The outcome of Moussa’s visit is expected to help outline an Arab strategy on Iraq.

JEDDAH, October 3, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa is expected to visit Iraq as soon as possible to prepare for a reconciliation conference grouping the country’s religious and ethnic mosaic.

"In light of the outcome of (Moussa’s) visit, an Arab strategy on Iraq will be drawn up and submitted to the league's ministerial council in the near future," Saudi Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal reporters late Sunday, October 2, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Speaking to reporters after a meeting of the Arab committee on Iraq here, Saud said Moussa would go to Iraq "very soon," noting that the proposed conference will be held under the Arab League auspices.

The proposed visit comes amidst heated debates over the draft constitution which has sharpened rifts in the war-ravaged country and is opposed by Sunni Arabs, Shiite leader Moqtada Al-Sadr, communists and other political powers.

Moussa has decided to send his assistant Ahmed Bin Heli to the Iraqi capital to pave the way for his visit.

The Arab league chief had warned that some parts of the new charter were a "recipe of chaos."

There was no mention of dispatching Arab observers to monitor the October 15 referendum on the charter and national elections in December, a possibility mooted before the ministerial committee met in Jeddah for the first time since it was created by the Arab League in September.

Sunni leaders have urged a "no" vote, mainly because they are opposed to the inclusion of federalism in the new charter as they believe it will divide Iraq and exclude them from sharing in oil wealth, as reserves are concentrated mainly in the Kurdish north and Shiite south.

The final draft of the new constitution has been handed over to the UN for printing and distribution after being endorsed by the Shiites and Kurds, who hold a sweeping majority in the parliament.

Sunnis are a majority in Al-Anbar, Nineveh and Salahudin provinces and Iraq's interim law stipulates that the text fails if two-thirds of any three provinces vote against it during the referendum.

Addressing the meeting, Prince Saud reiterated concerns at the possibility of civil war between Iraq's Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds, and warned foreign countries against interfering for "short term benefit".

"Iraq's neighbors should understand that history would never forgive those who used the tragedy of Iraq to serve their vested interests," he said.

In September, Sunni leaders did not rule out declaring civil disobedience if the US-Iraqi troops launched more "sectarian" attacks on Sunni towns.

They demanded the government compensate the people of targeted towns like Fallujah and Tal Afar for the damage they incurred in the all-out onslaughts.

Prince Saud launched in September a scathing criticism of the US policy in Iraq, saying it was pushing the country for a deadly civil war and handing it over to Iran.

The remarks drew fire from Iraqi Interior Minister Bayan Baqer Sulagh, who told reporters in Amman Sunday that he would not take lessons from "a bedouin on a camel" and accused the kingdom of oppressing its Shiite minority.

But Sulagh, a Shiite, was publicly rebuked by Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari.

"These statements are extremely regrettable... coming from a colleague of ours in government," Zebari told reporters in Jeddah Sunday.

"We hold the (Saudi) kingdom, and particularly Prince Saud Al-Faisal, in high esteem," he added.

Participants in the meeting had earlier told AFP that Zebari apologized for the anti-Saudi tirade behind closed doors.

The Arab committee on Iraq groups Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Syria.

All members were represented by their foreign ministers except Algeria, which sent presidential envoy Abdelaziz Belkhadem.