TWO days after U.S. President Bush called on the United Nations to ensure Iraq has no weapons of mass destruction, a group of Arab leaders has appealed to Iraq to allow U.N. weapons inspectors to return.

　　The Arab League unanimously issued the appeal Saturday, said Amre Moussa, the group's secretary-general.

　　Arab leaders are opposed to a U.S. strike on Iraq, fearing another Mideast conflict, on top of the Israeli-Palestinian crisis, would destabilize the region further and hamper the U.S.-led war on terrorism.

　　China stands for a political settlement of the Iraqi issue and the U.N. Security Council should play an important role in this regard, Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan said Saturday.

　　Bush has ratcheted up the pressure on Baghdad to obey U.N. resolutions as Germany and influential Arab nations voiced misgivings about any assault on Iraq.

　　Malaysia and Cuba made clear their opposition to military action and Japan has expressed reservations.

　　Bush Saturday urged the United Nations "to show some backbone" on Iraq, and made clear he was prepared to confront President Saddam Hussein with or without world support.

　　Germany acknowledged the need to keep pushing Iraq to readmit U.N. arms inspectors and bow to U.N. demands, but spoke against any automatic recourse to war.

　　British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said yesterday that Saddam Hussein must rid Iraq of weapons of mass destruction or face a regime change.

　　"The choice is his, and he hasn't got much time to make up his mind," Straw said.

　　Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri linked any return of the arms monitors to other issues, including the lifting of 12-year-old U.N. sanctions imposed for Baghdad's 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

　　Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz accused the United States of having a "plan to dominate the world." He denied that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction and expressed skepticism over Bush's true motivation — saying the president could be after Iraq's oil and wealth.

　　Aziz did not reject the idea of Iraq admitting U.N. weapons inspectors, but said he wants a guarantee there will not be a war and that U.N. sanctions against his country will be lifted.

　　(SD-Agencies)