Iraqi leader says U.S. Senate plan would be castastrophe

[struggle4progress]

Source: Associated Press

Iraq's prime minister opposes plan to divide country into semiautonomous regions.
By Qassim Abdul-Zahra
Saturday, September 29, 2007

... The nonbinding Senate resolution, passed on a bipartisan vote Wednesday, calls for Iraq to be split into federal regions under control of the three communities in a power-sharing agreement similar to the one that ended the 1990s civil war in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

"It is an Iraqi affair dealing with Iraqis," Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said. "Iraqis are eager for Iraq's unity. ... Dividing Iraq is a problem, and a decision like that would be a catastrophe."

Iraq's constitution lays down a federal system, allowing Shiites in the south, Kurds in the north and Sunnis in the center and west of the country to set up regions with considerable autonomous powers ...

Read more: http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/world/09/29/0929iraq.html