Thursday, January 27, 2005
Saudi rulers eye Iraq election warily
AL-QATIF: Saudi Arabia’s rulers are watching Iraq’s election warily, fearful lest a Shia victory at the polls incite unrest among its own Shia minority or fuel civil war in its northern neighbour.
More than a million Shias are believed to live in Saudi Arabia, mostly in the oil-rich Eastern Province, forming a minority which has long complained of second-class treatment. But Saudi Shia leaders say the Iraqi elections will not spread sectarian tension across the border, insisting that they and their Iraqi brethren are loyal to their separate countries.
“It is alarmist to talk about a Shia victory in Iraq. The Shias are Iraqi citizens who understand their country’s interests and think in terms of nation rather than sect,” said Saudi Shia cleric Sheikh Hassan al-Saffar.
“I don’t think there is a particular impact on the Shias in the kingdom because Saudi Shias are counting on internal political developments and not on outside influences,” Saffar told Reuters in a faxed reply to questions. Diplomats say Saudi authorities will keep a close eye on the Shia population but that Riyadh’s real concern is that the Iraqi election, far from being a first step to democracy and stability, could push the country closer to all-out civil war.
“I fear the elections in Iraq could pave the way to civil war,” said Sheikh Salman al-Awda, a prominent Sunni religious scholar. “They are going to widen the sectarian divide and the differences between the tribes”. Many Sunni parties have pulled out of the vote and militants have threatened attacks on polling stations. Car bombs, kidnappings and mortar attacks against US troops and Iraq’s nascent security forces occur daily. “More turmoil in Iraq is what really worries the Saudis,” said one Western diplomat in Riyadh. They fear links between the Sunni-led insurgency in Iraq and Sunni al Qaeda militants in Saudi Arabia, who have waged a violent campaign in the kingdom for nearly two years.
Popular anger in Saudi Arabia against the US-led invasion and occupation of Iraq has led some jihadis to head for Iraq to fight American troops, although officials and diplomats say it is impossible to estimate how many have gone.
reuters
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