Washington is enjoying excellent cooperation with Arab countries in dealing with Iraq, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Wednesday in an interview with Al-Hayat.
"The cooperation in this region is excellent," the daily quoted Rumsfeld as saying.
However, there was nothing unusual about such cooperation because Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was not "one of their favorites," he told the London-based paper.
The daily published the Rumsfeld interview that was aired on Lebanon’s satellite channel LBC on December 6.
Asked whether Riyadh would cooperate with the US on Iraq, Rumsfeld was quoted as saying each country had to decide what it wanted to do, while the United States sought "maximum" cooperation.
All Arab countries "prefer that Saddam leaves (Iraq) as soon as possible," said Rumsfeld. "War is the last option."
Asked to comment on regional concerns Iraq would split up along religious and ethnic lines, Rumsfeld said, "there will be no Balkanization." (Albawaba.com)
