Saddam Hussein warns of plans to divide Iraq

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein warned yesterday of schemes aimed at dividing Iraq.

Hussein asserted the unity of Iraqi people as one nation through history, confirming that the Kurds are part of the Iraqi people.

In a meeting with members of the ruling Baath Party, Hussein said, "The Iraqi people are like a bouquet of flowers in which Muslims, the Kurdish, the Arabs, the Turkmen and the Christians exist, yet they all work under Iraq's tent."

He accused foreign colonialism of seeking to cancel the Kurds' history as a part of the Iraqi people.

He also said, "Enemies see that Iraq as a nation, civilization and one bloc in a state has large potentialities that they cannot exclude, therefore they seek to divide it."