The Gulf state of Qatar has added its voice to Arab opposition over any American military action against Iraq.

The tiny state is home to a huge US air base at Al-Odaydia, 35 kilometres (20 miles) south west of the capital, Doha.

Qatar is doing its best to calm the situation because the region cannot tolerate any new jolts

Sheikh Al-Thani

Speaking in Baghdad, the Qatari foreign minister, Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassem Al-Thani, said his country wanted a diplomatic solution to the dispute over the return of United Nations weapons inspectors to Iraq.

In the US, Vice President Dick Cheney has maintained Washington's stance that containment of Iraq is no longer an option - Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein must be removed.

Qatar joins Saudi Arabia and Bahrain in denying use of their bases for any strike against Iraq.

Some US newspapers have even reported that the US military is preparing to transfer to the emirate equipment and some of the 6,000 US troops currently stationed in Saudi Arabia to avert Saudi objections.

Sheikh Al-Thani: Warning of "new tragedies"

Sheikh Al-Thani said the US had not asked permission to use the Al-Odaydia base.

But he revealed what the answer would be if it did.

"We are trying to save the region from new tragedies," he said.

"Qatar is doing its best to calm the situation because the region cannot tolerate any new jolts.

"We are of course opposed to any military operation (against Iraq) and have always said that (disarmament) must be settled through diplomacy within the framework of the United Nations."

Hawkish speech

Sheikh Al-Thani is believed to have come to Baghdad to persuade the Iraqis to accept the return of international weapons inspectors.

The UN withdrew its inspectors four years ago complaining of Iraqi obstruction.

US President George W Bush has accused Iraq of supporting terrorism and developing weapons of mass destruction.

This nation will not live at the mercy of terrorists or terror regimes

Dick Cheney

Iraq has denied the allegations and said any talks with the United Nations on the inspectors' return should also focus on lifting 12-year-old sanctions and the US and British-enforced no-fly zones in southern and northern Iraq, imposed since the 1991 Gulf War.

Mr Cheney made one of the most hawkish speeches yet from the Bush administration when he spoke at a war veterans convention in Nashville, Tennessee.

He insisted there was no doubt that Saddam Hussein possessed chemical and biological weapons and was determined to add nuclear weapons to his arsenal.

Israel is preparing for retaliation by Iraq

For the first time, he also described America's goals for a post-Saddam Iraq, saying the US wanted to see the country remain intact territorially and governed by a democracy.

Mr Cheney's comments add to the continuing high-level debate in the US over attacking Iraq.

Former US Secretary of State James Baker wrote in a Sunday newspaper that it would be very risky and expensive to mount an invasion - especially if the White House decided to go it alone.

Former National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft has also warned that a strike on Iraq "could unleash an Armageddon in the Middle East".

Other Republicans who have voiced concern include former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and Senator Chuck Hagel.