MOSCOW, Feb 2: Softening its belligerent stance, Iraq today offered to open eight presidential sites to UN arms inspectors in a clear bid to avert a military strike, as US efforts to lobby support among its West Asian allies were jolted by Saudi Arabia's refusal to allow use of its bases for any strike against Saddam Hussein's regime.In feverish diplomatic activity, Russian President Boris Yeltsin personally intervened in the crisis, calling his counterparts - Bill Clinton and France's Jacques Chirac - on the phone moments after a special Russian envoy was informed that Baghdad was ready to open eight of the presidential sites, barring the grounds adjoining these. Reaction from the US was swift but restrained. Defence Secretary William Cohen said in Washington that Baghdad's proposal to defuse the crisis, as reported by Moscow, merited consideration but ``was not a solution'' by itself.
