Iraq PM warns Syria war could spread

BAGHDAD,(ST)- Iraq’s prime minister warned Wednesday that a victory for Armed Terrorist groups in the crisis in Syria would create a new extremist haven and destabilize the wider Middle East, sparking sectarian wars in his own country and in Lebanon.

Nouri al-Maliki’s comments in a wide-ranging interview with the Associated Press marked one of his strongest warnings yet about the turmoil that the collapse of the Syrian government could create.

“If the world does not agree to support a peaceful solution through dialogue … then I see no light at the end of the tunnel,” al-Maliki said.

“Neither the opposition nor the regime can finish each other off,” he continued. “The most dangerous thing in this process is that if the opposition is victorious, there will be a civil war in Lebanon, divisions in Jordan and a sectarian war in Iraq.”

Al-Maliki emphatically denied aiding arms transfers: “Not to the regime and not to the opposition. No weapon is being transferred through Iraqi skies, territories or waters,” he said.

He characterized Baghdad’s relationship with the U.S. as maturing nearly a decade after the March 20, 2003, invasion, and said there is a strong will on both sides to strengthen relations further.

“What is going on in Iraq is connected to what is happening in the region. It is also connected to the results of the so-called Arab Spring and some sectarian policies in the region,” he said.

“Our patience will continue because we believe that there are people in these provinces who are patriotic and they reject sectarianism, believe in the unity of the country and denounce the voices uttering sectarian words.”

H. SH