WASHINGTON: The Bush administration rejected Monday assertions by President Hosni Mubarak, a close Arab ally; Iraq is descending into civil war.
That s not our assessment, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. We don t share that assessment. Mubarak said in a television interview Saturday that civil war has almost started in Iraq and an American troop withdrawal would only make the situation worse.
Mubarak also told the Arab satellite channel Al-Arabiya that the current unrest was deposed President Saddam Hussein s fault and that at the moment, Iraq is almost close to destruction.
Asked to respond, McCormack said certainly there are great difficulties in Iraq with respect to the security situation.
And yet, he said, there is progress on the political front and on a variety of other fronts in Iraq.
What we think is important is that the countries of the region, the leaders of the region, do everything they can to help the Iraqi people move forward the democratic political process that is under way, McCormack said.
Also, he said, Arab leaders should provide diplomatic support to Iraq and help Iraqis with their security challenges.
McCormack acknowledged Egypt was helping with some police training, and then appeared to scold Mubarak.
We would certainly call upon every country to do everything that it possibly could in that regard, including the public diplomatic rhetoric, he said. AP
