Diplomat acknowledges U.S. "arrogance" in Iraq

DUBAI, Oct 22 (Reuters) The United States has shown ''arrogance'' and ''stupidity'' in Iraq despite its good intentions, a senior US diplomat said in an interview aired by an Arabic news channel today.

''We tried to do our best but I think there is much room for criticism because, undoubtedly, there was arrogance and there was stupidity from the United States in Iraq,'' Alberto Fernandez, director of public diplomacy in the bureau of Near Eastern affairs in the US State Department, told Al Jazeera.

''... But I believe there is a difference between mistakes made by the United States in Iraq and the noble and honourable intentions of the United States in Iraq. We need to concentrate now on how to save Iraq and end the violence and killing,'' said Fernandez, who was speaking in Arabic.

The U S State Department had said earlier that a translation of the comments posted on Al Jazeera's English language Web site misquoted Fernandez.

''What he (Fernandez) says is that it is not an accurate quote,'' State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. Asked whether he thought the United States would be judged as being arrogant, McCormack said ''No''.

Fernandez said Washington was ready to talk with any Iraqi group except al Qaeda in Iraq to end violence.

Al Jazeera aired a separate interview with a spokesman for ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's Baath Party who said the United States was seeking a face-saving exodus from Iraq, and insurgents were ready to negotiate but not lay down their arms.

The spokesman, identified as Abu Mohammed, outlined a series of conditions he said would have to be met before talks with the Americans could begin.

The demands included the return to service of Saddam's armed forces, the scrapping of every law adopted since his removal from power, the recognition of insurgent groups as the sole representatives of the Iraqi people and a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign troops.

Fernandez dismissed the conditions.

''There is an element of the farcical in that statement ...

They are very removed from reality, and the traditional Baath Party in Iraq is a thing of the past,'' he told Al Jazeera.

US President George W Bush, facing public discontent with the Iraq war ahead of midterm elections on November 7, acknowledged in his weekly radio address yesterday that violence in Iraq had risen sharply.

Yesterday he held discussions with top US military commanders to discuss the war in Iraq, and reiterated a recent message that he would make ''every necessary change'' in tactics to try to reduce the bloodshed.

REUTERS DKA KP1853