The Saudi Defence Minister, Prince Sultan Bin Abdel Aziz, has pre-empted the encounter at Jeddah between Saudi King Fahd with the US Defence Secretary, Mr William Cohen, by stating categorically: "We are against striking Iraq as a people and as a nation".
The prince's declaration, published on Saturday in a Saudi English language newspaper to avoid misinterpretation, amounted to a rebuff to the US in its efforts to secure co-operation in the Gulf region for possible military action against Iraq.
Of the six Gulf Co-operation Council members only Kuwait has agreed to permit US warplanes to use its airfields for an offensive - and this only on condition that all peaceful remedies have been exhausted. Washington clearly did not expect Prince Sultan, the full brother of the ailing king, to broaden the firm refusal to grant the US the use of Saudi facilities into overall opposition to military action. As Prince Sultan and King Fahd have been supportive of US policy towards Iraq, Washington obviously hoped they would change into "yes" the "no" uttered by the more independent Crown Prince Abdullah when he met the US Secretary of State, Ms Madeleine Albright, last week.
Prince Sultan's declaration was also meant to pre-empt an obvious US attempt to play off one faction within the ruling family against another by making it clear that the House of Saud is united.
Saudi opposition could be costly. For the 30 F-16 US fighter-bombers stationed there are essential for a major ground attack. An equal number of F15C fighters are for protecting bombing missions and 50-odd support planes are for refuelling, radar and electronic jamming, command and control and surveillance.
Reuters reports from Rabat and Tehran: The Egyptian Foreign Minister, Mr Amr Moussa, met King Hassan of Morocco yesterday and said their countries, along with most Arab nations, were against a military strike on Baghdad.
After the meeting in Rabat, Mr Moussa said: "I examined with his majesty the king two main issues . . . The Iraq crisis and the deadlocked Middle East peace process . . . As part of the ongoing consultations between Arab countries, Egypt and Morocco are against military strikes on Iraq."
He said there was no question of holding an Arab summit over the Iraqi crisis. But he expressed some optimism on the outcome of diplomatic efforts to avert the crisis which erupted as Washington insisted UN weapons inspectors be given access to presidential sites to check for weapons of mass destruction.
Yesterday's meeting was also attended by Crown Prince Sidi Mohammed of Morocco and the Moroccan Prime Minister, Mr Abdellatif Filali.
Asked about the position of Arab countries, including Morocco and Egypt in case of a US military strike, Mr Moussa said: "At this stage there is a slight hope for the solution of the Iraqi crisis . . . We are working hard for a diplomatic option not a military one."
Iran said yesterday it would not tolerate any violation of its airspace or territorial waters.
"We will not tolerate any violation of Iranian airspace or territorial waters," the Iranian Defence Minister, Mr Ali Shamkhani, said in Tehran. Iran has repeatedly called for intensified diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis.
