CAIRO, September 16 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - U.S. Ambassador to Cairo David Welch claimed Monday, September 16, that Washington has no plans to redraw the map of the Middle East, but observers brushed aside his remarks as "an attempt to improve a deeply-rooted image of flagrant U.S. bias towards Israel".

Welch's remarks, published Monday in an interview with the Egyptian daily newspaper, Al-Ahram, and which also appeared in Arabic on the U.S. Embassy website, came amid fears that a U.S. war against Iraq would lead to a break-up of Arab states.

"We do not want to draw new borders in the Middle East because we are not a colonial power," Welch said, quoted by Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"We already have enough problems with the maps that were drawn in the past... and our relationship with the region is important," he added, referring to how European powers carved up the region last century.

Arab media expressed concerns for regional stability if the United States launches a war against Iraq, for what it claims is Iraq’s failure to comply with U.N. disarmament resolutions imposed in 1990.

They fear not only that Iraq will break up into Shiite Muslim, Sunni Muslim and Kurdish states, but that such disintegration will also spread to Gulf Arab states, with Shiite populations, as well as Syria, Iran and Turkey, where there are Kurdish minorities.

The U.S. Ambassador also said Syria and Lebanon had to do more in the war on terrorism, following U.S. vows to act against the resistance Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah which Washington accuses - without proof - of terrorism.

Hezbollah successfully spearheaded the fight to end the Israeli occupation of South Lebanon.

"We have diplomatic ties with both countries and we have cooperation in the area of terrorism, but monitoring terrorist groups operating from Lebanese territory is a vital question, and the Lebanese government must do more," Welch was quoted as saying.

"The Syrian government has allowed terrorist organizations present in Lebanon to grow, and that is a very serious issue. People can no longer accept that," he said, without naming Hezbollah, backed by Syria and Iran.

Al-Ahram ran a commentary entitled: "We Do Not Agree" in which it said "it does not consider resistance against Israeli occupation as terrorism."

Observers and political analysts, meanwhile, played down Welch's statements as "nothing new, and just an attempt to improve the image of the U.S. in the Arab and Muslim countries".

"Mr. Welch is right about one thing: the Americans are not interested in drawing new maps [for the Middle East]. They do not care what a military strike against Iraq can and will cause in the region. They just want to have their goals achieved. To have access to the Iraqi oil, to surround Iran, to help Israel finish what is left of the Palestinian cause, and to make sure their presence in the Middle East will not be challenged," one Egyptian political analyst, who asked not to be named, told IslamOnline Monday.

"What consequences may such an unjustified military strike [against Iraq] have on the Middle East do not really interest the [George W.] Bush administration. However, they [Americans] are stupid and short-sighted. They could not learn the lessons of 9/11, and they are doing everything possible to repeat that attack, only on a larger scale this time.

"The Arabs hate the only superpower because of its policies that prevent them from their rights in Palestine, help tyrants who rule them, and never listen to their legitimate rights. The U.S. wants democracy to prevail everywhere in the world, but not in any Muslim or Arabic country. This is very clear and examples are numerous. However, striking Iraq will be the United States’ one fatal mistake in this area," he added.

On Monday, September 9, Lebanon refused to "accept threats" following U.S. vows to act against Hezbollah.

"We receive many positions on these subjects from other countries, but we do not accept threats and we do not submit to them," Lebanese Foreign Minister Mahmud Hammud said after meeting with U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Vincent Battle.

Hammud was reacting to comments from U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, who claimed that Hezbollah may be the "A-team" of "terrorism" and that the United States would act against the group "in good time."

"The declaration is not suitable at all, as the United States knows Lebanon's position toward the resistance and Hezbollah ...which forced out the Israeli occupation [forces]... and that enjoys consensus in Lebanon," he said.

"This does not help the good relations that we want between Lebanon and the United States...and we do not see the justification" of such a declaration, Hammud told reporters.