Egypt's Mubarak against U.S. withdrawal from Iraq

CAIRO, Apr 8 (Reuters) Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said in an interview broadcast today that civil war had started in Iraq but that the conflict would spread and worsen if US forces left the country.

Speaking on the pan-Arab satellite television channel Al Arabiya, Mubarak also noted the large Shi'ite Muslim presence in Arab states around Iraq and said many in these groups were more loyal to Iran than to their countries.

Asked what effect an immediate US troop withdrawal would have, he said: ''Now? It would be a disaster ... It would become an arena for a brutal civil war and then terrorist operations would flare up not just in Iraq, but in very many places.'' ''It's not on the threshold (of civil war). It's pretty much started. There are Sunnis, Shi'ites, Kurds and those types which come from Asia,'' he added.

Since US-led forces overthrew Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in the 2003 invasion, the Shi'ite majority has emerged as the largest political force in Iraq, disturbing the old status quo of Sunni domination in the Arab world.

Mubarak said of the Arab countries around Iraq ''There are Shi'ites in all of those states in very big percentages, and the loyalty of those Shi'ites is to Iran, most of them are loyal to Iran. Their loyalty is not to their particular countries.'' Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia have large Shi'ite communities but community leaders there deny they have any loyalty to any other country.

Mubarak dismissed the idea of sending Arab troops to Iraq in place of US and allied forces, saying Iraqis had made clear they did not want to be controlled by foreigners.

On the conflict in the Darfur region of western Sudan, Mubarak said that foreign interest had aggravated the problem by encouraging the Darfur rebels to make more demands on the Sudanese government. Khartoum makes the same argument.

He said Egypt opposed sending U.N. forces to Darfur, where the fighting of the past three years has displaced 3 million people, and the priority was to reach a political agreement.

Asked about allegations of massacres and genocide in Darfur, he said he had no evidence of that.

''There has been fighting and casualties but I can't say massacres or genocide. I would need strong proof that confirms to me that there have been massacres,'' he said.

Asked why the United States and Europe took such an interest in Darfur, he said: ''They may have more information than us.

There may be resources there and they have an interest.'' Mubarak also said that bequeathing power to his 42-year-old son Gamal was out of the question, and that he did not think Gamal wanted to be secretary-general of the ruling party.

Gamal was promoted to the post of assistant secretary-general earlier this year and opposition politicians say the Mubarak family is preparing him for the presidency through nomination as ruling party candidate in presidential elections.

Reuters OM VP0300