October 7, 2002	Monday	Rajab 29, 1423

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ABU DHABI, Oct 6: Iraqi Foreign Minister, Naji Sabri, arrived in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday, the latest stop in a tour of the strategic Gulf Arab region aimed at staving off a possible US military strike.

UAE officials said Sabri, who has already visited Oman and Bahrain, was carrying a message from Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and would meet Sheikh Zaid bin Sultan al-Nahayan, the president of this pro-Western federation, on Monday.

Sabri has so far declined to speak to the media about his tour, but diplomats said he was probably asking Gulf Arab states to ban US forces from using their military facilities for any attack on Iraq.

The oil-rich Gulf is bristling with US troops and weaponry and Washington has said it would require regional military help, especially the use of air bases in Turkey and in the region, for any offensive against Iraq.

On Saturday, Sabri held talks in Bahrain, headquarters of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, and called for solidarity between countries in the region, which he said was facing “a dangerous threat to its security and future”.—Reuters