A statement agreed to in a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Egypt yesterday only expressed ``deep concern at the use of the military option against Iraq.''

Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf stormed out of the meeting, saying he did not want to take part ``in this rotting mire.''

Al-Sahhaf, his face red with anger, told reporters that the weak League statement was ``a cover for resuming the US-British airstrikes.''

He said the US and some Gulf countries pressured the other delegates to adopt the resolution.

``They have been implementing what has been dictated to them by the Americans,'' he said. ``They tried to blame Iraq.''

The ministers continued to meet after al-Sahhaf walked out, and League sources said on condition of anonymity that some ministers were pushingfor changes in the statement.

The statement, obtained by AP, contained other sections clearly upsetting to the Iraqis.

It urged Iraq to acknowledge its mistake in invading Kuwait in 1990 -- which brought on the UN sanctions and the subsequent Gulf War -- and to stop provocative actions against its neighbours.

Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz said in comments printed that the country would be prepared to apologise for its mistakes if other Arab countries apologised to it.

``I don't say Iraq didn't make mistakes against this or that, but everybody has committed mistakes,'' Aziz was quoted as saying in the newspaper Babil.

``If we all apologised to each other for all the mistakes we have committed, then we will be ready... because apologizing is not a shame between brothers.''

The Arab League meeting began with Arab officials criticising the mid-December attack on Iraq but acknowledging it would be difficult to forge a unified statement because of continuing deep divisions overhow to deal with the Iraqi situation.

The meeting was originally scheduled in December, but it was delayed because of disagreements among the 22-member League.

Sources inside the meeting, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said al-Sahhaf argued over every word in a draft resolution during the nearly eight-hour meeting.

In the end, the ministers largely followed past League statements expressing sympathy with the Iraqi people while not giving support to the government of President Saddam Hussein.

``The ministers... expressed full solidarity with the Iraqi people in their suffering which resulted from the (UN) embargo and reiterate the necessity for international cooperation to lift the sanctions,'' their statement said.

It said that ``Arab governments... will exert the required effort to end the economic sanctions imposed on Iraq'' and appointed an ``action committee'' to work toward that goal.

But it said it would coordinate its effort with the United Nations and, in particular, the SecurityCouncil and urged Iraq to cooperate with the Council to implement UN resolutions.

Under UN resolutions adopted after the Gulf War, devastating economic sanctions against Iraq cannot be lifted until UN arms inspectors declare the country free of forbidden weapons.

The foreign ministers urged the Security Council to restore links to Iraq and to implement the UN resolutions in ``an objective way.''

Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa opened yesterday's meeting by calling the American-British attack ``sheer aggression on Iraq carried out in disregard of international legitimacy and UN resolutions.''

He said the air and missile attacks achieved nothing ``except increasing the suffering of the Iraqi people and destabilising the region.''

Arab League Secretary-General Esmat Abdel-Meguid also condemned the airstrikes as aggression but said it would be difficult to adopt a unified statement.