The two top UN inspectors, Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei, will travel to Baghdad next weekend to confront Iraqi officials over what they say are a big gaps in Iraq's declaration that it does not have any arms of mass destruction.

They told the UN Security Council last week that while searches in Iraq so far had not uncovered "smoking guns," or hard evidence, Baghdad had left a "great many questions" unanswered.

Washington has signaled that if Iraq does not provide satisfactory answers, this could be deemed non-cooperation under UN resolutions and therefore a trigger for war.

Saudi Arabia put out peace feelers over Iraq on Sunday as a British minister signaled fresh unease in Prime Minister Tony Blair's government on joining a possible rush to war by Washington.

The United States announced new troop deployments amid signs in Europe and the Middle East that many states were increasingly nervous about war breaking out and wanted all other options explored. Jordan warned of suffering throughout the Gulf region.

President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair are the chief prosecutors in the case against Iraq, saying they have intelligence that it does have weapons of mass destruction and threatening war unless Baghdad comes clean.

BLAIR AND BUSH TO MEET

A January 27 report by the inspectors took on fresh significance at the weekend when sources said Bush and Blair would meet soon afterwards to discuss what to do next on Iraq.

British newspapers said Blair would go to Washington to underscore his belief that the inspectors should be given time to deal with Iraq, but the meeting could turn into a council of war if Baghdad failed to come up with satisfactory answers.

UN officials have expressed dismay that Iraqi minders have accompanied all scientists interviewed so far, and Blix said last week that Baghdad had not cleared up issues such as chemical bombs, VX nerve gas and the import of missile engines.

The inspectors say Iraq must produce credible evidence to back up its stance that it destroyed all material that could be used for weapons of mass destruction while UN teams were out of the country from 1998 to late last year.

Iraq said on Sunday it was cooperating with UN searches. It also said two scientists interviewed by inspectors last month had refused to leave the country for further interviews.

Saudi Arabia, a key US ally, said it had proposed an initiative to fellow Arab states to resolve the crisis over Iraq and did not believe there would be a war.

"There is no doubt that all the reasons point to a war but I personally believe there will not be a war...I see the fleets but, God willing, there will be no war," the kingdom's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Abdullah, said in remarks on Saudi TV.

"Saudi Arabia has presented proposals to its brothers in Arab states...I believe if the (plan) is accepted, then it will solve many problems," he said, without elaborating.

UNEASE IN BRITISH RANKS

British International Development Secretary Clare Short said on Sunday Britain should not join a unilateral US attack on Iraq and that London should restrain Washington.

"I think all the people of Britain have a duty to keep our country firmly on the UN route, so that we stop the US maybe going to war too early, and keep the world united," Short, a dovish member of Blair's cabinet, told Britain's ITV network.

Short's remarks underlined increasing disquiet within the ranks of Blair's Labor Party over going to war against Iraq without UN authorization or hard evidence against Baghdad.

For many countries, particularly in the Muslim world, the jury is out until clear proof is produced that Baghdad has biological, chemical or nuclear weapons.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan's King Abdullah urged Iraqi President Saddam Hussein on Sunday to cooperate with UN inspectors to avert a devastating war.

"Put up with it to avoid the annihilation of the people," Mubarak counselled the Iraqi leader in remarks to reporters.

"No one can predict the full extent of the suffering (war) will leave behind...either to the Iraqi people or to the region as a whole," Abdullah said.

Saddam himself said only Iraq's neighbors could stop the United States from declaring war on Baghdad.

"Inspection teams are here and our cooperation with them is continuing, but if America wants to look for a pretext for the aggression, only the countries of the region can prevent it," Saddam said at talks with Turkish Trade Minister Kursad Tuzmen.

Tuzmen carried a letter from Turkish Prime Minister Abdullah Gul urging Iraq to comply with UN resolutions.

European officials have spoken out against any hasty decision on war based on inconclusive weapons inspections.

China Daily January 13, 2003)