Turkey and Jordan warn against Iraq's partition

Amman, Nov 25: Iraq's neighbours, Turkey and Jordan, warned today that the partition of the country would take the sectarian bloodshed to new levels and plunge the whole region into chaos.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and his Jordanian counterpart Marouf Bakheet told reporters at the end of talks in Amman that the partition of Iraq was unacceptable.

''We cannot accept the partition of Iraq and the partition of Iraq into three parts will increase the intensity of the civil war...'' Erdogan said.

Ankara fears that the sectarian violence could rip Iraq apart and is anxious about the advent of a Kurdish state in northern Iraq which could fan separatism among its own Kurds.

Erdogan said he would discuss the situation in Iraq with US President George W Bush at the NATO summit in Riga next week, adding that Bush's crisis talks later in the week in Amman with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki may help contain the violence.

''We attach a lot of importance on the talks in Amman,'' he said.

Sectarian violence has surged since the February bombing of a major Shi'ite shrine. Maliki's six-month old government has struggled to contain the bloodshed despite a major crackdown in the capital and a series of national reconciliation initiatives.

Jordan's Bakheet warned the partition of Iraq would have far-reaching consequences on the region's stability.

''The partition of Iraq means a slide to the abyss. Its flames will reach everyone, not just Iraqis and it will have a dangerous impact on the stability of the region and especially Iraq's neighbours,'' he said.

Reuters