- AMMAN (Reuters) - Prince
Hassan of Jordan said on Tuesday terror would not end with the end of the
war in Iraq, and individual "terrorists" could turn into weapons
of mass destruction.
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- The war would inflame Arab extremism and the transition
to democracy in Iraq would be hampered by a rise in terrorism and conflict
for decades to come, the former crown prince told Reuters in an interview.
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- Prince Hassan said he expected a surge of opposition
to foreign rule in Iraq. Iraqis needed to have a public debate over the
future of the country to pave the way for elections and a constitutional
government, he said.
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- "With the outcome of the war...terror is not going
to end. On the contrary, individual terrorists, within less than 10 years,
can become a weapon of mass destruction.
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- "And I think the healing process is going to be
made much more difficult by the continuation of (Osama) bin Laden style
assassinations, acts of terror...and the war itself will produce extremism."
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- Hassan, uncle of King Abdullah of Jordan, said poverty
and disrespect for human dignity were recruiting grounds for suicide attacks.
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- It was essential now to work to ensure that Iraq did
not fracture into a "militarized democracy."
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- "I think this military democracy in fighting the
war is understandable. But in waging the peace it's going to be very difficult
to comprehend if the new ruler of Iraq is going to be the defense ministry,
or U.S. administrators...or U.S. ambassadors advised by Iraqi exiles,"
Hassan said.
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- "I just wonder how this is going to tally with the
blood, ruin and trouble that the Iraqi people are suffering."
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- FRAGMENTED OPPOSITION
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- Hassan, a member of the Hashemite dynasty in Jordan,
was named heir to the throne in 1966 by his brother King Hussein, who died
of cancer in 1999. But he lost the title when his brother, on his deathbed,
changed the law of succession to pass the throne to his son.
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- Hassan has been intimately involved in talks between
fragmented exiled Iraqi opposition groups and attended a London conference
in December on the form of government that should be established in post-Saddam
Iraq.
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- He said any new Iraqi leadership seen as a creation of
the Americans would obviously have to rely on American support to remain
in power.
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- He criticized what he saw as U.S. double standards in
the region, recalling former U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt's statement
that Nicaraguan despot Anastasio Somoza was "a son of a bitch, but
he is alright because he is our son of a bitch."
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- Hassan dismissed media reports that he himself had ambitions
to rule in Iraq and said Iraq should be ruled by Iraqis.
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- "As far as bloodlines are concerned, as far as titles
are concerned, and as far as red carpet fever is concerned, I have never
had it and never will have it," he said.
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- The Iraqi army overthrew Iraq's Hashemite monarchy led
by Hassan's cousin, King Faisal, in 1958. Saddam Hussein came to power
in 1968.
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- But Hassan said he would gladly accept a role as mediator
between exiled Iraqi opposition groups in efforts to form a post-Saddam
government.
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- "If my cultural affinity and whatever experience
I've accrued over decades of public service...(mean) there's a contribution
I can make, I'd be very happy to do that," he said. (Additional reporting
by Suleiman Khalidi)
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