The meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo

Arab foreign ministers in Cairo on Sunday announced their countries should refuse any support for military action against fellow Arab Iraq. But their call fell short of a binding resolution that would pose difficulties for many Gulf states, which host thousands of US troops preparing for possible war on Iraq over its alleged weapons of mass destruction. Iraq denies it has such arms. Speculation has been rife that Arab leaders had asked Saddam to go into exile to spare the region a devastating war, but officials have denied it and few Arabs believe that the Iraqi leader would step down. Some Arab officials have said that high-level negotiations were being held to persuade Washington to grant amnesty to Saddam’s top commanders, partly to encourage them to overthrow him in a coup.