Cairo,23rd December 2002(Agencies)

By Banadir.com

The Arab League said yesterday that it is totally against a U.S. attack on Iraq and warned that any offensive will have serious consequences. Hisham Badr, Director at the Arab League's office, said the Cairo-based league has played a key role in persuading Baghdad to let UN arms inspectors back, to avert war.

"The league totally rejects a war against Iraq because this will open the doors of hell. Any attack will have serious consequences and uncontrollable repercussions," Badr told reporters at the Zayed Centre for Coordination and Follow-up. He said the League is in touch with Iraq and all other relevant parties and is awaiting the results of the arms inspections.

"Threats of a war against Iraq will only divert world attention from the Arab-Israeli conflict and from the flagrant Israeli violations against the unarmed Palestinian people."

Badr, referring to the recent address by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein regarding Kuwait, said the Arab league rejects "anything that contravenes with the Beirut-Arab summit's decisions concerning the safety, security and sovereignty of Kuwait and Iraq.

"We should be careful in making statements which can be interpreted negatively and may lead to the state before the invasion of Kuwait. The Arab league is not siding with any party at the expense of the other."