The Egyptian People’s Assembly Arab Affairs Committee has denounced the US Congress resolution to divide Iraq into three states on religious and ethnic bases.
The committee said that such a decision slams international legitimacy and violates the country’s national sovereignty.
A statement released on Sunday by the committee chaired by Sa’d al-Jammal said the decision is very surprising and confusing in terms of making Iraq as a US state that the Congress takes decisions on it as is the case with any other American state.
The statement asserted the fact that Iraq has been a unified Arab and Islamic entity long before the US even existed and that its unity should at least be protected after having assassinated its leadership, killed its people and destroyed its wealth.
The Arab and Islamic nations will never accept anything but a unified Iraq, the statement emphasised.
In Iran, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hoseyni said on Sunday that the US Senate approval on division of Iraq into federal regions and the legislation, is a violation of the Iraqi nation’s right to decide their fate and endangers regional security.
He stressed: ‘Principally, the decision on the issue is none of the US business and that it is the Iraqi nation that should make the necessary decision in that respect.’
He said the US Senate’s decision is different from provisions of Iraq’s Constitution.
He added: ‘We regard these actions as countering the efforts of Mr Nuri al-Maliki in establishing national unity and preserving the territorial integrity of Iraq and believe in stressing the importance of continuing the political and legal trend which has been created through the democratic process and the support for the legitimate government of that nation.’
Hoseyni said: ‘Whatever decision is adopted it must be done by the people of Iraq and through defined legal mechanisms, it is the legitimate right of the people of Iraq to determine their own fate.
He condemned these sorts of initiatives which are designed to undermine the unity and territorial integrity of Iraq and increase instability in the region.
Hoseyni also dismissed as an ‘unprecedented move’ the US congress’s decision to put the Islamic Revolution’s Guards Corps in the list of the terrorist groups.
‘It has not been common for the armed forces of a UN member country to be branded as a terrorist force,’ he added.
He warned: ‘All are against the US congress move. We believe such acts by the US will be dangerous for global peace and security and weaken international institutions.’
A statement issued by Lebanon’s Hezbollah stressed that the resolution on partitioning Iraq, which has been adopted by the US Congress, confirms the real objectives of occupying Iraq and emphasises that the US plan in the region is different from what was promoted by Washington’s exposed propaganda on democracy and human rights.
The US plan is confiscating peoples’ decisions, their existence, and future as is the case with the Iraqi people whom the US resolution confiscates their will, cancels their existence, and destroys their future and country and sacrifices them on the altar of the US interests; foremost of which is oil, as well as the security of the Zionist entity.
The Hezbollah statement added that the ugly face of neocolonialism is being exposed day by day, and that it unveils further violation of countries’ sovereignty, humiliates their peoples, and turns them into warring factions within the framework of splintering the entire region and dividing its entities with a view to maintaining the Zionist entity as the only domineering power.
Hezbollah concluded its statement by saying that this plan, which rears its head from Iraq, exposes not only the US policy, but also the role which the US allies in the region and Lebanon are playing as a local cover for this dangerous plan, and as small tools that serve the scheme of the new domineering and colonial partition at the expense of their nation, the sons of their homeland, and the unity of their country.
In Syria, the Arab Interim Parliament (AIP) on Sunday warned of repercussions of the recent US Senate resolution to partition Iraq into Kurdish and Shia and Sunni entities.
AIP Chairman Muhammad Al-Saqr expressed in a statement strong condemnation of the ‘flagrant resolution that contradicts international laws and resolutions of the United Nations and the Arab League that have all affirmed territorial sanctity of Iraq.
‘Iraq has been united for thousands of years and only the Iraqis can take decisions regarding their domestic affairs.
‘This decision will pave way for further divisions, tension and violence in the region,’ Al-Saqr warned.
He appealed to Arab, foreign parliaments and international organisations to ‘confront this decision with firmness.’
In Saudi Arabia, Secretary General of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, has strongly denounced the recent US Senate vote to divide Iraq into three states.
In a statement, Ihsanoglu said the vote will deepen the roots of sedition and sectarian fighting among the people of Iraq.
Calling upon the Iraqis to unite together to serve their country’s higher national interests, he said that nobody has the right to determine the fate of any country other than its own people.
Self-determination is the inalienable right of the Iraqi people alone and this right cannot be given away for anybody for whatever reason, the statement read.
Ihsanoglu warned of the defects and lurking dangers of the Senate vote, saying that carving up Iraq would destabilise the region.
He stressed the importance that regional countries stand in face of the wicked policies that harm Iraq and work together to help the Iraqis preserve their unity, independence and sovereignty.
Meanwhile in Iraq, the leader of the Sunni Association of Muslim Scholars (AMS) has telephoned tribal leaders over the issue.
AMS reported that His Eminence Secretary General Shaykh Dr Harith al-Dari has had a telephone conversation with Dr Abd-al-Rahman al-Atiyah, secretary general of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), and thanked him for the GCC’s stand, which opposes the partition of Iraq.
His eminence urged the GCC to extend political and moral support to the Iraqi people at this delicate phase in their history.
In this regard, his eminence the secretary general also held several contacts with several Iraqi tribal chieftains, and thanked them for their strong and declared opposition to and confrontation of this plan.
Furthermore, he discussed with several of those who are interested in this matter the means of revitalising the manifestations of protest against this resolution inside and outside of Iraq.
Puppet Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashmi has warned that the decision to divide Iraq can be implemented if the Iraqis do not embark on recalculations and rally behind a unified national project.
In a statement, Al-Hashimi said that the fact that the resolution of the US Senate is nonbinding does not minimise the danger of the partition resolution that has been adopted.