Sharon: Israel's neighbors not the problem; Iran is

TEL AVIV — Israel's military chief says Arab neighbors are not planning war, but Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Iran is trying hard to spark a conflict.

Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Shaul Mofaz said despite rising military tension with the Palestinians and Syrians, Israel does not see preparations for war by Arab neighbors. Mofaz cited Israel's peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan as strategic factors that stabilize the region.

"There is no intention for war among any of the countries who share a border with Israel," Mofaz said in an interview on Israel Radio. Certainly [plans of war] this does not exist in Israel or the Israeli Defense Forces."

Mofaz said other elements are trying to attack Israel. The general said Saudi billionaire fugitive Osama Bin Laden is trying to launch strikes against the Jewish state. Earlier this week, Israeli authorities arrested a Palestinian attorney accused of being a Bin Laden agent. Palestinian sources termed the detained attorney, Adnan Hafar, a human rights activist.

For his part, Sharon pointed to a growing threat from Lebanon, where Hizbullah has vowed to attack Israeli positions. The prime minister said Iran has launched construction of a missile base in Lebanon.

"Iran has started building a base in Lebanon from which they can fire rockets or long-range Katyushas that can reach the center of the country," Sharon told the Jerusalem Post.

In Berlin, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak again warned that the current tension in the Middle East is more dangerous than war. But Mubarak, in an interview with German television, ruled out the prospect of a regional conflict.

Mubarak has urged the Bush administration to retain U.S. peacekeepers in the Sinai peninsula, which is adjacent to Israel. On Tuesday, the issue of the U.S. deployment was raised during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing to confirm Dov Zakheim, nominated to the post of undersecretary and comptroller.

Zakheim, who served in the Reagan administration and is regarded as a Middle East expert, was asked by Sen. Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat, regarding the nominee's reported comment that U.S. peacekeeping operations were strategically marginal. Zakheim responded that U.S. deployment decision whether in Bosnia, Kosovo or Sinai should be taken in consultation with Washington's allies.