Anti-war activists from Egypt and around the world Wednesday forecast bloodshed, anger and years of chaos in the Middle East if the United States wages war against Iraq. Amid expectations that Washington would move a step closer to war this week by declaring Iraq in "material breach" of a U.N. disarmament resolution, intellectuals and lawmakers meeting in Cairo accused Washington of using war to snatch Iraqi oil, dominate the region and stay the sole superpower.

"I can't think of any good consequences. I think the probability is it (war) would result in thousands of deaths on top of hundreds and thousands of deaths," former U.S. attorney general Ramsey Clark told Reuters.

"The anger and frustration that would arise from it could spread not only throughout this region but elsewhere, and create violence and instability for years to come," he said on the sidelines of a conference to highlight the danger of a conflict.

Ashraf el-Bayoumi, an Egyptian professor and one of the conference organizers, accused Washington of "launching an attack on Iraq, occupying Iraq, usurping its natural resources, oil and otherwise, in order to continue being the solo superpower in the world."

The two-day meeting reflects rising concern in Egypt, a vital U.S. ally in the Arab world, about an imminent strike against Iraq. President Hosni Mubarak has said a war would be a "catastrophe for everyone." Most Egyptians fear average Iraqis would suffer most.

Egypt has urged Washington to give weapons inspections a chance and seek to avert conflict. But analysts say Cairo, which receives DLRS 2 billion a year in U.S. aid, could face a dilemma if war starts, and may have to curb criticism to avoid alienating the United States.

WAR FEARED IMMINENT

Clark, one of several international activists at the conference, said: "An attack on Iraq is obviously unlawful, it is criminal. Genocide is already being committed by the United States against Iraq."

He said a strike "builds toward world domination and it has to be stopped and it is an urgent issue because it can happen in the next three months," before the summer heat sets in.

Among others attending the conference was former U.N. humanitarian aid coordinator for Iraq, Denis Halliday, who resigned in 1998 to protest against the effect of sanctions against Baghdad.

Halliday said Washington, by accusing Baghdad of materially breaching the tough new UN resolution, "plans to undermine the work of inspections and the work of the Iraqi government."

"The United States doesn't want a peaceful solution. They want an excuse to go to war, to conquer Iraq and control its oil," he said.

"Thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, may be at risk and can be killed...We will see a great deal of unrest and instability (in the Arab world)," Halliday said.

Clark said United States was determined to proclaim material breach regardless of facts on the ground. "It is obsessed with a determination, a passion to attack Iraq, and to change the government there," he said

PHOTO CAPTION

US threats to launch a war against Iraq are a "new crusade" to take control of Arab oil, former Algerian president Ahmed ben Bella told a conference in Egypt to defend Iraq and the Palestinians. "The United States is leading a senseless campaign to impose hegemony on oil and not to defend liberty and democracy," ben Bella told the opening of the two-day confe