Jordan's King Abdullah said this evening it would take a miracle to find a diplomatic solution to avert a US-led war on Iraq.
"Unfortunately I believe that we're now a bit too little, too late to see a way out, a diplomatic solution between Iraq and the international community," the king told the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
"Today I think the mechanisms are in place. I think it would be very difficult, it would take a miracle to find a dialogue and a peaceful solution out of the crisis."
The king was speaking from the same stage where, hours earlier, Secretary of State Colin Powell said time was running out for Baghdad and the US was ready to use force alone if its allies shrank from the task of disarming President Saddam Hussein.
Washington accuses Iraq of concealing weapons of mass destruction, which Baghdad denies, and is threatening to launch a war unless Saddam disarms.
King Abdullah said that while world attention was focused on Iraq, "the real trust-buster may lie somewhere else. For half the 20th century, and now into a new era, the Arab-Israeli conflict has brought instability and danger not just to the region, but worldwide."
He appealed for "clear, committed leadership" from the US to bring about a Middle East peace which would provide security to Israelis and a "viable, contiguous state" to the Palestinians.