President Bill Clinton has successfully manoeuvred the Monica Lewinsky scandal into an all-out attack on the investigator, independent counsel Mr Kenneth Starr, but he is having a great deal less success in convincing his allies to support his hard line on Iraq.

The stubborn attitude of Saudi Arabia, which is refusing to allow its bases to be used to launch air attacks on Iraq in the event of military action, is seen in Washington as a significant setback for the US Administration.