Aide: Saudi Arabia will intervene in Iraq if U.S. withdraws

Saudi Arabia, the largest Arab state, is primarily Sunni, and houses Mecca, the birthplace of Mohammed

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Using money, weapons or its oil power, Saudi Arabia will intervene to prevent Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias from massacring Iraqi Sunni Muslims once the United States begins pulling out of Iraq, a security adviser to the Saudi government said on Wednesday.

Diplomats and analysts say Iraq's Sunni Arab neighbors, led by heavyweight Saudi Arabia, fear that the sectarian violence could spill into large-scale civil war between Shi'ites and Sunnis and set off a political earthquake far beyond Iraq.

Nawaf Obaid, writing in The Washington Post, said the Saudi leadership was preparing to revise its Iraq policy to deal with the aftermath of a possible U.S. pullout, and is considering options including flooding the oil market to crash prices and thus limit Iran's ability to finance Shi'ite militias in Iraq.

"To be sure, Saudi engagement in Iraq carries great risks -- it could spark a regional war. So be it: The consequences of inaction are far worse," Obaid said.

The article said the opinions expressed were Obaid's own and not those of the Saudi government.

"To turn a blind eye to the massacre of Iraqi Sunnis would be to abandon the principles upon which the kingdom was founded. It would undermine Saudi Arabia's credibility in the Sunni world and would be a capitulation to Iran's militarist actions in the region," he said.

An official Arab source sought to play down the comments.

"Saudi Arabia is worried about a new Iran imposing its political agenda on the region. We don't want Iran and its allies to have a free hand and free control," he said.

"Iran knows that it is vulnerable and that Saudi Arabia has the upper hand and maintains real weight and power."

A Western diplomat based in Riyadh said Saudi Arabia was already funding Sunni tribes in Iraq.

"I don't doubt for a second that they do pump money to the tribes, that's the Saudi way of doing things. But if they sent in troops it would be a bloodbath," he said.

Read the rest at the Washington Post

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