The daily Babil, run by Saddam Hussein's son Uday, is clearly inspired by Pyongyang's decision to expel the West's nuclear inspectors from its Yongbyon reactor.

North Korea's decision to expel IAEA inspectors and resume its nuclear activities shows its readiness to stand up to the US administration's arrogance. Babil - Iraq

"North Korea's decision to expel IAEA inspectors and resume its nuclear activities, and the threat to withdraw from the NPT (Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty), both challenges and shows its readiness to stand up to the US administration's arrogance."

Babil accuses Washington of being the "prisoner of a tendency to impose its domination on the world without wisdom, and without stopping before the lessons of history".

Pyongyang arsenal

In Jordan, the pro-government Al-Ra'y argues that it would be foolish to treat Pyongyang the same way as Baghdad.

"North Korea has plenty of nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction whose effects cannot be ignored.

"It is hard to disregard it or to take it lightly the way Washington is now taking the Middle East and Iraq issues."

Resolution a deliberate attempt to harm our people and inflict heavy damage on them Al-Jumhuriya - Iraq

The Omani paper Al-Watan takes a different line, feeling that the situation has been engineered by Washington to make a point.

"Washington's main objective in provoking this crisis [with North Korea] is to show the world that it treats every rogue state using the same political yardstick."

Al-Watan says the aim is to "throw dust into the eyes of Arabs and convince them to back it in the war against Iraq or to remain silent".

'Despicable'

Another issue to anger the Iraqi press is the UN Security Council's decision to expand the list of goods banned from export to Iraq for fear they could have military uses.

"UN Resolution 1454 is not just despicable, it also lacks legitimacy, coming at a time when the Security Council was supposed to set the stage for lifting the sanctions and the inspection teams are preparing to declare Iraq is clear of weapons of mass destruction," Babil cries.

Pyongyang's missile launches have sparked concern

According to the government-owned Al-Jumhuriya the resolution is "a deliberate attempt to harm our people and inflict heavy damage on them".

It urged Security Council member states to "fulfil their responsibility, stand up to the obvious US domination of the council and foil the mad US attempts to wage aggression on Iraq under the cover of the council".

The Saudi minister denied venomous American lies Babil

Elsewhere, Babil highlights what it says is Saudi Arabia's clear rejection of a Western newspaper report that it has agreed to allow American troops to use its territory in any attack on Iraq.

Saudi friendship

"The decisive truth, which conflicts with the claims of the American newspaper, soon came out. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal stressed that his country rejects any aggression against Iraq."

Babil goes on: "Through this unequivocal and unambiguous position, the Saudi minister denied venomous American lies that sought to drive a wedge among the Arabs."

Washington was not targeting individual Arab states. "It seeks to infiltrate and then tear up the entire Arab structure to facilitate the implementation of the next episodes of the Zionist plan against Arabs and Muslims."

But Babil is relieved the Saudi statement "came to prove that the constant Arab principles remain strong, alive, and unavoidable from the perspective of pan-Arab responsibility".

The Syrian president even confronted the British in their own country Al-Arab al-Alamiyah

Praise for Syria and condemnation for Egypt over Iraq comes from the pro-Libyan, London-based Al-Arab al-Alamiyah.

An editorial stresses the "positive stand" of Syrian President Bashar al-Asad and his government over the possibility of a US and British offensive against Iraq.

"The Syrian president even confronted the British in their own country."

The daily contrasted this with "the negative Egyptian position, despite all the efforts exerted by the Iraqi regime over the past years, including major economic contacts".

BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.