Iraq anticipates attack, clears hospitals

Saddam, who provoked the standoff by expelling American members of the U.N. weapons inspection team, met with his Cabinet yesterday and said he hoped a conflict could be averted.

He praised other Arab countries for opposing the use of military action in the crisis. He did not, however, signal any willingness to compromise on the controversy over American inspectors.

Hussein

"Iraq does not seek conflict with the United States and if there is a solution to this crisis ... we would be happy," he said in a statement carried by the Iraqi News Agency.

Kuwait and Syria, which supported strikes against Iraq during the 1991 Persian Gulf War, said they were opposed to the use of force in the current standoff, which began on Oct. 29 when Iraq decided to expel American weapons inspectors working for the United Nations.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf said the use of force "has proven that it does not lead to solutions, but to a complication of matters."

His remarks were aired on Iraq television and carried by E's Middle East News Agency.

The United States yesterday pressed forward with its military buildup, sending the aircraft carrier USS George Washington through the Suez Canal toward the Persian Gulf.

Meanwhile, Iraq ordered Baghdad hospitals to evacuate non-emergency patients in preparation for a possible U.S. air attack.

It was not clear how many people would be removed.

Hassan Abdel Jabar, a doctor at Baghdad Central Hospital, said the hospital would only accept emergency cases "because we are expecting a strike by the Americans."

Thousands of Iraqi civilians flocked to Saddam's palaces in Baghdad and industrial installations around the capital to join other people serving as human shields.

Kuwait and Syria, which supported strikes against Iraq during the 1991 Persian Gulf War, said they were opposed to the use of force in the current standoff, which began on Oct. 29 when Iraq decided to expel American weapons inspectors working for the

United Nations.

"We do not support any military action against Iraq," said Kuwait's foreign minister, Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah.

Kuwait usually is unsparing in its criticism of Iraq, which invaded the emirate in 1990, triggering the Gulf War.

Syrian Defense Minister Mustafa Tlass told al-Hayat, a London-based newspaper: "All Arab countries are in solidarity with Iraq."

At the end of the 1991 war, the United Nations ordered Iraq to destroy its weapons of mass destruction and sent in a multinational team of inspectors to monitor Iraqi compliance.

Last month, Iraq asserted that the American inspectors were spies intent on prolonging U.N. economic sanctions imposed after the Kuwait invasion. Though the Security Council warned of consequences if Iraq expelled the monitors, Iraq went ahead with the move Thursday, deepening fears of a military strike.

Richard Butler, the chief U.N. weapons inspector, warned in an interview with CNN that Iraq could resume building biological weapons within a week.

In Baghdad, fuel rationing forced U.N. monitors overseeing an oil-for-food program to halt their work yesterday. The monitors, who were unable to drive to work, said they expect to send teams out today after they secure fuel supplies.

The tightly monitored program allows Iraq to sell $2 billion in oil for six months in exchange for food and other humanitarian goods.

Iraq, fearing the United States might target oil refineries and storage tanks in the event of a military strike, announced Saturday it was introducing gasoline rationing.

Intent on rallying support for Iraq, Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz planned to begin a tour of North African countries with a trip to Morocco yesterday.

The United States and Britain, meanwhile, worked to rally support for strong action against Saddam.

"He is not a man that is going to listen to any language of reason or sweetness unless the person using it is also carrying a big stick," British Prime Minister Tony Blair said in a BBC television interview.

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright cut short a visit to Qatar and left for neighboring Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to discuss the standoff.

In Qatar, Albright lashed out at Baghdad for refusing to comply with U.N. resolutions demanding the elimination of its weapons of mass destruction.

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