No Arab state supported the suggestion of a military assault on Iraq, the President of Egypt, Mr Hosni Mubarak, declared yesterday.
Reaction to earlier comments by the US Vice-President, Mr Dick Cheney, who called for pre-emptive military action to overthrow President Saddam Hussein, Mr Mubarak said: "I don't think there is one Arab state that wants a strike on Iraq, not Kuwait, not Saudi Arabia, not any other state."
He observed that Saudi Arabia had "clearly said it will not allow the use of its bases to strike Iraq," as it did during the 1991 US-led campaign to drive Iraq from Kuwait.
Mr Mubarak, whose troops fought in that war, said he had warned President George Bush: "If you strike Iraq and kill Iraqis while Palestinians are being killed, this would lead to a dangerous situation. Not one Arab leader will be able to control the angry outburst of the masses."
He added: "It would lead to chaos. I think the United States is aware of that."
The Syrian President, Dr Bashar al-Assad, who paid a brief visit to Saudi Arabia on Monday where he met Crown Prince Abdullah, said a war against Iraq would destabilise the region and produce a humanitarian tragedy.
Prince al-Walid, a billionaire nephew of King Fahd of Saudi Arabia and one of the biggest private investors in the US, warned: "We don't want to have another Vietnam; we can't afford another Vietnam." He asked for time to bring Iraq into compliance with UN resolutions on arms control and other issues. "I don't think we have exhausted all the channels," he said.
In a telephone call on the eve of today's meeting with the Saudi ambassador, Prince Bandar, Mr Bush attempted to reassure Crown Prince Abdullah that relations between the two countries were as strong and said that the US was committed to the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Prince Bandar was due to deliver to Mr Bush a letter from the Crown Prince stating Saudi positions on bilateral relations, Palestine, Iraq and oil ahead of next month's scheduled meeting of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries and proposed summit between the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Syria.
In Qatar, which hosts a US military base, the Foreign Minister, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr al-Thani, said an attack on Iraq would be a "catastrophe". Washington had not asked Qatar to provide military facilities to US troops.
