“The Iraqi armed forces are defending their territory,” Mubarak

AIRO, April 1 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak Monday, March 31, has called for a new Iraq peace push in the face of the "appalling human tragedy" resulting from the fighting there, warning that it could produce "100 Osama bin Ladens".

"The armed confrontation in Iraq between the coalition forces who are seeking to overthrow the regime and the Iraqi armed forces who are defending their territory ... is resulting in an appalling human tragedy with victims on both sides and the destruction of a people," said, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"We must all work rapidly for a peaceful settlement which satisfies the will of the international community and preserves the unity, sovereignty and dignity of Iraq," the president told army officers in a televised address.

Mubarak warned that far from eliminating a possible “terror” threat against the United States, the campaign against Saddam's regime was liable to inflame world opinion and spark more attacks on U.S. targets.

"I fear this war will have enormous consequences and lead to an increase in terrorism. When this war ends, there may be 100 bin Ladens instead of just one," he said, referring to the head of the al-Qaeda movement.

"The war will have political, economic and social consequences that will be difficult to face," Mubarak said.

Rift With Syria

Mubarak denied that the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq had caused differences between Egypt and the regime in Syria, which has taken a more hostile position to the war against its eastern neighbor.

Relations between the two Arab governments were "longstanding and strategic," the Egyptian leader said.

Last Wednesday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher called in the Syrian ambassador in Cairo to protest against what he described as "irresponsible machinations" during anti-war demonstrations in Damascus.

Some protestors had chanted slogans criticizing Egypt for not going further in its opposition to British and U.S. military action.

Mubarak also responded to repeated protestors' demands that the Suez canal linking the Mediterranean to the Red Sea be closed to coalition warships, saying this was not possible under the Constantinople Treaty of 1888, which is binding on Egypt.

"The passage of ships through the Suez canal is the right of all states, unless Egypt is at war with one," he said.

Anti-war protests staged throughout Egypt have urged Mubarak to close the canal to warships sailing toward the Gulf. On Sunday, another three U.S. warships crossed the canal from the Mediterranean into the Red Sea bound for the war zone.

Also Monday, Egypt also ordered the release of 64 anti-war protesters, including two lawmakers, who police detained after anti-war protests, prosecutors said.

Nasserite Party MP Hamdeen Sabahi, 50, and independent politician Mohammed Farid Hassanein, 55, were freed Sunday after being among scores of people detained over allegedly inciting protesters to destroy property and attack police officers.