& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Gulf states back call for Saddam exile

Russia ready to send military monitors to Iraq

AFP, Doha
Gulf countries "strongly support" a proposal by the United Arab Emirates that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein step down and go into exile to avoid a US-led attack on his country, Qatar's foreign minister said Monday.
"The GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) states strongly support the initiative of (UAE President) Sheikh Zayed," Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani told a press conference after a GCC foreign ministers' meeting in Doha.
The six-nation Gulf alliance "agreed that this is a very important initiative and we think it needs to be discussed further in the Arab League," Sheikh Hamad said.
The Qatari minister underlined that there "were no decisions" within the GCC on the significance of the proposal, which he praised for "asking the Iraqi leadership to decide (its fate) without interference in its internal affairs."
The UAE at a weekend summit in Egypt suggested that the Iraqi president should resign and go into exile in the face of US and British threats to invade and occupy Iraq to strip it of its alleged weapons of mass destruction.
The idea got short shrift at the Arab summit. But in subsequent individual statements, Kuwait and Bahrain have backed the proposal while Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said it was aimed at achieving "peace, security and stability for the Iraqi people."
Meanwhile, Russia has dispatched representatives to the UN Security Council in New York to discuss a role for the Russian military in UN weapons inspections in Iraq, a top official was quoted as saying Monday.
"A team of experts from the foreign and defence ministries flew to New York yesterday to hold consultations on the practical involvement of Russian military in international inspectors' continued monitoring in Iraq," deputy chief of the general staff, General Yury Baluyevsky, told news agencies.
The Russian announcement came after Chinese state media said Monday that Beijing is willing to offer personnel and technical support to the UN inspectors searching for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
China and Russia, both permanent members of the UN Security Council, are seeking to avert a US-led war on Iraq and extend the work of UN weapons inspectors in Iraq.
The top Russian defence official said that Russian servicemen would not take part in any hostilities in Iraq.
"If Russian armed forces have a role, it will be as monitors assisting the international inspectors who are working in Iraq," said Baluyevsky, without giving any further details.