JEDDAH, 18 October 2006 — Saudi Arabia yesterday opposed plans to divide Iraq into autonomous regions on ethnic and sectarian grounds. The Council of Ministers said the Kingdom would side with Iraqi patriotic forces that work for the country’s unity.
The Iraqi Parliament has approved the law but the country’s Sunnis opposed it saying it would lead to the creation of sectarian mini-states.
“The Kingdom will stand with all patriotic forces that work for Iraq’s unity,” said the Cabinet in a statement issued after the weekly meeting chaired by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah at Al-Safa Palace in Makkah on Monday night.
“The Cabinet hopes that the leaders of Iraq and its wise men and Islamic scholars would uphold their duty of standing against attempts to partition the country under whatever guise,” the statement said.
The Cabinet statement comes two days before a meeting of Iraqi religious leaders arranged by the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) in Makkah.
The Oct. 19-20 meeting will bring together Sunni and Shiite scholars to adopt a reconciliation document calling for ending the bloodshed in Iraq.
Preparatory meetings to formulate the Makkah Charter were held Oct. 7 and 8 at the headquarters of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy in Jeddah. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, secretary-general of the OIC, chaired the meeting.
Last Saturday, King Abdullah received prominent Sunni and Shiite scholars at his palace and urged them to be calm and patient. The Iraqi delegation that met the king included Harith Al-Dhari, who leads the influential Association of Muslim Scholars. Culture and Information Minister Iyad Madani said Monday’s Cabinet meeting endorsed the national strategy to tackle poverty and agreed to spend SR264 million annually to meet the requirements of the poor. The Cabinet also agreed to allocate SR300 million to the National Charitable Fund to support the poor.
“Annual allocations to take care of orphans have been increased to SR82 million,” the minister said, adding that the amount covered financial assistance to people living in orphanages as well as educational and marriage expenditures.
The Cabinet also approved emergency assistance to families living below the poverty line, especially in situations such as the death or imprisonment of the breadwinner and natural calamities. The Cabinet meeting increased the annual allocations for charitable organizations from SR100 million to SR300 million.
Social Affairs Minister Abdul Mohsen Al-Akkas said the government has approved 90 percent of programs under the national strategy for combating poverty. He said the number of families that benefit from social insurance increased to 430,000.
“We have added more than 90,000 families to the list this year,” he pointed out.
Saudi Arabia launched a major campaign to combat poverty after King Abdullah visited a Riyadh slum three years ago. The king has allocated SR10 billion to construct 64,000 low-income homes in the next four years for hundreds of Saudi families who live in makeshift buildings and slums.
Also yesterday, King Abdullah held talks in Makkah with his Jordanian counterpart, King Abdallah, on major global issues, most importantly Palestine and Iraq, and explored ways of strengthening ties.
