The Council of the Arab Countries in Bulgaria denounced at a news conference the war in Iraq on Wednesday.

The representatives of the Arab countries voiced their strong opposition to a war, which ignores the international community rules.

The real reasons for the military operation in Iraq are the US aspirations to control the Iraqi oil and to institute a new order without rules, they declared.

They clarified that they do not voice support for the regime of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein but said that it is up to the Iraqis whether they will rebel against it and overthrow it.

The representatives of the Arab organization thanked the Bulgarian people for opposing the war in Iraq. According to them, over ninety percent of the Bulgarians did not support the military intervention.

"I want to thank the Bulgarian people for opposing this dirty war," Mohammad Hassan, chair of the Association of the Iraqis in Bulgaria said.

He pointed out that the war in Iraq has united his people. He added that the situation in Southern Iraq was very bad and specified that the people living in Basra were without water and electricity for a sixth day in a row.