RIYADH, 9 April 2004 — The Gulf Cooperation Council yesterday called for an end to the deadly violence in Iraq, urging Iraqis to prioritize “national interests” and the coalition to guarantee security.
In a statement from its headquarters here, GCC Secretary-General Abdulrahman Al-Attiya called on “all parties concerned ... to immediately halt acts of violence to normalize the situation, lift the siege of towns and ... spare the Iraqi people more bloodshed.”
Warning that a deterioration in the situation would lead to “chaos”, Attiya urged Iraqis to “put national interests above all else” and the US-led occupation forces “to fully assume their responsibilities to guarantee security for the brotherly Iraqi people.”
The GCC states are in “solidarity” with the Iraqi people and are concerned for Iraq’s “territorial integrity,” said the statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency.
Attiya also called for a “central UN role” in Iraq to “pacify the country and restore security and stability.”
