The Arab League has given details of a proposed compromise to resolve the deadlock over weapons inspections in Iraq.

The Secretary General, Dr Esmat Abdel-Meguid, put forward a solution under which 68 sensitive sites would be opened to inspection.

UK Foreign Office Minister Derek Fatchett: "Military action would benefit region" (44")

The proposal came as the US has announced it was sending up to 3,000 ground troops to Kuwait.

American officials said the troops would have a purely defensive role. Gulf states are concerned they would be vulnerable to possible retaliation by Iraq if they support military action.

The reinforcements are due to arrive over the next 10 days, joining the 1,500 American soldiers already stationed there.

Compromise

The main proposal put forward Dr Abdel-Meguid is for eight of the sensitive presidential sites to be inspected by a new special committee.

He said the chairman of the committee should be nominated by the United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan.

BBC correspondent Barnaby Mason: Arab League say military action would be a catastophe (2'50")

BBC diplomatic correspondent Barnaby Mason said: "This is the first concrete account of the compromise which the Arab League and the Russians have been trying to put together over the past few days."

The plan represents a reduction of the influence of the UN weapons inspection body, Unscom.

The head of Unscom, Richard Butler, who has been strongly criticised by the Iraqis, would be only the vice-chairman of the new committee.

Saddam: Denies having weapons of mass destruction

But Unscom would be responsible for supervising the inspection of another 60 sensitive sites.

It is not yet clear if the new Arab League/Russian proposal will meet American demands for unconditional, unrestricted access to all suspect sites by UN weapons inspectors.

It is to be put to the UN Security Council in the form of a draft resolution. Kofi Annan is due to hold talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Dr Abdel-Meguid in Cairo later this week.

In Britain, the Foreign Office Minister Derek Fatchett's initial response was that more details of the proposals were needed.

But he said the sort of military action that the US and British forces would be likely to take would be designed to undermine the Iraqi military machine.

Mr Fatchett said that ridding Saddam Hussein of weapons of mass destruction would bring greater security to all the countries of the region.

King Hussein of Jordan: Iraqi people "have suffered enough" (25")

But Dr Abdel-Meguid has warned if the United States and Britain reject the proposals, they would bear responsibility for the crisis. He said a military operation would be a catastrophe not only for Iraq but for the whole region.

He said the plan meets the UN demands for free access to suspected weapons sites and preserves Iraq's dignity and sovereignty.

Cohen: Rallying Arab support

The US Defence Secretary, William Cohen, is on a tour of Gulf states to rally reluctant Arab support for possible military strikes against Iraq.

After his talks in Saudi Arabia, a joint statement expressed the hope that the crisis could be resolved by diplomatic means.

But it said that if President Saddam Hussein refused to comply with Security Council resolutions he would be solely responsible for any subsequent attack on Iraq.

The Iraqi Foreign Minister, Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf, is also touring Arab countries to try and rally Arab leaders against possible US military action against Iraq.

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