Iran: US, UK foment sectarian differences in Iraq

Iran's ambassador to Thailand Thursday said that following successive defeats and the execution of Saddam Hossein, the US and UK are seeking to stir up sectarian discord in Iraq.

Mohsen Pak-Ayeen told IRNA that the West focussed on the massacre of Shiites in Dujail to foment differences between Iraqi Sunnis and Shiites.

"Iraqi Shiite and Sunni people suffered during the Saddam regime, and history was a witness to the former dictator's atrocities against Halabja Kurdish people and Sunni dissidents," he added.

Saddam also launched two wars against Iran and Kuwait, creating great losses for Iranian and Arab nations, he said.

The ambassador called on all justice-seekers to consider the presence of foreign occupiers in Iraq as the root cause of current instability in the country.

"After terrorist attacks against holy shrines, the Western media tried to concentrate Saddam's crimes only to the massacre of Shiites as a plot to provoke religious fanaticism," he said.

Pointing to Iraqi Shiite and Sunni leaders' attempts to prevent disputes among the people, he noted that the occupiers will urge the world nations that their defeat in war against terrorism in Iraq is the result of religious tensions.

The occupiers failed to establish a puppet government in Iraq, thus, they try to blow up sectarian disputes to justify their presence in the country, he added.