Washington, Sept 9, SPA -- Jordan's King Abdullah II, in a Time magazine interview to be published next week, painted a dark picture of a Middle East region consumed by conflicts, threatened by emerging sectarian tensions, and at risk of being completely destabilized if the West attacks Iran. "I believe the Lebanese war dramatically opened all our eyes to the fact tat if we don t solve the Palestinian issue, the future looks pretty bleak for the Middle East," Abdullah told the magazine. " I' m one of the most optimistic people you'll come across. But for the first time, I started becoming pessimistic towards the region. Without urgent diplomatic efforts that yield tangible results to achieve Israeli-Palestinian peace, I don't think there will ever be a Palestinian state," the king said. "By 2007, if we don't see something that reassures all of us the international community, the Israelis, the Arabs, and the Palestinians then I think we are doomed to another decade or decades of violence between Israelis and Arabs, which affects everybody." In Jordan's view, the king said, "There needs to be some sort of Palestinian integral geographic state, today and not tomorrow." But moderates pushing for a peaceful resolution, he complained, have been neutralized because of the stagnation in Arab-Israeli negotiations. Abdullah expressed concern that the region's troubles could multiply with the crises in Iraq and Iran. He expressed fears of civil war in Iraq if it continues to spiral. He also cautioned against the thought of American military action to prevent Iran from its nuclear program. "I don t think the Middle East could afford another war," the king said. "A war with Iran would sort of open a Pandora s Box and be one that I don t think the Middle East would recover from."--SPA www.spa.gov.sa/388062