Alberto Fernandez, US State Department director of public diplomacy in the Near Eastern Affairs bureau, said he realised after reading the interview transcript that he "seriously misspoke" in using the phrase "there has been arrogance and stupidity" by the United States in Iraq.
"This represents neither my views nor those of the State Department. I
apologise," Fernandez said in a statement released by the department.
On Saturday Fernandez gave an interview to Al-Jazeera television in which he said, speaking in Arabic, that "there have been many mistakes in the (US) foreign policy in Iraq."
"We tried to do our best, but I believe that there is a great room for strong criticism, because -- undoubtedly -- there was arrogance and stupidity in US (dealing) with Iraq."
Fernandez had added that the United States is ready to talk with "those who care for Iraq" to end the civil strife raging there.
"We are open to dialogue. We all believe at the end of the day ... that the solution to the inferno in Iraq is completely linked to an effective national Iraqi reconciliation," Fernandez told Al-Jazeera.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2006