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Iraq MPs oppose US division plan

BASRA, Sept 26 (KUNA) -- Two Iraqi parliamentary blocs have enunciated opposition to a US plan aiming to subdivide Iraq on ethnic lines, notably Kurds, Sunnis and Shiites. The US Senate was expected to vote as early as Tuesday on a Bosnia-style plan to subdivide Iraq on ethnic lines, touted by backers as the sole hope of forging a federal state out of sectarian strife.
Advocates say the plan, championed by Democratic senator and presidential hopeful Joseph Biden, offers a route to a political solution in Iraq that could allow US troops to eventually go home without leaving chaos behind.
A loose autonomous federation of Kurdish, Shiite and Sunni entities might look good on paper, but critics charge it ignores Iraq's ethnic stew, such as cities where ethnic groups live side-by-side and inter-marry, and are not divided by lines on a map.
Abbas al-Biati, representing the Iraqi United Alliance bloc, said the system in place in Iraq at present is a federal one, and the formation of regions does not mean the subdivision of Iraq.
"What is said by some American politicians is unacceptable," he said, adding that the Iraqi parliament and government opposed foreign interference in Iraq's internal affairs, and that it was up to the Iraqis themselves to shape the future of their country.
Omar al-Jabori, spokesman for the independent Sunni Arab bloc, condemned the US draft policy aiming to subdivide Iraq on ethnic and sectarian lines.
He urged all Iraqi political entities and blocs to stand united as one against the fresh US blueprint aiming to control Iraq's wealth, resources and destiny.
US Ambassador in Baghdad Rayan Crocker told US Congress earlier this month that he would back a federal system in Iraqi regions, but would object to any subdivision plan. (end) smj.mt KUNA 261517 Sep 07NNNN