CAIRO (AFP) -- Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has sought to defuse anger over remarks he made about Shia Muslims being more loyal to Iran than their own countries, saying he was referring only to religion.

"My remarks about Shiites dealt with their religious loyalties and sympathies, without putting into question the patriotism of Shias in Iraq or any other country," Mubarak said in an interview Saturday in the official daily Akhbar al-Youm. Both Iran and Iraq had condemned the statements made by Mubarak to Al- Arabiya television on April 8 in which he said "Shias are mostly always loyal to Iran and not the countries where they live."

"Egypt does not linger on small details or on attempts to mask reality. What is important is the protection of the Iraqi people who have suffered a great deal," he told Akhbar al-Youm.

"Our efforts towards the Iraqi people do not differentiate among Sunnis, Shias or Kurds ... They are all Iraqis and our brothers."