With eye on Iran, Saudi insists Iraq solution is internal

BY AMENA BAKR AND NOAH BROWNING

(Reuters) - Saudi Arabia kept up a drumbeat of opposition to any foreign intervention in Iraq on Thursday in an apparent message to regional rival Iran, which has hinted at possible cooperation with the United States in quelling insurgents menacing Baghdad.

Washington is considering an Iraqi request to launch air strikes on the positions of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) rebels, and the Iranian president has said his countrymen will not hesitate to defend Shi'ite shrines there if need be. Either scenario would probably dismay Sunni Muslim Gulf Arab governments wary about what they see as meddling by Shi'ite Muslim power Iran in the region and opposed to any armed action that could harm Sunni communities in Iraq.

In a statement, the Saudi embassy in Britain reiterated that Riyadh opposed "all foreign intervention and interference in the internal affairs of Iraq. Instead, we urge all the people of Iraq, whatever their religious denominations, to unite to overcome the current threats and challenges facing the country."

And a Saudi source in the Gulf told Reuters that Riyadh's opposition to foreign intervention was shared by the United States, France and Britain. "No outside interference will be of any benefit," the source told Reuters.

The comments suggested Iraq risks becoming a pawn in a fierce regional power struggle between Iran and Sunni heavyweight Saudi Arabia, which was aghast when the U.S. occupation after Saddam's Hussein's fall in 2003 brought about elections that empowered Iraq's Shi'ite majority.

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(Additional reporting by Rania El Gamal; Writing by William Maclean; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/19/us-iraq-security-saudi-minister-idUSKBN0EU0WX20140619