While the besieged Iraqi leadership prepared to defend Baghdad, Naji Sabri, the Foreign Minister, travelled to Damascus and then to Cairo to raise support from Arab leaders and their restless peoples.

The envoy, who acquired a taste for expensive suits during postings to London and Vienna, was barely recognisable when he crossed the Syrian frontier at the weekend. He wore the brown robes of a tribal sheikh and a red-and-white checked keffiyeh (headdress).

Mr Sabri said that he would attend a meeting of Arab League Foreign Ministers today in Cairo, where he would call on member states to take a “true stand”. He said: “The Arab people took that stand. Now we hope the regimes will take this stance, too.”

While Arab diplomats played down any hope of Iraq winning last-minute backing, they conceded that his mission could be very embarrassing for America’s Arab allies, such as Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states.

Mr Sabri said his country had enough men, arms and supplies to resist for 13 years.

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