"The kingdom will under no circumstances take part in the war against brotherly Iraq, and its armed forces will not enter an inch of Iraqi territory," Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz said in a televised address on behalf of the ailing King Fahd.

"We expect the war to end the moment UN Security Council Resolution 1441 to disarm (Iraq) of weapons of mass destruction has been implemented, and we categorically refuse that ... Iraq comes under (US) military occupation," he said.

Prince Abdullah said Saudi Arabia has informed its key Western ally, the United States, of "our clear position." He warned that if the war goes beyond its declared objectives, the kingdom will adopt a different position.

"The exceptional circumstances surrounding this crisis during the past 12 years require us not to enter into an uncalculated adventure that could endanger the safety of our country and people.

"But if events take a course different from what we explained, or the war goes beyond its declared objectives, we will then take a different position," said Prince Abdullah, Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler.

The crown prince did not elaborate, but he was apparently referring to both the possible outcome of the anticipated war in Iraq itself and to its potential consequences on Saudi Arabia.

"Regardless of the mistakes of the Iraqi government over the past years the brotherly Iraqi people must not pay the price, and the need for Iraq to remain united, free and independent is a principle not open to negotiation or bargaining," he said.

Abdullah expressed regret that efforts exerted by Saudi Arabia and others to resolve the Iraqi crisis peacefully had not "achieved the desired result" and blamed Arab weakness for the failure to adopt a strong Arab position.

US President George W. Bush has given Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein until early Thursday to go into exile or face war.

The White House said Tuesday that US-led troops would enter Iraq to hunt for weapons of mass destruction even if Saddam bows to the 48-hour ultimatum.

Turning to the domestic front, Prince Abdullah appealed for calm and unity and warned against "the corrupt and troublemakers."

"Our efforts, which have so far been directed toward preventing the war, should now take a new direction to spare our beloved country and people its impact and repercussions," he said.

"The present difficult circumstances require us more than ever to hold fast to our Islamic principles, national unity and reformist development course to safeguard our achievements against attack from outside or inside," he said.

"This requires us to unite efforts ... to prevent infiltrators and corrupt people from harming our Islamic and Arab principles, upon which the foundation of our society and the security and stability of our country are based," Prince Abdullah said.

The kingdom, home to Islam's holiest sites in Mecca and Medina, is concerned about an internal backlash from the impending US-led military campaign, widely seen here as a new "crusader" war.

Fatwas, or religious edicts, have been issued by many clerics and religious scholars declaring that it is totally forbidden to assist the United States in attacking a Muslim country.

Saudi Arabia, where demonstrations are very rare, witnessed several protests during the 1991 Gulf War to liberate Kuwait.

Saudi security forces have found a large cache of arms and explosives at a house in Riyadh that was the scene of an explosion on Tuesday that left one unidentified man dead.

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