The Gulf States all "oppose any military action against Iraq" and favor a diplomatic solution to the showdown over its alleged weapons of mass destruction, their top representative revealed in Cairo on Sunday. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) -- Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman -- has always stood for "sparing Iraq and the region military action," GCC Secretary General Abdel Rahman Al-Attiya said.

"We are for a diplomatic option and peaceful choices to save Iraq and the region from military action," the official said after emerging from talks with Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa.

When asked about the military buildup in the region, Attiya replied: "Things are clear. There are relations which dictate these military arrangements, which are not aimed at any Arab or Islamic country, including Iraq."

The GCC made no direct mention of the US buildup in the region at a summit in Qatar last week, calling simply for respecting Iraq's independence and territorial integrity.

All the GCC states provide bases or other military facilities for US forces, mainly under agreements made since the 1991 Gulf war to liberate Kuwait from Iraqi occupation.

An estimated 65,000 US troops are already deployed in the region, while Washington is preparing to send another 50,000 reinforcements to the region for military action against Iraq if it fails to cooperate with UN weapons inspectors

ARAB LEADERS MAY PUSH FOR SADDAM EXILE

Meanwhile diplomats in the Jordanian capital Amman say Arab leaders looking for a way to avoid a U.S.-Iraq war they fear would ignite their volatile region are considering the possibility of pressing Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to step down and go into exile.

But the diplomats say the idea has not yet coalesced, and it would be useless to make such an offer until Saddam believes he has no other no option.

"There is a strong feeling that the United States is after Saddam and not after weapons of mass destruction and therefore efforts should focus on how to persuade Saddam to leave," one Arab diplomat said on condition of anonymity.

While newspapers have carried reports of offers made to Saddam to flee to Egypt or Libya, even Cuba or North Korea, no government has commented officially on the prospect.

Last week, Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal told reporters that Mideast leaders repeatedly have urged Saddam to try to avert war. But Prince Saud was vague when asked whether Arab leaders - and Saudi Arabia in particular - had urged the Iraqi regime to persuade Saddam to leave power and accept political asylum elsewhere.

"Communication is continuing on levels announced and unannounced, but all the Arab countries are involved in preventing any military action against Iraq," he said.

Sabah Salman, Saddam's press secretary during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war, does not believe the Iraqi leader would ever bow out willingly.

Salman, who defected after the 1991 Gulf War, said Saddam in 1982 called his top aides to a meeting to discuss a demand from the late Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini that Saddam step down in exchange for peace. Salman said that when Minister of Health Riyadh Hussein ventured that Saddam should accept the offer "for tactical reasons to test Khomeini's seriousness," the minister was taken to an adjacent room and shot.

"Saddam is keeping the last bullet in his gun for himself," Salman told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from his European exile.

A few years ago amid a similar crisis, Egyptian officials publicly suggested giving Saddam asylum in Cairo.

Egypt has hosted many of the region's fallen leaders, including King Saud of Saudi Arabia when he was forced to abdicate in 1955; Yemeni President Abdellah al Salal when he was overthrown in 1966; the shah after Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution; and Sudanese President Gaafar Nimeiri after he was ousted from power in 1985.

PHOTO CAPTION

When asked about the military buildup in the Gulf, GCC Chief, Abdul Rehman al-Attiya replied: "Things are clear. There are relations which dictate these mlitary arrangements, which are not aimed at any Arab or Islamic country, including Iraq."