RIYADH, 7 January 2004 — Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal warned yesterday that rivalry between Iraq’s ethnic groups would lead to the country’s partition and hurt its neighbors.
“The danger of starting on the communal and ethnic road will consequently partition Iraq, threatening our own security,” the minister told a press conference in the capital.
Prince Saud said Iraqis have the right to choose their own government or regime when power is transferred to them next year by the US-led coalition currently governing the country.
But, he added, “all regimes founded on a communal or ethnic basis do not help bring stability and territorial integrity to a country.”
Kurdish leaders Jalal Talabani and Massoud Barzani have already put forward draft legislation to Iraq’s interim Governing Council demanding immediate creation of an enlarged autonomous region, without waiting for the adoption of an interim basic law in March.
The issue has fueled violence in the northern oil center of Kirkuk, which the Kurds want included in their self-rule region over the objections of the city’s Arab and Turkmen minorities. Seven people have been killed in clashes there since Wednesday.
Governing Council President Adnan Pachachi said Sunday he was committed to a federal Iraq that would give the opportunity of self-rule to both the Kurds in the north and the Shiite Arab majority in the south.
But he stressed the issue could not be decided by the Governing Council as it was not an elected government, and should instead be put before a promised constitutional convention due to be elected in March 2005.
“We can only accept the will of the Iraqis, but we hope that there will be no measure that will lead to the partition of Iraq,” Prince Saud said.
He also said he hoped to see a swift restoration of security in Iraq and deplored the attacks on civilians, international organizations and embassies in the country.
In his wide-ranging press conference in Riyadh, Prince Saud also said Arab countries would respond with all means if Israel tries to force the Palestinians out of their territories.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel “Sharon wants to drive the Palestinians into exile in Arab countries to make it an Arab problem. This is unacceptable and Arab states will respond with all means at their disposal,” he said.
Prince Saud defended the right of return for Palestinian refugees, which is rejected by Israel, and said the issue could be settled within the framework of the Saudi initiative for Middle East peace, proposed in February 2002.
The Saudi minister stressed the need to promote tolerance and moderation in Arab and Islamic countries.
He also highlighted the role of women in Saudi society.
