IRAQ - GCC Fears Iran's Nuke Threat.

Gulf News on March 21 quoted the Director of the Abu Dhabi-based Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and Research (ECSSR) Dr Jamal al-Suwaidi as saying the Arabs must seek their own nuclear bomb as long as Iran continued its programme and Israel kept its nuclear arsenal. He said: "We cannot just sit idly watching Iran develop a nuclear bomb. Israel already has a significant arsenal. There is a role here to be played by the two largest Arab countries - Saudi Arabia and Egypt".

Suwaidi ruled out the possibility of a joint Arab Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) nuclear programme as an illusion, saying: "Only big countries like Saudi Arabia and Egypt are capable of achieving this". He said Iran was as "dangerous" as Israel, adding: "They are both foreign states with nuclear technology. The problem is that many Arabs tend to underestimate the Iranian threat because it is a Muslim state. Nobody seems to comprehend the real danger of the Iranian project".

Suwaidi criticised President Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad for wasting Iran's resources on atomic reactors instead of developing the economy and addressing social issues, saying: "That makes me think about the real intentions of Iran. They are trying to satisfy the Persian tendency to dominate the Gulf". He said an American attack against Iran was possible "if the Iranians crossed the red line, which is the expansion of uranium enrichment for weapons purposes", adding: "Anyway, the Israelis also talk of plans to attack Iran".

Suwaidi's strongest criticism was directed at the US which he said had started carving up the Arab world along sectarian lines, starting from Iraq. He said: "The US launched its war on Iraq for two reasons: raising the oil prices and dividing the country. Both goals have been achieved. In fact the one Iraq is no more. Today we have Shi'ites, Sunnis and Kurds". He warned the Iraqi crisis might lead to sectarian conflict in other parts of the Gulf region.