DOHA, March 5 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – As Muslim delegates gather here Wednesday, March 5, in an emergency Islamic summit trying to heal the rift to stand up to a looming U.S.-led war on Iraq, head of the Iraqi delegation Vice President Izzat Ibrahim traded insults with head of the Kuwaiti one Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammad Sabah al-Sabah.

The Kuwaiti minister rose to interrupt Ibrahim after he accused Kuwaiti leaders of "plotting with Zionism against Iraq."

“In a nutshell, Iraq had entered Kuwait in 1990 and let’s bygones be bygones…but today Iraq pays dearly due to the conspiracy being weaved by Kuwaiti leaders, who pays no heed whatsoever to the resolutions adopted by all summits, including the Arab and Non Aligned Movement (NAM) summit," Al-Jazeera satellite channel quoted Ibrahim as saying.

"They further gave the green-light to a massive U.S. military build-up in the region and made Kuwait a launching pad for a possible invasion of Iraq,” he added.

Ibrahim further vowed that Iraq would teach the United States "an unforgettable lesson" if it attacked Baghdad.

"We will give the invaders an unforgettable lesson," he warned, adding that Iraq was capable of raising an "army of seven million armed and well-trained men."

Shortly afterwards, an appeal for calm and decorum was voiced by the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, whose country is the current head of the 57-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).

He also told Ibrahim that the summit was primarily held to help “Iraq get out of this crisis in such a way that spares it and us a costly price or irremediable grave damage."

Sheikh Hamad in an opening address underlined the "exceptional circumstances" prevailing in the region and recognized that Muslims do not "have the international political or strategic decisions that direct and command these developments.

“Yet we can certainly influence the course of these developments," he said.

Wednesday's war of words, in effect, marked an ominous start to a special OIC gathering called here to forge a unified Islamic response to U.S. threats to invade and occupy Iraq.

But only a handful of Islamic heads of state or government, notably President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammed, turned up for the one-day session, with most delegations represented by senior officials.

Organizers said they hoped to arrive at a resolution opposing any U.S. or British assault on Iraq while appealing to Baghdad to respect United Nations disarmament demands.

The summits comes as the United States and Britain mass nearly 300,000 troops in the region and are threatening to occupy Iraq.

Turkish Prime Minister Abdullah Gul appealed to Iraq to "demonstrate a real change in its orientation" toward compliance with U.N. disarmament demands.

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, who addressed the summit in a video message, added his voice to calls for a peaceful resolution in Iraq.

“We support all regional and international efforts to reach a peaceful solution within the framework of the United Nations," Arafat said.

He spoke at length of the deteriorating situation in the Palestinian territories and accused the Israeli government of "seeking to torpedo the peace process."

Arafat called on the summit, which represents more than one billion Muslims, "to step up their material and political support to the Palestinians.

Ibrahim Confers With UAE Officials