Iraq's neighbours, gathering here for high-level talks on the post-war situation and its impact on regional security, expressed misgivings Saturday about any possible partition of the war-ravaged country.
"Everybody has concerns about the partition of Iraq," Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal told reporters after arriving in the Kuwaiti capital.
"(Any) partition of Iraq is a grave sin," warned Deputy Syrian Foreign Minister Issa Darwish, speaking at the Sheraton Hotel where the two-day forum was scheduled to open later in the day.
But, Darwish added, "The Iraqi people should decide their own fate. We're not their guardians."
Earlier, an official of one of the participating countries told AFP that Baghdad's neighbours want "to be comfortable that Iraq has no partition plans." "We want Iraq to tell us clearly that there is no formula being studied for partition, that the federation talked about is administrative and not ethnic," the official added.
Foreign ministers from Iraq, Kuwait, Jordan, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iran, Bahrain and Egypt are attending the meeting. "This is a very important meeting, very timely," Turkish Foreign Minister Abdulla Gul told reporters earlier.
Iraqi interim Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, met his regional counterparts for the first time.
"Iraq, which is attending this meeting for the first time, will request from its neighbours proof of goodwill on the level of security and co-operation," an Arab official in Kuwait told AFP.
A senior Arab official earlier said that the forum "will allow Iraq to air its concerns and enable its neighbours to explain theirs".
"It is important to work together for a situation where the Iraqi people regain their full sovereignty, and this should pave the way for stability," Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher told Al-Qabas daily ahead of his arrival.
"I believe that the key issue that may achieve normality is to arrive at a settlement among Iraqis that guarantees they regain practising full sovereignty over their united territories," Maher said.
"The instability prevailing in Iraq has had repercussions on the entire region, and that is why Iraq's neighbours have concerns about Iraq's internal political developments," one Arab official said, requesting anonymity. Zebari will insist to his counterparts "the vital role they can play in bringing about security in Iraq, while the country prepares for elections," said the official.
A UN mission, headed by top UN diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi, has been in Iraq assessing the feasibility of early elections, which it has since ruled out, ahead of US-led coalition plans for a June 30 transfer of power to Iraqis.
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