Gulf states, Yemen condemn US Senate plan to divide Iraq
DUBAI (AFP) — The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) on Friday condemned a US Senate non-binding resolution to divide Iraq on ethnic and religious lines, saying it would complicate matters further in the war-torn country.
The Bosnia-style plan, which was touted as a way out of the sectarian strife which has risen steadily since the 2003 US-led invasion, "would add new complications to the already difficult Iraqi situation," GCC chief Abdulrahman al-Attiyah said in a statement.
"Instead of calling for division, the causes that led to the current situation should be addressed. These include the (US-led) occupation, the sectarian and ethnic quota system, absence of law and security and the paralysed administration," he said.
The GCC groups Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
The chief of the oil-rich bloc warned that the non-binding proposal to divide Iraq which was passed by the US Senate on Wednesday would also have a "detrimental impact" on regional and international stability.
The plan, which is opposed by President George W. Bush's administration, would provide for decentralizing Iraq in a federal system as permitted by Iraq's constitution to stop the country from becoming a failed state.
It proposes to separate Iraq into Kurdish, Shiite and Sunni entities, with a federal government in Baghdad in charge of border security and oil revenues.
Yemen also decried the US Senate plan labelling it an "unprecedented flagrant interference" in the internal affairs of states, according to a foreign ministry statement carried by Saba state news agency.
