By NNN-KUNA
Baghdad : The Council of Iraq’s Elders and Prominent Personalities has rejected a plan endorsed by the US Senate calling for the setting up of separate entities in Iraq on the basis of ethnic and religious origin.
The council warned, in a statement it issued Thursday, against the plan “which will fail to deliver peace and security to Iraq and will widen the gap among Iraqi factions.”
The council said it would stand “against all projects seeking to divide Iraq.”
The statement cautioned against foreign interference in Iraq’s internal affairs, describing such interference as “a red line that should not be crossed.” The plan, which was approved by the US Senate, was aimed at securing stability in Iraq after separating its provinces on a sectarian basis and decentralising central authority in favour of the local government.
The council said the plan, although not committing the United States to any action, would pave the way for foreign interference in Iraq and for encouraging Iraq’s division along sectarian lines.
The council said the real danger in the plan was “its timing.”