| just four days ahead of a deadline for
U.N. weapons inspectors to report to the Security Council on Iraq's cooperation.
All the countries present except Jordan
and Iran were part of the 1991 Gulf War coalition.
Kuwait, which was invaded by Iraq a decade
ago, was not invited. Kuwait is hosting a large number of U.S. troops preparing
for a possible war.
Unlike Kuwait, countries like Syria, Egypt
and even Saudi Arabia are worried that a war resulting in Saddam's overthrow
may set a precedent and endanger their own regimes.
Turkey and Iran are against a war that
could lead to the collapse of Iraq's central government, fearing that minority
Kurds in the north could become too powerful, inspiring their own Kurds.
Turkey and Iran already compete for influence in the Kurdish region of
northern Iraq.
Turkey and Jordan are worried that a war
could harm their already fragile economies while Turkey and Iran fear a
flood of refugees if war breaks out on their borders.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia rejects a possible
Shiite state in the south that could be dominated by Shiite Iran.
A war "will be horrifying," Egyptian Foreign
Minister Ahmed Maher said on private NTV television. "There will be great
instability in the region. The Arab world's hatred will grow. We will also
see negative results in terms of economy in every Arab country."
Although Turkish and Arab diplomats have
stressed that the delegates will not call for Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein
to step down and go into exile as a way of avoiding war, the meeting was
preceded by a flood of reports of such an offer.
"We only have one item on the agenda and
that is how to help Iraq avoid a military strike," said Mahmoud Mubarak,
the assistant foreign minister of Egypt.
He said the delegates would be asking Iraq
to comply with U.N. weapons resolutions and "we are ... asking inspectors
to do their work in an honest and impartial way."
"There was a solid display of unity of
purpose," said Yusuf Buluc, a Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman, after
lower level delegations broke up a preparatory meeting for lunch.
Buluc said the purpose was "to secure the
best possible means to avoid war" and to resolve the crisis peacefully.
An Arab diplomat, speaking on condition
of anonymity, said the participants may discuss sending an envoy to Baghdad.
Polls show that more than 80 percent of
the Turkish public opposes a war.
The United States is asking to base tens
of thousands of soldiers in Turkey to open a northern front against Iraq.
Reluctant Turkish leaders have suggested that the United States scale back
its request. The NATO military commander, U.S. Marine Corps Gen. James
Jones, is expected in Turkey on Friday.
U.S. military teams on Thursday were wrapping
up their inspections of ports and air bases in Turkey, part of a survey
of sites that U.S. troops could use to attack Iraq, a U.S. official said.
The inspections are considered a first
step toward stationing U.S. troops in Turkey.
The 150 inspectors arrived about a week
ago.
Most of them have left after finishing
their work and the remainder are preparing to leave in the coming days,
a U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
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