Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, right, and Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah are two heavyweight Arab leaders

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, March 1 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Arab leaders set to start tense talks here Saturday, March 1, will voice absolute opposition to a U.S.-led war on Iraq and decide on sending envoys to Baghdad, Washington and the U.N. to end the crisis, according to a draft final statement.

Arab countries will also call on "Iraq's neighbors to abstain from joining any military action against the country, its security and territorial integrity," according to the draft a copy of which obtained by Agence France-Presse (AFP).

This was seen as a reference to countries that host U.S. troops before an invasion of Iraq.

The draft, which was to be submitted to the Arab leaders, "absolutely rejects a strike against Iraq or any threat against peace and the security of any “Arab country" and calls for a "peaceful settlement to the crisis, in compliance with international law".

U.N. weapons inspectors should be given enough time to wind up their disarmament mission in Iraq, according to the draft.

The draft which was drawn up by a committee of ministers says it is up to the heads of state to make a decision on a blueprint for action that includes sending a three-country delegation to Baghdad, Washington and to the United Nations to mediate in the stand-off between Iraq and the United States, diplomats said.

Delegates would be from Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and include Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa.

On Thursday, February 28, Arab foreign ministers agreed to forward a proposal to Arab leaders on sending a three-member committee to Baghdad, Washington and a number of European capitals to garner support for giving U.N. weapons inspectors more time to carry out their mission in Iraq.

Meanwhile, a top-level delegation will represent Iraq at Arab summit, which Baghdad finally agreed to attend after holding out for it to be postponed.

Iraq's mission to the 22-member Arab League said the delegation would be headed by Ezzat Ibrahim, number two to President Saddam Hussein on the ruling Revolutionary Command Council, and include Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan and Foreign Minister Naji Sabri.

Iraq backed down Tuesday on its call for the summit to be postponed to March 14 to enable it to concentrate on fending off a war with the United States after receiving assurances it would not be hijacked by Washington's and London's allies to cover a strike.

"The summit is aimed at sparing the region the horrors of a war that will have a catastrophic impact on the region," said Moussa.

He stressed “the need for Arab solidarity in this delicate phase" and hailed Baghdad's decision to attend.

The Arab League, Egypt and Gulf Arab states had assured Iraq that a summit would focus on ways to prevent a strike, and not heed Western calls for Saddam to step down.

The summit "will absolutely not cause an embarrassment to Iraq," Moussa said, adding that "it's not our business" to talk of regime change in Baghdad.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher, whose country had lobbied hard for the summit to convene despite the Iraqi request for a delay, said the meeting "will do what it can to spare Iraq military action."

Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani, whose country hosts key elements of the U.S. buildup in the Gulf, provided assurances that the summit would not endorse U.S.-led military action.

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and representatives of the European Union, the African Union, the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) have also agreed to take part.

The last Arab summit in Beirut in March 2002 saw Iraq move towards healing its rift with Kuwait, which it invaded in 1990 and occupied for seven months before being ousted by a U.S.-led coalition including several Arab states.