integrity... No one can image 
implementing the partition of Iraq."

Jaroush of the Arab League, which represents all 22 Arab governments, 
said he was surprised the U.S. Senate had failed many times to pass a 
resolution on withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, while the Biden 
amendment passed at the first attempt.

"The international community has started to understand the truth of
U.S. aims in the region and to see through the false claims about
weapons of mass destruction and pursuing Al Qaeda," the Arab League
official added.

(c) Reuters 2007 All rights reserved

                        ***

KUNA News (Kuwait) - Sep 27, 2007 
http://www.juna.net.kw

Iraq's council of elders slams US plan to divide Iraq

BAGHDAD, Sept 27 (KUNA) -- The Council of Iraq's Elders and Prominent 
Personalities on Thursday rejected a plan endorsed by the US Senate 
calling for setting up separate entities in Iraq on the basis of ethnic 
and religious origin.

The council warned, in a statement it issued, against the plan "which 
will fail to deliver peace and security to Iraq and will widen the gap 
among Iraqi factions." The council said it would stand "against all 
projects seeking to divide Iraq." The statement cautioned against 
foreign interference in Iraq's internal affairs describing such 
interference as "a red line that should not be crossed.
" The plan, which was approved by the US Senate, was aimed at securing 
stability in Iraq after separating its provinces on a sectarian basis 
and decentralizing central authority in favor of local government.

The council said the plan, although not committing the United States to 
any action, would pave the way for foreign interference in Iraq and for 
encouraging Iraq's division along sectarian lines.
The council said the real danger in the plan was "its timing."