Posted on 08/28/2002 2:19:31 PM PDT by knighthawk
RIYADH -- Effective Arab and Islamic solidarity are needed to face U.S. threats to attack Baghdad, Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri said in remarks published Wednesday.
Sabri, in rare comments by a senior Iraqi official to a Saudi newspaper, said Baghdad did not want military confrontation with the United States.
"The most ideal, successful and effective means to spare the region from the catastrophe of U.S. evils sponsored by the Zionist movement ... is an effective Arab and then Islamic solidarity," Sabri told *** Okaz *** daily.
"There is no time for trial and error" said Sabri, adding that the U.S. administration is controlled by the Zionist lobby and Christian extremists, whom he accused of harboring tremendous hatred for Arabs and Muslims.
Sabri said Arab countries must stand together against the "evil intentions" of the United States, and should set aside their differences to confront a common danger.
No one in Iraq is interested in fighting the United States, and Iraqis are only concerned about developing their country, Sabri said in answers to questions submitted by the daily at Iraq's Embassy in Amman.
Iraq's chief diplomat said Baghdad was prepared to restore ties with Riyadh, broken off since the 1991 Persian Gulf War.
"Whenever the officials in Saudi Arabia decide to restore ties between the two brotherly states, Iraq will welcome that because differences of opinions between brothers should not continue," Sabri said.
Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan has also expressed Baghdad's readiness to resume ties with Riyadh, amid signs of a thaw in relations.
Iraq's number two, Ezzat Ibrahim, met Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz at the Arab Summit in Beirut in March, marking a thaw in relations plunged in the deep freeze since Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990.
Baghdad was prepared to establish "cordial bilateral relations" with Washington, but they should be based on mutual respect and non-interference in internal affairs of others, the Iraqi foreign minister told *** Okaz***.
Sabri dismissed as "unfounded lies" U.S. accusations that Iraq was still developing weapons of mass destruction, but admitted that his country's relations with the United Natins were passing through a crisis.
U.S. President George W. Bush on Tuesday described Iraq as a menace to the world and the region.
How come nobody is laughing?
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