Saudis offer conditional use of land

? In a shift likely to put more pressure on Saddam Hussein, Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister said Sunday that U.S. forces may have access to bases in the kingdom to attack Iraq provided military action has United Nations endorsement.

Prince Saud al-Faisal called on the Baghdad regime to allow U.N. inspectors back into Iraq to ensure it is not developing nuclear, chemical or biological weapons.

Other Arab nations also pressed Iraq to comply with U.N. Security Council resolutions to avert a showdown with Washington, saying they wanted a diplomatic solution to avoid a conflict that could threaten stability in the Middle East.

Saudi Arabian leaders previously had ruled out any use of Saudi bases by U.S. forces to attack Iraq. But Saud said Sunday that if the Security Council authorized the use of force against Iraq, Saudi Arabia would go along.

“All signatories to the U.N. Charter, including Saudi Arabia, are obligated to abide by the decisions of the Security Council, in particular those taken under Chapter 7 of the Charter,” he said in a statement.

Chapter 7 authorizes the use of force in the case of threats to international peace and security and requires all member nations to abide by such resolutions.