KUWAIT CITY, July 27: The Kuwaiti cabinet held a high-level meeting on Friday to finalize an emergency plan to be followed in case of a US attack on Iraq.

Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah presided over the meeting.

The plan envisages air raid shelters and an increase in the number of hospital beds.

A minister informed the meeting that the government had ordered masks and related equipment from abroad for use in the eventuality of a chemical attack.

The cabinet also decided to put the armed forces on high alert and advised the authorities concerned to avoid statements likely to spark a panic.

Sources said the meeting decided to place Patriot missiles at the border with Iraq.

Kuwait has already made it clear to Washington that it would not allow the use of its territory as a lunching pad for an attack on Iraq.