BAGHDAD, Feb 23: President Saddam Hussein criticised on Sunday some of his fellow Arabs as “pusillanimous,” reminding them that Iraq was capable of countering any US-led war, the state news agency INA reported.

Saddam denounced the “pusillanimous among the Arabs ... as any true Arab nationalist ... should be aware of the dangers facing the Arab nation.”

“The Americans are capable of destroying buildings and installations, but will not be able to humiliate Iraq,” he said while receiving Lebanese state minister Talal Arslan.

“The Iraqi people are capable of countering any American aggression. The Iraqi people do not only defend Iraq, but also the Arab nation, its security and independence,” he said.

The Arab world has been deeply divided over the readiness of the pro-Western Gulf states to host a massive US troop build-up in the run-up to the threatened war with Iraq.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak appealed to Arab leaders Sunday to meet quickly to discuss the Iraqi crisis, while Baghdad said it had asked for a two-week postponement of an Arab summit tentatively scheduled for March 1.—AFP