Jordan Times
Friday, January 28, 2005
Monarch warns against
sectarianism in Iraq
By Randa Habib Agence France-Presse
AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah warned Thursday against the risks of Iraq
being partitioned and said elections were the best way to restore stability to
the country, in an interview with AFP.
“I have cautioned against efforts by certain parties to sow discord and push
towards sectarianism in Iraq,” King Abdullah said.
The King referred to “calls for the establishment of an autonomous region in
southern Iraq that clearly amount to a suspect invitation to partition.” The
Monarch said his comments had been “exaggerated or misinterpreted” when he
warned in an earlier interview that some parties were using the Shiite majority
in Iraq to try to create a Shiite “crescent” stretching to Lebanon.
“Some people went too far in their interpretation of my words, in a desperate
bid to falsify the facts and achieve their projects and ambitions,” the King
said.
“As a Hashemite Arab king, attached to the unity of the Iraqi people, the unity
of its ranks and independent destiny, I was warning against attempts at
division,” he said.
“It is my duty to warn against any attempt to break up the unity of the Iraqi
people and spread discord between the different communities,” said King
Abdullah. “As a Hashemite, I speak in the name of all Muslims, Sunnis and
Shiites,” said the King, a direct descendant of the Prophet Mohammad.
“We want them to be united, as they have always been, and we will oppose any
attempt to damage this privileged relationship or our ties with our Shiite
brothers,” he said.
King Abdullah, who turns 43 on the day of the Iraqi elections, said the polls
were “the only path to security and stability” in the country.
“We are working for widespread participation by the Iraqis to achieve security
and democracy, and to adopt a new constitution. This is in the interests of
Iraq, in the interests of us all, and of peace in the region.” King Abdullah,
meanwhile, said his aim was to make Jordan “an example of political openness...
security and stability” in the region.
“The world is changing and we must face the challenges of the century with new
tools,” said the King, who added that he wanted to lead his people toward “a
process of development and reforms.”