Iran leader warns of hurricane in West Asia

DUSHANBE, Tajikistan, July 25 (Reuters) Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned today that the conflict between Lebanon and Israel could sweep through the entire West Asia like a hurricane.

''If (problems) are decided through the use of force, everything becomes double-complicated,'' Ahmadinejad told a news briefing in the capital of ex-Soviet Tajikistan.

''He who sows the wind will reap a hurricane and this will be a very strong storm in the whole West Asia region, which will strike painfully,'' he added.

Iran backs Lebanon's Hizbollah guerrilla group, whose capture of two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid on July 12 sparked Israeli air strikes on Lebanon.

REUTERS MQA RAI2212