By SALAH NASRAWI
The Associated Press - Sunday, April 9, 2006; 10:36 PM
CAIRO, Egypt -- Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak angered Iraqi leaders Sunday by saying Shiites there and across the Middle East are more loyal to Iran than to their own countries as he gave a startlingly frank warning about possible civil war in Iraq.
The flap highlights the escalating tensions between predominantly Sunni Arab countries _ alarmed by possible Kurdish and Shiite domination of their neighbor _ and Iraqis who say they are not getting enough support from their Arab brothers.
"Definitely Iran has influence on Shiites," Mubarak said in an interview broadcast Saturday evening by Al-Arabiya television. "Shiites are 65 percent of the Iraqis ... Most of the Shiites are loyal to Iran, and not to the countries they are living in."
He also said civil war "has almost started" in Iraq.
"At the moment, Iraq is almost close to destruction," he warned.
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, said Mubarak's comments were not accurate.
"It is true that there are some kind of clashes among Sunnis and Shias. But it is not civil war," he told Britain's Channel 4 News.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw reiterated that civil war in Iraq was neither imminent nor inevitable but accepted that the situation was "very serious."
Mubarak has rarely commented on the situation in Iraq and his statements usually are broad, vague expressions of concern over the violence and political turmoil there. Arab leaders also generally avoid pointed criticism of their fellow leaders.
So the interview startled not only Iraqis but also the Shiites who form large communities in a number of Mideast nations _ particularly the Gulf, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon. Some of them said Mubarak's comments only fuel momentum toward civil war.
Mubarak's spokesman, Suleiman Awad, tried Sunday to soften the impact. He said the president was talking about Shiite sympathy with Iran "in view of its hosting of (Shiite) holy shrines."
"The president's statement about Iraq was only reflecting his increasing worries about the deteriorating situation and his keenness to maintain Iraq's national unity," Awad said in a statement carried by the state news agency MENA.
That did not seem to mollify Iraqi leaders.
"This is a stab in their (Shiites') patriotism and their civilization," Iraq's three highest-ranking Kurdish, Shiite and Sunni Arab leaders _ Talabani, Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari and Parliament Speaker Adnan Pachachi _ said in a joint statement Sunday.
"Reality and historical facts show that the Shiites always have been patriotic and genuine Iraqis. This unfair accusation against Shiites is baseless," Talabani, a Kurd, later told Iraqi television.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari complained to Egyptian counterpart Ahmed Aboul Gheit about Mubarak's remarks, an Iraqi diplomat in Cairo said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.
Mubarak's comments are likely to fuel complaints by Iraq's new Shiite and Kurdish leaders that Sunni-led Arab nations are biased toward the country's Sunni Arab minority and do not consider their government legitimate.
Last month, Zebari lashed out at Arab leaders in a summit in Khartoum, Sudan _ that Mubarak did not attend _ telling them they are to blame if Iran has influence because they have not supported Iraq since Saddam Hussein's fall in 2003.
Iraq has demanded Arab countries follow through on promises to send ambassadors to Baghdad, and it sees their failure to do so as a lack of support and recognition. Iraqi leaders also want their Arab neighbors to forgive their debt and condemn the insurgents, most of whom are Sunni Arabs.
But Arab nations appear increasingly worried about Iranian influence in Iraq and the possibility that Shiite power there will stir up Shiite minorities in their countries.
Last year, Jordan's King Abdullah II warned that Iran was seeking to create "a Shiite crescent" that would disrupt the balance of power in the region. Saudi Foreign Minister Saudi al-Faisal made similar warnings.
Arab leaders at the Khartoum summit expressed deep concern over plans for U.S.-Iranian talks over Iraq, fearing that meant they were being squeezed out of a say in the country.
Arab governments are countering by trying to form their own united stance on Iraq. Arab foreign ministers are due to meet in Cairo on Wednesday to discuss Iraq.
Last week, Arab diplomats told The Associated Press that top intelligence officers from several Arab countries and Turkey have been meeting secretly to coordinate their governments' strategies in case civil war erupts in Iraq and to block Iranian interference.
Turkey, a key non-Arab Sunni Muslim nation bordering Iraq, is worried about Iraq's split into sectarian and ethnic entities that will give rise to Kurdish ambitions for independence.
The Cairo-based Arab League also is planning a meeting of leaders of the Iraqi factions ahead of a proposed conference that will bring together representatives of Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis in June.
For Shiites around the region, Mubarak's remarks hinted at Arab governments lining up against their community.
"We do not beg for certificates of allegiance to our countries from Mubarak or others," Kuwaiti Shiite lawmaker Hassan Jawhar said in a press conference held in parliament.
The comments are "the engine which drives the whole region toward civil war," Fouad Ibrahim, a prominent Saudi Shiite writer, told The Associated Press from exile in London.
Shiites are the majority in Iran and Iraq and have significant minorities in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Lebanon and Yemen.