October 03, 2007	Wednesday	Ramazan 20, 1428

RIYADH, Oct 2: The head of the Gulf Cooperation Council said on Tuesday Gulf Arabs were strongly opposed to any partition of Iraq.

Last week the US Senate passed a resolution calling for a federal government and creation of federal regions as a solution to sectarian violence which Washington fears could descend into full-blown civil war if it withdraws its forces.

It provoked a storm of protest from Iraqi politicians, including Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who said it would be a disaster for Iraq. Only Iraq’s Kurds, who already enjoy autonomy in the north of the country, welcomed it.

“We in the Gulf Cooperation Council reject any policies that lean towards separatism and we insist on the unity of Iraq. We are keen to avoid any contact with those who support partition,” Abdul-Rahman al-Attiya said in a statement issued on the official Saudi news agency SPA.

Attiya speaks in the name of the six GCC countries, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. They include major world oil and gas producers.

—Reuters