Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt ? Arab leaders said they rejected a war on Iraq and U.S. threats to remove Saddam Hussein, but their message Saturday was undermined by exchanges of insults and sharp divisions at a summit aimed at finding unity regarding the Iraq crisis.

Highlighting the splits, the United Arab Emirates became the first Arab nation to propose publicly that Saddam step down to avert a war. When other leaders refused to discuss the idea, the Emirati information minister grumbled that the Arab League “didn’t have the courage.”

Near the close of the one-day summit, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah angrily insulted each other. Live broadcast of the session halted soon after, and other leaders had to convince Abdullah not to quit the meeting, diplomats said.

A final statement issued after the summit’s close expressed “complete rejection of any aggression on Iraq” and urged more time for inspections.

It said Arab countries should refrain from carrying out any military action against Iraq. But it did not address Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar’s welcoming of tens of thousands of U.S. troops who would likely participate if the United States launched an invasion.

Leaders had come into the 22-member Arab League summit in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik already deeply split.

Some countries — particularly in the Persian Gulf — argue war is inevitable and say the region should be planning for the aftermath. A second camp, including Egypt and Saudi Arabia, insist war can be avoided if Iraq cooperates fully with U.N. weapons inspectors. A third camp — led by Syria — wanted the summit to make an unequivocal antiwar declaration.

The final statement made no mention of ideas floated before the session for sending a delegation to Baghdad to deliver a message to Saddam — either vaguely suggesting he quit or pressing him to cooperate with inspectors.

Instead, the statement said Arab leaders agreed to form a committee to “explain the Arab position” to the United Nations and to consult with Iraq. It said U.N. weapons inspectors should be given enough time to carry out their mission.

Bahraini King Sheik Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, left, confers with Sheik Mohammed Bin bin Rashid Al Maktoum, defense minister and crown prince of Dubai, center, and Sheik Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, United Arab Emirates vice president, during the opening session of the 15th annual Arab summit. The United Arab Emirates called for Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to step down to spare the region war, the first Arab country to do so publicly. The one-day summit took place Saturday at Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt.

The communique added political change in the Arab world “is a matter to be decided by the people of the region according to national interests, away from outside interference.”

UAE President Sheik Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan proposed that Arab states press Saddam and his leadership to give up power in exchange for immunity from prosecution. He proposed Iraq be governed by the Arab League and the United Nations until it could return to “its normal situation.”

Iraqi delegates in a closed session of the summit reacted angrily to the proposal, diplomats said. In New York, Iraq’s U.N. ambassador, Mohammed Al-Douri, dismissed the UAE proposal as “silly.”

Gadhafi, a sharp critic of what he calls lack of Arab unity, said in his speech that Saudi Arabia had formed “an alliance with the devil” when it asked U.S. troops to protect it from Iraq during the 1991 Gulf War.

Abdullah interrupted angrily from across the room, calling Gadhafi “an agent for colonizers.”

“Don’t talk or get involved in things which are not your business,” Abdullah told the Libyan.