JEDDAH, 20 February 2003 — Saudi Arabia thinks war will break out in Iraq soon despite efforts to pre-empt it and there is no need for a planned Arab summit after last week’s Arab ministerial meeting in Cairo, which was marked by rifts.

The Kingdom told the United Nations yesterday that the world is standing at the threshold of an “overwhelming disaster” that could be averted by having Iraq implement UN resolutions and major powers respecting Iraq’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. “The drums of war are getting louder, threats and warnings are deafening and the omens of terrifying conflagration and destruction are massing on the horizon,” the Kingdom’s UN Ambassador Fawzi Shobokshi told a resumed Security Council meeting on the situation in Iraq. Shobokshi urged that war in Iraq be limited because Baghdad has suffered two previous wars and a third one could destroy it.

Before Shubokshi spoke, envoys from Malaysia, Qatar, Indonesia, Malaysia and Qatar all called for more time to disarm Iraq in order to avoid war. The Saudi envoy called for similar international pressure on Israel to destroy its own weapons of mass destruction. As the envoy addressed the UN, Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal told Okaz newspaper that there was no need for an emergency Arab League summit after last week’s ministerial session. “If that summit does not emerge with a decision concerning the Iraq crisis agreed upon by all Arab states, then it could make matters worse.” The emergency meeting is tentatively scheduled to take place in Egypt on Feb. 28.

“It is better to make do with this preparatory meeting and to concentrate on making a success of the annual summit to be held in March, while at the same time urging Iraq to cooperate more with UN inspectors,” he said, adding the situation required “credibility and seriousness” from Arabs.

But in Cairo, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said there would definitely be an Arab summit on the Iraq crisis. An Arab League spokesman said a date for the summit would be announced soon.

In Riyadh, a source at the Organization of Islamic Conference said the 56-nation group planned to hold an emergency summit in the Qatari capital Doha in early March to discuss the Iraq crisis. “We have received word from Qatar that the date of the summit has been set for March 5 and that it will be preceded by a consultative meeting on March 4,” the source said.

The Arab foreign ministers’ meeting in Cairo last week was marked by rifts between US allies like Egypt and Gulf states and countries like Syria whose ties with the United States are strained. The meeting ended with a call on Arab countries to deny any support for military action against Iraq, but analysts said it was a toothless gesture to mollify citizens and would not stop the US troop buildup in the region.

All Arab states publicly oppose a US-led war on Iraq over alleged weapons of mass destruction, but many are in a quandary because they are US allies. Iraq denies it has such arms. The Kingdom has already told Arab countries that a US war on Iraq was inevitable and warned of its serious consequences.

Asharq Al-Awsat, a sister publication of Arab News, yesterday quoted an “informed Saudi source” as saying that the Kingdom explained frankly to Arab countries that the danger is real and the war is coming.