The United States is seeking Middle East state support for possible airstrikes against Iraq, while Russia launched a last-ditch round of diplomacy to prevent another Gulf War. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright arrived in Saudi Arabia and denied suggestions she was getting no Arab support for possible military action. A U.S. official in Kuwait earlier told reporters that Albright was assured that Kuwait, invaded by Iraq in 1990, would back armed action if this proved necessary. Albright, on a hastily arranged tour of European and Middle East capitals to gather support for possible military action, was due to meet with King Fahd’s heir apparent, Crown Prince Abdullah, but Washington seemed unlikely to be able to forge the kind of broad military coalition of Arab and Western armies it led in 1991.

Apart from the emirate, only Britain has so far thrown its weight unconditionally behind Washington. Six Sea Harrier jump jets left their base at Yeovilton, southwest England, to join the carrier Illustrious in the Mediterranean. The Illustrious is to replace a second British carrier, the Invincible, in the Gulf. British Prime Minister Tony Blair angered Iraq at the weekend when he said Saddam was an evil dictator who must be stopped from terrorizing the world with chemical and biological arms.

In Baghdad, the Russian envoy held talks with Iraq’s Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz on a diplomatic solution to Baghdad’s dispute with the United Nations over weapons inspections. Paradoxically, Washington may face the situation of launching attacks while considering how to increase food supplies. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has proposed Iraq be allowed to increase its oil sales from $2 billion to $5.2 billion over the next six months to avoid a humanitarian disaster. In a report sent to Security Council members yesterday, Annan said the so-called Oil-for-Food scheme, started a year ago, was inadequate to prevent further deterioration in humanitarian conditions.