JEDDAH â Bahrainâs top diplomat told the Gulf Cooperation Council yesterday that the Arab and Islamic identity of Iraq needed to be preserved, in his opening address to a meeting of GCC foreign ministers. Sheikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa, foreign minister of current GCC president Bahrain, pointed out that Iraqâs draft constitution âresponds to the aspirations of all the Iraqi people and safeguards its Arabic-Islamic identity so that Iraq can remain an active member of the Arab and Islamic environment.â
| "Join the rest of us as we walk through life with the newly created sign of Arab identity", he said as a large, red 'L' was stenciled on his forehead. |
Sheikh Mohammed also exhorted Iraqis to âwork with a spirit of harmony to safeguard the unity, independence and territorial integrity of Iraq and to check the partisans of division and dismemberment of this Arab country that is so dear to us, by exploiting (current) conditions.â |