Saddam: peace with Iran and others with sword at hand

Iraq said on the anniversary of the start of its eight-year war with Iran that it was ready to normalize ties with its eastern neighbor but would stay on alert.

"President Saddam Hussein, is eager to build strong relations, free of outside interference, with all its neighbors," commented the official daily Al Jumhuriya paper.

But at the same time, the paper warned that Iraq knows how to use the sword when its government feels that its neighbors are responding to an outstretched hand with bad intentions and trying to undermine its security.

Analysts said that the Iraqi government is ready to turn a new page in relations with its neighbor Iran based on goodwill and cooperation, so long as Tehran takes concrete initiatives to meet its commitments.

But Iran's government does not appear to have abandoned its ways or undertaken a serious revision of its policies towards Iraq and Arab world.