07 January 2005	Friday	25 Ziqa'ad 1425

AMMAN, Jan 6: Iraq's Arab neighbours on Thursday prodded wavering Sunnis to vote in this month's election to prevent a clean sweep to power by Shias with close ties to Iran, diplomats and officials said.

They said Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait and Syria - meeting in Amman along with Turkey and Iran - issued a statement warning against any outside interference to influence the Jan 30 vote.

Diplomats and Jordanian officials said "outside interference" referred to Iran, which backs Shia groups poised to win in the polls, and to a lesser extent Syria. "We reiterated our respect for Iraq's sovereignty. The Iranian delegation stressed that Iraq was Arab," said Foreign Minister Hani Mulki after the end of the meeting.

Sunnis had to go to the polls to ensure that they are not sidelined, Mr Mulki added. A Shia list with close ties to Iran was expected to dominate a 275-member Iraqi parliament. Under US pressure, Washington's Arab allies have backed down from seeking an election delay that could persuade embattled Sunnis to vote.

But a threatened widespread Sunni boycott could weaken the legitimacy of a post-election government. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said before the Amman meeting his country would raise in a closed session specific examples of interference by some of Iraq's neighbours.

"There are countries that are interfering in one way or another but my message to them is: 'leave us alone and let us decide our future without any interference, without any backing, without any funding and any support to influence the outcome of the elections'," Mr Zebari said.

"We need positive friendly cooperation but not intervention," he added. Jordan's King Abdullah also warned in an interview published on Thursday that any foreign interference in Iraqi elections could lead to a biased government and fragmentation of Iraq.

"We expect all the religious and political affiliations to participate in Iraqi elections so that no group would feel it is marginalized in the future," he told Kuwait's Al Rai al Aam newspaper.

Relations between Tehran and Amman have cooled since King Abdullah charged last month that Iran was trying to establish a "Shia belt" through Lebanon, Iraq and Syria. Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi accused Jordan of plotting to restore the Hashemite monarchy in Iraq, which ended when king Faisal II was killed in a Baathist coup in 1958. -Reuters