Riyadh, Saudi Arabia ? Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, Prince Saud, said Thursday that an attack on Iraq by the United States would anger the Arab world and spawn more terrorism.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Saud pointed to an attack this week in Kuwait in which two gunmen killed a U.S. Marine and said more like it would follow if military action were launched against Iraq before terrorist groups were destroyed.

The gunmen, who were shot and killed, were “connected to terrorists,” Saud said. “You’re adding something new for the terrorists to target in doing this (attacking Iraq) before you finish the war on terrorism.”

Still, he said Saudi Arabia would cooperate with any U.N.-approved effort to address Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction, even one calling for use of force although the kingdom will not participate in any attack.

Asked whether he believed Saddam has weapons of mass destruction, Saud said: “I think the threat is there and the way to remove that threat is to have the inspectors back to do their job.”

The U.N. Security Council is debating whether to adopt a new resolution to toughen weapons inspections after Iraqi agreed to allow inspections to resume after nearly four years. U.S. officials also wants to include a threat of force if Baghdad does not comply.

Saud said that if a new resolution authorized force under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, “then every country is obligated to cooperate with the United Nations in this.”

“This does not mean that every nation is obligated to fight or to use its territory in the conflict, but to follow the objective of the resolution by the United Nations,” Saud said.

Chapter 7 of the charter allows collective use of force, under the Security Council, in cases of threats to international peace and security.

When asked if Saudi Arabia would send a clear “no” to the United Nations if asked for the use of its territory in a strike against Iraq, Saud said: “We are not going to join in the military action, but if the United Nations takes a decision in this, we will cooperate with it.”

“We will cooperate with the United Nations actions like every other country, (but) not as a member of the forces that will be undertaking missions for the United Nations,” he said.

Saud said military action against Iraq should be put off until Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida terror network is dealt with.

“If we divert attention from the fight on terrorism, it goes without saying the terrorists will become more active,” he said.