Syria, acting on behalf of Arab members of the United Nations, said it would ask for an emergency meeting of the Security Council in the hope of forcing US and British troops to leave Iraq. "We want to stop the aggression against Iraq and the Iraqi people and to withdraw the foreign troops," Syria's ambassador to the UN, Mikhail Wehbe, told reporters.

Syria is the only Arab member of the Security Council, and holds one of the 10 rotating council seats.

In Cairo on Monday, Arab foreign ministers called for the "immediate withdrawal" of US and British forces from Iraq and condemned the invasion as an "aggression".

But Kuwait refused to sign up to a resolution which also called on "all Arab states to abstain from participating in any military action damaging to the unity and territorial integrity of Iraq or any other Arab country".

Kuwait's ambassador to the UN, Mohammad Abulhasan, said his country had also reservations about a Security Council meeting.

He noted that Kuwait had been hit by 12 missiles fired from Iraq since the start of the invasion five days ago and said "this experience demonstrated to the world that they do have prohibited weapons."

Asked what war could achieve, he replied: "I hope it will be a way of lifting the agony of the Iraqi people."

Wehbe said the Arab states had asked for a council meeting "maybe tomorrow, maybe the day after."

He noted that any country can ask for a council meeting, but when asked what he realistically hoped to gain, he replied: "We have to wait and see."

Baghdad was ablaze, he said, citing CNN television. "What does it mean blazing?" he asked. "It means killing civilians, not the military."

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Mikhail Wehbe, Syria's ambassador to the UN, said Syria wants "to stop the aggression against Iraq and the Iraqi people and to withdraw foreign troops"(AFP/File/Mark Garten)