Iraq in danger of sliding into civil war: Egyptian PM

AMMAN, Jan 13 (AFP) - Iraq is in danger of sliding into civil war and splitting into mini-states based around its various faiths, Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmad Nazif said Thursday.
"If the situation in Iraq does not change, there are risks of civil war and the partition of the country into small states on a confessional basis," Nazif said in Amman after talks with his Jordanian counterpart Faisal al-Fayez.
The Egyptian prime minister, who also met King Abdullah II during his visit, called on Iraqis to "unite and make the superior interest of Iraq count over narrow confessional interests".
A boycott of Iraq's January 30 elections by several Sunni Muslim political movements has raised fears of sectarian strife if, as expected, the majority Shiites emerge as the big winners from the polls.

01/13/2005 18:33 GMT - AFP