The Arab League has warned US President George W Bush that attacking Iraq will "open the gates of hell" in the Middle East.
As the US continues to seek international agreement to on deposing Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's government, European and other nations are still warning against an all-out military campaign.
Mr Bush intends to state his case against Saddam to the United Nations and seek congressional approval for any military moves to oust the Iraqi president.
Arab League chief Mr Amr Mussa rounded off a foreign ministers meeting in Cairo with a warning that a US strike against Iraq would "open the gates of hell" in a region already "angry and frustrated" at Israel's actions against the Palestinians during their nearly two-year conflict.
"We will continue to work to avoid a military confrontation ... because we believe that it will open the gates of hell in the Middle East," Mr Mussa told a news conference after the two-day meeting ended with a statement rejecting "any threat of attack" against Iraq.
Mr Mussa said Arab countries instead backed the return of UN arms inspectors to Iraq as part of a deal between Baghdad and the United Nations.
The Arab foreign ministers urged Iraq to pursue its dialogue with the United Nations, and asked Mr Mussa to contact the Security Council and UN chief Mr Kofi Annan to "urge them to fulfill their legal responsibilities ... and to prevent any attack".
Syrian Vice President Mr Abdel Halim Khaddam, meanwhile, told reporters after talks with French President Jacques Chirac in Paris that "a military operation against Iraq would have disastrous consequences not only for Iraq, but for the entire region and beyond".
America's European allies continued to make their anti-war stance known, with German Chancellor Mr Gerhard Schroeder saying it would be a "big mistake" for the United States to launch its own war on Iraq and European foreign policy chief Mr Javier Solana insisting that the conflict over arms inspections should be resolved by the United Nations.
British Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair, so far the sole European leader supporting Mr Bush - if only tentaively - faced renewed pressure from MPs for an early recall of parliament to look into British participation in a possible strike as he prepared to discuss the crisis with the US leader at the weekend.
China also reiterated its opposition to military action, while Australian Prime Minister Mr John Howard, long one of President Bush's staunchest allies, said he favored a diplomatic solution to the crisis and would not blindly follow the United States into war.
Mr Bush's contention that Iraq posed a threat to the United States was also challenged by one of his predecessors. The Americans "are inundated almost daily with claims" from top government officials "that we face a devastating threat from Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, and with pledges to remove Saddam from office," former president Mr Jimmy Carter wrote in the Washington Post.
Yet "there is no current danger to the United States from Baghdad," he said. "[A] unilateral war with Iraq is not the answer," he continued, calling instead for "urgent" UN action "to force unrestricted inspections in Iraq".
Mr Bush last night repeated that doing nothing about the "threat" posed by Saddam was "not an option" and said he would make his Iraq policy clear to world leaders in a September 12th speech to the UN General Assembly.
He told Congressional leaders that he would, at an "appropriate time," ask for permission to launch a military campaign against Iraq if he decides it is needed.
Meanwhile military officials confirmed that military equipment, including tracked combat vehicles, was due to be shipped to Kuwait this week for a US Army exercise involving more than 2,000 troops.