June 22, 2009 (WAM) -- A UAE paper warned today that those responsible for the attack in Kirkuk were seeking to divide the troubled country. ''As police and rescue crews sifted through the rubble of a mosque and dozens of damaged homes on Saturday looking for survivors of a truck bombing that killed 72 people, questions were already being raised about the motives and consequences of the attack, the Gulf News reported today. Commenting editorially on the latest developments in Iraq, the paper said :'' The Kirkuk attack is the most deadly in Iraq this year and is being blamed on Al Qaida. Officials yesterday said it was aimed at destabilising the country, which is slowly trying to return to normal after years of ethnic and religious strife. It also came as US troops withdraw from Iraqi cities.

The attack, the paper added, was obviously meant to test the ability of the Iraqi forces in restoring security and stability, and to challenge the administration of Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki, who is keen to see the US soldiers leave his country by the agreed deadline of 2011. ''The Iraqi forces seem determined to fight the armed militants, who continue to pose a severe threat not only to the country's stability, but also to its unity, as they attempt to play on Iraq's ethnic and sectarian sensitivities. ''The most important thing is for all parties and religious groups to stand united in the face of this danger. The attack must not be allowed to inflame sectarian feelings as it is an attack against all Iraqis, the Gulf News concluded.