The Iraqi National Congress was to meet yesterday in London with former army officers, opponents of President Saddam Hussein and a US official to discuss ways of toppling his regime.
The three days of talks are the latest in a series of meetings of Iraqi dissidents as speculation circulates that Washington will make Iraq a target of its campaign against terrorism.
Iraqi army officers will come "from all over the world" for the meeting, which will be held at a secret location, said Albert Yelda of the Iraqi National Coalition.
All Iraqi opposition movements, large or small, have been invited to the meeting which will discuss how to topple the existing regime, Iraq's future and the role of the army post-Saddam, he added.
US President George W. Bush vowed Monday to use "all tools" at his disposal to remove Saddam.
Bush said that the world would be a safer place once Saddam had been overthrown, adding that he was personally engaged in "all aspects" of planning to achieve that goal.
"This is not a conference that we've supported financially, but we do support the idea of a broad-based military conference," US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher has said.
The meeting comes the day after China said it was opposed to US plans to oust Saddam, arguing that the Middle Eastern country's sovereignty should not be violated.
"[Iraq's] sovereignty and territorial integrity should be completely respected," Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said at a press briefing.
The New York Times reported recently that a top secret US military document has outlined a massive, three-pronged attack on Iraq by land, sea and air with as many as 250,000 troops and hundreds of warplanes.
The Daily Telegraph said here yesterday that British and US spies are on the ground already in Iraq fomenting revolt among opposition groups and potential traitors in Saddam's inner circle.
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