Mubarak Says He Fears Iraq War will Drag On

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, March 23, 2003

Mubarak Says He Fears Iraq War will Drag On

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak expressed his fear on Sunday that the US-led war on Iraq would drag on due to strong resistance by the Iraqi army, the official Middle East News Agency reported.

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Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak expressed his fear on Sunday that the US-led war on Iraq would drag on due to strong resistance by the Iraqi army, the official Middle East News Agency reported.

Speaking to reporters at the Presidential Palace, the president reiterated Egypt's opposition to the US-led war in Iraq, calling for a ceasefire so as to seek a solution to the Iraq crisis, MENA said.

Mubarak said "My worst fears is that the military operations would last longer than planned," despite the assurance from the United states that the war would be brief.

A lengthy war would lead to more human losses and more sufferings and cause seriously impact on the entire region, he warned.

Meanwhile, Mubarak stressed that for the past more than one years, Egypt has been trying hard to help reach a common point of understanding among the United states, Iraq and European countries to avoid the outbreak of war on Iraq.

At some times there were positive responses, but obviously they were not enough to please the American side, the president said.

"We have done everything in our power and we could not have done anything more," he reasserted.

US warplanes started attacks on Baghdad early Thursday, just 90 minutes after the expiration of a US 48-hour ultimatum for Iraqi Saddam Hussein to leave the country or face war.

The United States has been accusing Iraq of hiding an development weapons of mass destruction and threaten to disarm it if necessary. Iraq had flatly denied the US allegations.

On Friday, the Pentagon announced that the "Shock and Awe" operation to topple the Iraqi regime under Saddam Hussein had begun, while US B-52 bombers and cruise missiles struck Baghdad andother Iraqi cities.

The advances of US-led coalition forces, however, have been blocked by the Iraqi army when they tried to take controls of the southern Iraqi city of Basra and the southern port of Umm Qasr.

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