MOSCOW U.S. President Bill Clinton's actions over Iraq could trigger a world war, Russian President Boris Yeltsin warned Wednesday, stressing the need for further diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis. Clinton's actions could lead to a world war. He is acting too brazenly there, Yeltsin said at a meeting with First Deputy Prime Minister Anatoly Chubais, reported by Interfax news agency.

One must be more careful with such weapons and not make threats to lob over planes and bombs, he said. Russia earlier warned the United States not to launch a military strike against Iraq and instructed its special envoy in Baghdad to press on with negotiations aimed at resolving the crisis over UN weapons inspections. As U.S. officials continued to warn Baghdad of the possibility of military strikes, Yeltsin commented that the U.S. actions over Iraq were not very characteristic of Clinton. The Russian leader said he had done his utmost to defuse the situation, and now other countries were also intervening to end the stand-off between Washington and Baghdad. We are making Clinton aware that we don't agree with such a policy.

And the members of the UN Security Council will vote against (use of military force), Yeltsin said. Yeltsin said his relations with the leaders of the United States, France and Germany enabled him to play a big role in the Iraq crisis. Kremlin spokesman Sergei Yastrzhembsky said Yeltsin would discuss the Iraq crisis with French President Jacques Chirac and British Prime Minister Tony Blair by telephone Wednesday, Interfax reported.

Yastrzhembsky criticized U.S. media for misinterpreting Yeltsin's remarks to mean Russia was preparing retaliatory strikes in the event of an attack on Iraq. Yastrzhembsky said such an interpretation was absurd, and expressed confidence that the traditional difficulties some U.S. correspondents have with the Russian language will not become an irritant in relations between the Kremlin and the White House, Interfax reported.

The United States, backed by Britain, began reinforcing its military presence in the Persian Gulf after Baghdad refused to grant full access to the UN Special Commission (UNSCOM) in charge of disarming the country. Asked whether the United States had the right to launch a military strike, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Gennady Tarasov said that existing UN resolutions do not bestow the right to use force against Iraq. The Lower House of the Russian Parliament, the State Duma, adopted a non-binding resolution Wednesday recommending that Yeltsin review Russia's adherence to the UN sanctions in the event of an unsanctioned attack on Iraq. Meanwhile, Arab League chief Esmat Abdel Meguid left Cairo for Iraq on a mediation bid aimed at defusing the crisis.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Viktor Posuvalyuk and French Foreign Ministry Secretary General Bertrand Dufourcq are also in Baghdad to try to persuade Iraq to open so-called presidential sites to UN arms inspectors. U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright wrapped up a visit to four Arab countries Wednesday, and said she would report to Clinton that Arab leaders were supportive of a tough U.S. stance toward Iraq. While they prefer a diplomatic route, as do we, none of the Arab leaders said `go home and tell the president not to use force', Albright told reporters aboard her plane.

(AFP)