NEW DELHI -- An attack on Iraq by the U.S. would lead to destabilizing changes across the world and affect the global economy, Iraqi Ambassador to India Salah al-Mukhtar warned here Monday.

He said, Iraqi forces would "deal properly" with any invading U.S. troops but such a move by Washington could lead to a larger regional conflict, reported Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) on Tuesday.

"We pray to God to prevent a war, but if the U.S. sends its troops, no American soldier entering Iraq will leave Iraq," Al-Mukhtar told a conference here on international implications of a U.S. attack on Iraq.

"Such an attack will lead to a major regional war not limited to Iraq. Many Arab governments will fall apart, oil prices will rise and the world economy will suffer".

Al-Mukhtar said any conflict between Iraqi and American forces would not be like the (Persian) Gulf War, when the U.S. had sent in its troops to evict Iraqi forces that had occupied Kuwait.

Reports from the West have indicated that U.S. President George W.

Bush's administration is firming up plans to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

Describing Bush as a "crazy and naive dictator," Al-Mukhtar said if the U.S. had its way in changing the administration in Baghdad, it would then resort to "blackmailing" other developing countries.

"They are preparing grounds for an intervention in Jammu and Kashmir after Iraq, maybe they will even interfere in China," he said.

He said Baghdad was opposed to the return of U.N.

weapons inspectors to Iraq as it felt they would only update intelligence on Iraqi military assets to facilitate U.S. attacks. "The return of the inspectors should be accompanied by a comprehensive agreement, including the lifting of sanctions, an end to the no-fly zone and an end to U.S. efforts to topple the Iraqi government."

Former Indian prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda, who also spoke at the conference, described the U.S. stand on Iraq as "unjust". "The U.S. expects third world nations to behave like slaves. Their reasons for being suspicious of Iraq are not based on reality," he said, adding, "What business do they have to interfere in the sovereignty of other nations?" Diplomats and several former Indian ministers attended the conference, organizd by the Indo-Iraq friendship society.