DUBAI (Reuters) - Key U.S. ally Saudi Arabia has warned a U.S.-led invasion of Iraq would plunge the Gulf region into chaos and do nothing but harm to all parties involved, including the United States.
Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, in remarks to CNN broadcast on Saturday, also questioned U.S. intentions to help introduce democracy in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East.
"We would hate to see American soldiers paying the price for an occupation that will do nothing but bring terrible consequences to everybody," Prince Saud said.
"An occupation of Iraq is not simple. How (are) 250,000 troops going to maintain order in a country like that? Especially if war leads to the instability we think it will lead to, if it leads to chaos we think it will lead to. If the social order breaks down, who is going to be fighting who? It is going to be a mess we think," he added.
Prince Saud was speaking a day before Arab leaders started a crisis summit in Egypt to chart a unified policy on Iraq they hope can prevent war in the region, where anti-U.S. sentiment is on the rise over the Iraq crisis and perceived U.S. support for Israel against the Palestinians.
Washington is pouring troops and arms into the region ahead of a possible attack on Iraq over its alleged weapons of mass destruction. Baghdad denies it has such arms.
Top Saudi officials have repeatedly said they oppose a U.S. attack on Iraq and will not let the desert kingdom, the birthplace of Islam, be used as a launch pad in the way it was in the 1991 Gulf War that drove Iraqi troops from Kuwait.
The Sunni Muslim kingdom fears any attack on Iraq would split its neighbor along ethnic and religious lines, creating a Shi'ite power base that could foment discord among its own Shi'ite minority.
President Bush has expressed the aim of "liberating" Iraqis and also of using Iraq as a bridgehead from which democratic ideas could be spread through the Arab world.
Asked about the U.S. aim, Prince Saud said: "If you get chaos in Iraq, how will democracy flower in Iraq? If you achieve victory and there is somebody occupying Baghdad...just imagine what the reaction could be in the Arab and Muslim world to that fact alone."
Prince Saud also challenged Bush's assertion that the removal of Saddam from power could create an opportunity for peace in the Middle East, saying Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was an obstacle to peace and not the Iraqi leader.
"I think (that) removal of Mr. Sharon will be more apt to bring a solution to the question of the Palestinians than the removal of Saddam Hussein. He (Sharon) is the obstacle to peace," Prince Saud said.
The Saudi prince said Baghdad needed to cooperate with U.N. arms inspectors and prove it did not have weapons of mass destruction in order to avert a U.S.-led attack.
"Iraq should do what they ask them to do and quickly. If they have weapons of mass destruction, show them. If they don't have weapons of mass destruction, account for them," he said.