KUWAIT, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Kuwait on Tuesday signalled Arab states' support for a U.S. military build-up in Baghdad, saying they hoped President George W. Bush's plan would help stabilise Iraq.

"We expressed our desire to see the president's plan to reinforce American military presence in Baghdad as a vehicle ... to stabilise Baghdad and prevent Iraq from sliding into this ugly war, this civil war," Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammad al-Salem al-Sabah told reporters. Sheikh Mohammad was speaking at a joint news conference with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is on a regional tour to drum up support for Bush's decision to send more than 20,000 new troops to stabilise Iraq.

Rice earlier held a meeting in Kuwait with the foreign ministers of Egypt, Jordan and the six Gulf Arab states -- Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates.

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