Saudi Arabia renews warning over division of Iraq

For the second time within two days, Saudi Arabia expressed its concern over the developments of the situation in Iraq warning that this situation raises fear of disintegration in the country and dragging the whole area into a vaster conflict.

The Saudi foreign minister Saud al-Faisal said in Washington thursday that the situation in Iraq is very dangerous and could lead to disintegration if things continue as they are. "There seems to be no dynamic now that is pulling the country together. All the dynamics there are pushing the people away from each other," he said.

The greatest threat to Iraqi unity is not the Kurdish demand for an autonomous region, Prince Saud said, but efforts to divide Iraq's Arab population into Sunnis and Shiites.

"Unless something is done to bring the people of Iraq together, a constitution alone or an election alone won't do it. And this is what we are suggesting, that the Arabs of Iraq should be urged to unite, that the Shiites of Iraq should open channels and bring their brethren the Sunnis away from the resistance groups and into the political process that is going on," Prince Saud said. "Guns don't speak, they just kill."

Saudi Arabia fears that a disintegration of Iraq would draw neighboring countries into conflict, Prince Saud said. In the event of a split, the country would divide into three parts Ð Kurdish, Sunni and Shiite Ð which would fight over Iraq's natural resources. Iran would help the Shiites, while Turkey has made it clear it will not allow a Kurdish state on its border. "I don't see how the Arab countries are going to be left out of the conflict in one way or another," he said. "I think this is what is going to happen if things continue as they are."

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Prince Saud said he does not think Iraq has crossed the threshold into civil war. "Not yet. I think it can be retrieved," he stated.

Prince Saud pointed out that both the United States and Saudi Arabia have the same objective vis-a-vis Iraq. "We agree on the objective, and that is important. We all want a free Iraq, we all want a prosperous Iraq and a united Iraq," he said.

As for Iran's role in Iraq, Prince Saud warned that Iranian efforts to interfere in Iraq would be "very dangerous."

Asked if he feared a U.S.-Iranian conflict, Prince Saud replied, "I don't see one looming."

He said that Saudi Arabia has a "very frank" relationship with Iran, and that Iran and Saudi Arabia had always agreed upon a policy of a Gulf region free of weapons of mass destruction. "So when we worry it is a worry that emanates from previous discussion that we have and in which there were assurances that we are pursuing the same policy for the region," he said. "We will continue to have dialogue with them, we will mention these worries that we have to them, and we are sure that we can reach an accommodation in which all the interests of the countries of the region are taken in a collective manner."

Today, Irna's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi said that the statement of Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal implicating Iran in Iraq unrest was "surprising and illogical," according to the official news agency IRNA.

"We believe when suspicious hands are at work to sow factional and ethnic discord among Muslims in Iraq and the entire region, we should not do in a such way as to enable enemies of Islam to take advantage of differences," Asefi said.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran always advocates national solidarity in Iraq and unity of different factions to contribute to the political process for adoption of the Constitution in a democratic manner and immediate establishment of peace and stability in Iraq to thwart plots of the enemies of Islam. Iran expects all countries especially the friendly nations in the region to contribute to establishment of peace and security in Iraq rather than making the Iraqi nation suspicious of its government," Asefi said.