His Majesty King Abdullah described the situation in Iraq as “complicated and extremely dangerous”.

“It is painful to see the continuation of violence that has nothing to do with religion or humanity, as does incitement,” he told Asharq Al Awsat Editor-in-Chief Tariq Homayed.

“We hope that the efforts of all Iraq's neighbours, including Iran, would be focused on helping Iraq out of its crisis and preventing it from slipping into an all-encompassing civil war, the repercussions of which will reverberate throughout the region. This will increase frustration and conflict,” he told the London-based newspaper.

The King said Sunnis and Shiites must put aside their differences and prevent external interference in their affairs.

“They should also reject intervention from those states that see this region as a field to implement their designs at the expense of peoples' security and stability. As everyone knows, Shiites and Sunnis have lived in harmony for years in several countries and we hope this co-existence will continue. Jordan hopes to avert religious and sectarian differences which could serve the political agenda of any other country.

This would bring destruction to our region and threaten global security,” he warned.

The Jordan Times