Arab foreign ministers called for the "immediate withdrawal" of US and British forces from Iraq and condemned the invasion as an "aggression", although Kuwait refused to join the others. A final resolution issued after a meeting in the Egyptian capital said the ministers condemned "the US-British aggression against Iraq" and called for "the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the invasion forces".

It also called on "all Arab states to abstain from participating in any military action damaging to the unity and territorial integrity of Iraq or any other Arab country".

The resolution was a direct snub to the United States, which issued a last minute appeal to Arab states to accept the invasion of Iraq and ouster of Saddam Hussein as inevitable and look forward to a reconstruction of the country.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said US Secretary of State Colin Powell had asked his Egyptian and Saudi counterparts Sunday for the Arab meeting to focus on reconstruction and humanitarian aid for the Iraqi people after Saddam's ouster.

The resolution was adopted unanimously, except for Kuwait, which expressed reservations, Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa earlier told reporters.

Kuwait, the springboard for the invasion of Iraq launched last Thursday that has provoked street protests around the Arab world, "wanted the statement to include a clause", he said, without elaborating.

But Kuwait's delegate to the Arab League, Ahmed Kulaib, had said Saturday his country would request that the ministers also condemn the Iraqi missile attacks on the emirate.

The final statement, read out by Libya's Minister of African Unity, Ali al-Triki, said the US-led attack on Iraq was "in violation of the UN Charter ... and in defiance of the international community".

The Arab ministers said they would task their representatives at the United Nations "to request an urgent meeting of the Security Council so as to stop the aggression and secure an immediate withdrawal".

If the Council fails to act, the Arab League will ask for "an urgent meeting of the (UN) General Assembly", according to the statement.

Iraq's Foreign Minister Naji Sabri charged that Kuwait had not sided with the rest of its Arab counterparts because the emirate was taking part in the war on its northern neighbour.

"Only one country, one which is taking part in the aggression against Iraq, did not accept this resolution ... and that's the government of Kuwait," Sabri told journalists.

Kuwait expressed reservations "because it is taking part in the aggression by granting facilities for the US-British aggression", he said, adding that the invasion forces were granted access to two-thirds of Kuwaiti territory.

Sabri, who welcomed the resolution, nonetheless said it represented the "strict minimum" from Arab states.

For his part, Kulaib said his country had reservations because the resolution was "not balanced ... and does not clearly mention the Iraqi aggressions against Kuwait".

Syrian Foreign Minister Faruq al-Shara regretted Kuwait's objections, but hailed the adoption of the resolution.
"The Arab League was at a dangerous cross-roads, either Arab solidarity would be reaffirmed ... or vanish."

Qatar's Foreign Minister Hamad Bin Jassem al-Thani, whose country is hosting the US Central Command, directing the military operations, pulled out of the Cairo meeting as it was discussing the strongly worded resolution.

"I think these meetings are not useful, they are organized to appease Arab public opinion," he told reporters, while stressing that his departure from Cairo was prompted by "a prior commitment", not disagreement.

"What matters is ending the crisis, not publishing useless communiqués," he added, leaving behind the Gulf state's participation at the meeting to its permanent representative to the Arab League.

PHOTO CAPTION

Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa looks on during a meeting off Arab foreign ministers (AFP/MENA/Khaled Dessouki)