TEHRAN, Feb. 28 (Mehr News Agency) -- There is a "will" that is seeking to deepen conflicts in the Middle East region, former president Mohammad Khatami said in Tehran on Wednesday.

"Ethnical and sectarian violence is strangely fomented, thus scaring us more than ever," Khatami told a group of Afghan journalists.

"Our region is in crisis," said Khatami who chairs the International Institute for Dialogue among Cultures and Civilizations.

"In the Islamic and also Persian culture we have been the most tolerant, but now those who have learned tolerance from us, are trying to teach it to us.

"Why is the situation in our region becoming more critical everyday whereas the world is moving toward unity?"

The major powers seek to plunder the region's oil and gain dominance under the name of "development and democracy", he warned.

"Afghanistan used to be the epicenter of humanity and compassion but why is it the center of drugs now? What happened to the great aids that the major powers had promised to Afghanistan?

"We should all try to establish democracy in Afghanistan, strengthen its government, and help promote unity and development in the country," Khatami said.

... Payvand News - 3/1/07 ... --