The Air Force has begun sending dozens of B-1B bombers and fighter aircraft to the Gulf region

RIYADH, January 13 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz on Sunday, January 12, told a group of Arab thinkers and intellectuals he was "convinced" there will be no war U.S.-led against Iraq, as thousands more troops have been ordered to head for the Gulf region pushing U.S. force levels to more than 150,000 by mid- February.

"We are seeing fleets and concentrations (of troops) in the region but God is inspiring me and gives me the feeling that there won't be a war," the crown prince said, Agence France-Presse (AFP) said.

"This is my conviction and my personal point of view," the crown prince told the gathering, cautioning that, "No U.S. official has spoken to me about war."

Saudi Arabia, which has long borders with its Arab neighbor Iraq, has been lobbying to find a peaceful solution to the crisis between the United States and Baghdad.

Turkish Prime Minister Abdullah Gul held talks Saturday, January 11, in Riyadh with Saudi leaders over a proposed initiative to end the standoff over Iraq and prevent war, and said time was pressing to find a peaceful settlement.

Riyadh has reiterated that its decision to join a UN-sanctioned war against Baghdad will be based on its national interests and the evidence of Iraq's material breach of the UN Security Council Resolution 1441.

The Saudi crown prince insisted that "war is in no one's interest", adding that Iraq was dear to his country.

"As you know Iraq is dear to us. Its people are our people, they are a precious part of the Muslim and Arab nation," he said.

"If the United Nations take, God forbid, the decision to declare war (on Iraq), the Arabs will have only one request, to be given the chance to talk with Iraq about a solution capable of preventing a war," he said.

Earlier Sunday, January 12, Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khaled bin Sultan told Okaz newspaper the kingdom has not placed its armed forces on a state of alert over the threatened U.S. war against Iraq.

150,000 U.S. troops assigned to Gulf region

"We are seeing fleets and concentrations (of troops) in the region but God is inspiring me and gives me the feeling that there won't be a war," Abdul Aziz

The United States has deployed tens of thousands of troops in the region, as around 5,000 troops are deployed in Saudi Arabia which served as a launchpad for attacks on Iraq in the 1991 U.S.-led Gulf war, reported AFP.

Thousands more troops have been ordered to head for the Gulf region for a possible attack against Iraq, U.S. defense officials said Sunday, pushing U.S. force levels to more than 150,000 by mid- February.

Two sets of deployment orders signed Friday, January 10, will add 62,000 troops to the massive U.S. troop buildup in the area.

"By mid-February the (latest) deployment would be concluded," an official said on condition of anonymity Sunday. He added that U.S. forces were ready to attack whenever President George W. Bush were to give the order, AFP said.

The forces include marines, an army airborne infantry brigade, F-117 stealth fighters, F-16 CJs used for electronic jamming were in the second set of orders signed Friday which will send 27,000 troops to the Gulf, the defense official said.

Earlier Friday, Rumsfeld signed orders to send another 35,000 troops to the Gulf including an estimated 20,000 marines from Camp Pendleton, California and Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

The F-117s would come from Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico, to become the first of the stealth combat aircraft to be deployed to the region in the latest buildup.

B-2 stealth bombers, which would likely spearhead any air attacks on Baghdad, have not yet been ordered to deploy from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, but the senior official said "those are things that take very little time to deploy."

These latest deployments come on top of 25,000 troops Rumsfeld ordered deployed to the Gulf just before Christmas.

Those forces, including the army's 3rd Infantry Division, have just begun moving out of bases in Georgia to Kuwait and other points in the region.

Currently there are 66,000 U.S. troops in the U.S. Central Command's area of responsibility, including 17,000 in Kuwait, defense officials said. Of those, at least 10,000 are tied down in Afghanistan.

Analysts believe three or four army divisions and one or two Marine divisions are needed to launch a comprehensive attack on Iraq.

"We are going to continue to do our deliberate and steady buildup over the next several weeks to support the diplomatic effort as well as prepare for potential following operations," a second defense official said, also speaking on condition of anonymity.

General Jim Jones, the commandant of the U..S. Marine Corps, said this week that the buildup will include 65,000 to 75,000 troops, including the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force and elements of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force.

A 200-man army transportation unit at Fort Hood, Texas, also received deployment orders, said a base spokesman, Cecil Green.

Some 7,000 Marines were ordered to prepare to board amphibious assault ships in the U.S. east coast ports, while another Marine force was being positioned to board assault ships in California, AFP said.

The amphibious assault ships USS Saipan, USS Ponce and USS Gunston Hall got under way Friday from bases in Virginia, some with marines aboard.

The build-up so far has included eight B-1 bombers from Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota that departed last week for an undisclosed location in the region.

Also receiving deployment orders were F-15 fighter squadrons at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia and Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina.

Joint Stars radar surveillance planes were being sent from Moody Air Force Base in Georgia and HH-60 air search and rescue helicopters and unmanned Predator spy planes were being deployed from Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.

Special forces air craft, including AC-130 gunships have been drawn from Hurlburt airfield in Florida.