Saudi Envoy Warns US Against Abrupt Iraq Withdrawal

Reuters: The partition of Iraq would lead to ethnic cleansing and sectarian killing on a mass scale, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United States said on Oct. 30 as he warned the United States against leaving Iraq abruptly.

"To envision that you can divide Iraq into three parts is to envision ethnic cleansing on a massive scale, sectarian killing on a massive scale," Prince Turki al-Faisal said as he answered questions after a Washington speech. "Since America came into Iraq uninvited, it should not leave Iraq uninvited."

Prince Turki made the comments ahead of the Nov. 7 U.S. midterm elections that are in part being fought over U.S. President George W. Bush’s conduct of the war in Iraq, where sectarian violence rages more than three years after U.S.-led forces invaded to topple former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

Among ideas being debated in public are dividing Iraq into three regions to reflect its Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish populations as well as how soon the White House can withdraw the roughly 150,000 U.S. forces in the country.