KARACHI, April 3: Eminent Iraqi scholar Sayed Ammar Al Hakim, currently visiting Pakistan, said on Tuesday that the Iraqi people opposed a U.S. attack on Iran and were also against the fragmentation of their own country on sectarian or ethnic lines.

“We are opposed to aggression against and by any country and we believe that an attack on Iran would lead to a big catastrophe and devastating large scale war,” the Iraqi scholar said while responding to questions after delivering a keynote address at the Pakistan Institute of International Affairs on “Four years and thirteen days: Iraq today and tomorrow.”

Sayed Ammar Al Hakim is the eldest son on Abdul Aziz Al Hakim, President Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq and President of the United Islamic Parties.

Responding to a question about the current stand off between Iran and the USA amid deteriorating security environment, the Iraqi scholar said the Iraqi people were very concerned and would like the matter to be resolved through negotiations and dialogue.

He said the Iraqi people had the will and capacity to govern themselves but developments over the past 30 years or so had had a negative impact.

He was of the view that the movement to end the Saddam regime was not launched by the Iraqi people, but the outcome of policies of the world powers, he added.

Referring to factional fighting and terrorist attacks in Iraq, Sayed Ammar said the groups pitted against each other consider themselves to be right and was using forces against their opponents, in the name of Islam.

He claimed these groups were getting aid from various sources. He rejected the notion that a sectarian war was going on.

He said Iraq was not only striving for internal peace and cohesion though dialogue, it was also trying to have good and peaceful relations with its neighbours.

He called upon the Arab countries to evolve a common strategy to deal with the evolving political and security environment. Responding to a question he said the media was distorting many reports about happenings in his country.