Mahfouz: Iraq war to harm Arab-West ties for years

Egyptian Nobel Laureate Naguib Mahfouz Monday warned against the bad consequences resulting from the war against Iraq.

In statements to France's Soir newspaper, Mahfouz said that this war would cause an unhealed wound in relations between Arab and the west for years.

The war would create new forms of terrorism and self-sacrificing bombers, something which is completely contradicting Islamic beliefs, added Mahfouz.

The US wants to destabilise the Middle East through its own interest, which are to dominate the region politically and economically and are not to the sake of the nations in the region, Mahfouz expounded.

Mahfouz expressed his personal dislike of the Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and described him as bloody dictator, but at the same time, he does not agree with Bush's acts of using illegal mechanisms to push Anglo-American soldiers into an unfair war against innocent Iraqis.

Mahfouz condemned that the US-led war, accusing both Bush and Blair of committing a fatal mistake.