Arab League warns U.S on Iran attack
Pastor Dale Morgan
Thursday January 25, 7:37 AM Reuters
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Arab League warns U.S on Iran attack*
By Stella Dawson
DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - There is a 50/50 chance the United States
will attack Iran and any such strike would risk spreading sectarian
violence through the Middle East, Arab League Secretary General Amr
Moussa said on Wednesday.
"It's a 50/50 proposition, and we hope that it won't happen. Attacking
Iran would be counterproductive," Moussa told Reuters at the World
Economic Forum.
U.S. President George W. Bush, in his State of the Union address on
Tuesday, spoke of an "escalating danger" from Shi'ite extremists, many
taking direction from Iran. Bush called them just as dangerous to the
United States as al Qaeda.
Iran and the United States are also at loggerheads over a nuclear
program that Washington says is to make bombs. Tehran denies this. The
United States favours diplomacy to resolve the standoff, but has not
ruled out strikes if that fails.
Asked about Moussa's comments, U.S. State Department spokesman Sean
McCormack reiterated that all options remained on the table but he said
the United States was working in a "co-operative fashion" with its
allies in the Gulf over Iran.
"The president has always said 'You never take any option off the
table,' but I think we're being quite transparent in the ways that we're
seeking to deal with the various threats posed by Iran, really to the
region," McCormack told reporters in Washington.
Moussa did not go into details of how he assessed the likelihood of a
U.S. attack.
Asked about Bush's remark on Shi'ite extremists, Moussa said, "I would
agree that any kind of extremism, in thoughts or in policies or harsh
conservatives, any kind are very dangerous."
But he stopped short of blaming Iran. "It would not be appropriate" to
say whether Iran is responsible for destabilising Iraq through support
of extremists, he said.
Moussa said the United States needs to move from use of military force
towards dialogue, both to resolve the violence in Iraq and to reduce
U.S.-Iranian tensions. He added that he favoured proposals for talks
with Iran and Syria.
"If there were to be a war, other genies will get out of the bottle. You
cannot imagine the impact on the Gulf countries, on the Mediterranean,"
Moussa said.
SPILLOVER
His concern over a looming U.S.-Iran confrontation was shared by
business leaders and political commentators at an opening session on the
Middle East at the Forum, an annual gathering of the world's rich and
powerful.
Some said it would risk sectarian divisions spilling over to Lebanon,
Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. It would also undermine three years of strong
regional economic growth seen as important for stabilising the region.
One panellist said a serious danger would be any crash in the crude oil
price, engineered by Saudi Arabia, to squeeze Iran's finances as a way
to bring the country to its knees.
As a major crude producer, Iran relies heavily on oil revenues. These
have soared since crude prices roughly doubled in the past three years,
almost reaching $80 a barrel last summer before retreating to the mid
$50s currently.
Moussa also said that Bush's plan to build up troops in Iraq and pursue
a military solution will not resolve sectarian clashes that are ripping
the country apart, he said.
"Iraq is broken," Moussa said.
He proposed a diplomatic solution, advocating a United Nations' Security
Council resolution that Iraq should not be partitioned, an agreement on
reconciliation and amendment to its constitution.
Moussa also threw his support behind renewal of long-suspended
Israeli-Palestinian peace initiative, saying time is running out to make
real progress. The United States, European Union, United Nations, and
Russia, known as the Quartet, are due to hold talks in February.
"What we need is a process of peace, but a viable process of peace not
just photo opportunity," he said.
Concrete issues, such as the borders for a Palestinian state, must be on
the table, not merely general guidelines to lay the groundwork for
peace, he said.
"I believe very firmly, I believe very strongly that if we don't do
something in 2007, it will be very difficult to do something later on,"
Moussa said.
(Additional reporting by Sue Pleming in Washington and Richard Edgar)