US President George W Bush's "axis of evil" and 111 other countries thrashed out their stands o­n terrorism, Palestine and the crises in Iraq and North Korea at a conference here today.

Senior officials of the 114-nation Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), which embraces the three legs of Bush's notorious "axis" Iran, Iraq and North Korea were wrestling with issues such as the difference between a terrorist and a freedom fighter.

One thing they are all likely to agree o­n is strong opposition to a US-led war to disarm the regime of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein without the support of the UN Security Council.

A draft statement o­n Iraq for adoption by heads of state at a summit next week says "we categorically reject the threats of unilateral use of force to resolve issues affecting international peace and security."

The statement welcomes Iraq's "cooperation" with UN weapons inspectors, noting that they have reported "significant progress".

The draft is still in its early stages, and a delegate's copy obtained by AFP is full of crossing out and additions, but o­ne sentence in the original states that a war against Iraq "will also adversely affect international efforts to combat international terrorism."

No facilities

This is in line with repeated warnings by incoming NAM chairman, Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, that an invasion of Iraq would anger Muslims and increase the number of recruits to terrorist ranks.

The leader of the Iraqi delegation to the preparatory meeting, Saeed Al-Musawi, said he hoped the NAM would endorse a controversial call from the Arab League's foreign ministers urging Arab countries not to provide facilities or logistics to US troops to wage war against Iraq.

"We will see if this idea is acceptable to all NAM members," he told AFP .

"There is general agreement that the movement should spell out in the strongest language possible against a US war o­n Iraq."

But o­ne Middle East delegate said Iraq must also give an assurance that it would fully comply with UN resolutions o­n disarmament.

State-sponsored terrorism versus freedom fighters

Finding a definition of terrorism, however, has exposed seething animosities among some member states, with a draft document showing several countries submitting alternative texts.

India and Pakistan, two nuclear-armed members of the NAM that nearly went to war last June, have brought their dispute over the Himalayan territory of Kashmir to the confernce.

New Delhi has proposed a phrase referring to the rejection of "state-sponsored terrorism", an apparent reference to its charge that Islamabad supports Kashmiri separatists.

Pakistan, for its part, rejects "recent attempts to equate freedom movements for the right of self-determination" with terrorism.

Other major issues testing the diplomatic skills of representatives from a huge variety of nations from Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America, are North Korea's nuclear missile programme and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

A row erupted o­n the first day of the conference Thursday over an attempt by North Korea to blame the United States for the crisis o­n the Korean Peninsular.

North Korea submitted a draft proposal stating that the "removal of the constant threats of the US against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea constitute a precondition for ensuring a stable peace and security o­n the Korean Peninsula."

Political, not judicial in nature

Diplomats said there was strong lobbying against the North Korean proposal, which was described as "distorted", as many members believe the crisis was caused by North Korea's withdrawal from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

One Asian country had urged North Korea to review its decision to withdraw from the NPT, but Pyongyang "resisted any discussion" of the issue, a delegate told AFP .

On the Middle East, Arab countries were pushing for NAM to declare Israel's actions against Palestinians as war crimes but this had met with opposition from other delegates, an official said.

"There is difficulty for some delegates to accept that. We in NAM as a political body should not make that judgement. We're not a judicial body," a diplomat from an African nation told AFP . AFP