Iraq defiant as support from Arabs mounts

In an interview to Pulse of Youth, a weekly newspaper, run by President Saddam Hussein’s eldest son, Uday, Ahmed said, “We will not be intimidated by Washington’s military might”.

Meanwhile, opposition appeared to mount in the Arab world to any US-led strike on Iraq as the Arab League said the world community must not show double standards in its treatment of Baghdad.

Arab League secretary-general Esmat Abdel Meguid unveiled a compromise proposal aimed at resolving the crisis.

He said he was proposing the setting up of aspecial new team to inspect Saddam Hussein’s palaces, adding that this diplomatic effort could put an end to any military strike which could prove disastrous for the whole region.

The Arab League chief, who held talks with Saddam Hussein in Baghdad last week, said the Iraqi President was ready to grant UN weapons experts full access to 68 disputed sites for the next two months.

Iraq sent its Foreign Minister Mohammed Saeed Al-Sahaf today on a tour of Syria, Egypt and probably Lebanon, aimed at rallying Arab leaders against a possible military strike.

Kuwait is already in a state of military preparedness, calling up its reserve force of 24,000 troops, and the 16,00-strong Kuwait military has been placed on heightened alert in apprehension of a war.

In the West Bank town of Jenin, thousands of Palestinians urged Saddam to hit Israel with his Scud missiles.

Earlier, US Defence Secretary William Cohen arrived in Kuwait from Saudi Arabia on the second day of a whistle-stop tour to brief Gulf leaders onUS preparations for a possible attack on Iraq.