Iran & Sudan Accuse US of Creating Strife in Middle East

President Ahmadinejad of Iraq and President Al-Bashir of Sudan accuse the US of creating Middle East Strife.

APRIL 28, 2007 - While on a 2 day visit to Sudan, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir accused the United States of creating strife in Iraq, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories. The Bush administration has accused Iran of having a secret program to build nuclear weapons and has charged that Sudan has failed to protect civilians from violence in its western Darfur region. Both oil-producing countries reject the accusations. Both countries are considered by the US as key components of an Islamist alliance opposed to U.S. interests, along with the pro-Iranian Hezbollah guerrilla movement in Lebanon and the Palestinian group Hamas, which refuses to recognize Israel. President al-Bashir of Sudan accused the US of attempting to create strife between Iraq and Lebanon and attempting to start a civil war in Palestine. President Ahmadinejad of Iraq concurred with al-Bashir's contentions and went on to say, "The age of the imposition of hegemony and authority of the corrupt powers is nearing its end." President Ahmadinejad blamed the presence of U.S.-led foreign forces for sectarian and other violence in Iraq and said the forces were no longer needed because Iraq had a constitution, parliament and legitimate government. He asserted that the only reason the US forces are in Iraq is to steal the wealth of the land and expand its military occupancy in the region and the entire Muslim world. Iran says its nuclear program is only for electricity, and Bashir said Tehran had a right to develop its program for peaceful purposes. There continues to be much doubt in the West that Iran's nuclear development is only for peaceful purposes.