Saudi Arabia said it prefers an "immediate resolution" to the crisis over Iran's nuclear program rather than sanctions, as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton prepared to wrap up a Gulf tour on Tuesday.

US officials traveling with Clinton on the mission to drum up support for tougher action against Iran expressed satisfaction and said they were "very pleased" following her lengthy talks with King Abdullah on Monday.

But Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal sounded less supportive of further sanctions against the Islamic republic, qualifying such measures as a "long-term solution."

"We see the issue in the shorter term because we are closer to the threat . . . . . . . we need an immediate resolution," Saud said in a midnight press conference after meetings with his US counterpart.

It was not immediately clear whether Saud, who spoke in English, was calling for a tough and immediate UN Security Council resolution or another solution to the perceived threat from Iran.

A Saudi foreign policy official on Tuesday stressed Riyadh was not advocating military action but rather a linkage with the Middle East peace process as a faster and more effective means to ease tensions in the region.

"There is no point in our spending all our time on sanctions which will not have an effect in the short term. We need something more tangible," he said, asking not to be identified.

"We don't want a military strike ... A military strike, we still believe, will be very counter-productive," he said.

"We need to do something on Israel and the Palestinians ... For instance, the US could get Israel to halt (Jewish) settlements" on the occupied West Bank, the official said.

"There is a credibility issue with the US administration on promises it cannot fulfill," he said, referring to the stalled peace process.

Clinton's tour of Qatar and Saudi Arabia aimed to isolate Iran from its Arab neighbours in the Gulf and to put pressure on China to drop its resistance to UN sanctions targeting mainly Iran's Revolutionary Guards. 

Iran last week began enriching uranium to 20 percent purity, which Washington and other capitals say adds to evidence that Iran is seeking a nuclear weapon.

Tehran denies the charge, insisting the sole goal is peaceful nuclear energy and research.

Prince Saud played down suggestions that the oil-rich kingdom could prod Beijing not to block sanctions against Tehran by guaranteeing Beijing stable oil supplies in the event of disruption from Iran.

However, he said that China, which invests heavily in and imports much of its oil from Iran, "carries its responsibilities" within the Security Council where it holds a veto power.

"And they need no suggestion from Saudi Arabia to do what they ought to do," Prince Saud added.

At the press conference in Riyadh, the veteran Saudi chief diplomat also appeared to endorse Clinton's charge, which she made in Qatar earlier on Monday, that Iran was turning into a "military dictatorship".

The Revolutionary Guards were "supplanting" the clerical and political leadership in Tehran with a more radical line, she said.

Saud said he was inclined to believe her warnings on the Revolutionary Guards. "I hope that this doesn't lead to what it gives an indication of - which is a very extremist policy," the prince said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki hit back on Tuesday, saying Clinton had tried but failed to dupe neighboring Gulf Arab states about a threat from the Islamic republic.

"We see such approaches as a new deception, although its nature is clear to the people and authorities in the region," the foreign minister said, quoted by ILNA news agency.

Clinton was in the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah on Tuesday for the last leg of her tour, also aimed at gaining support for Washington's push for a resumption of peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.

In Jeddah, she planned to meet with the head of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the world's largest pan-Islamic grouping, to introduce the new US envoy to the group.

She was also to hold a "town hall" meeting at the elite private women's college Dar al-Hekma, before returning to Washington.

Few details were available from Clinton's meeting with the king on Monday, at which they reviewed the peace process, Iran, Yemen and Afghanistan, as well as bilateral issues, according to the official Saudi news agency SPA.

US efforts to start up the peace process with Washington-mediated "proximity talks" drew doubts from Saud, who said that in the past "step by step" and "trust-building" approaches had failed to achieve anything.

Clinton and Saud also discussed the US inclusion of Saudi Arabia on a list of 14 countries whose nationals have to undergo more intense inspections when traveling to the United States.

"We have agreed to review these measures to find a middle way between security measures and the protection of civil liberties and fundamental rights," Saud said.

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HARRISBURG, Pa. – Rep. John Murtha, the tall, gruff-mannered former Marine who became the de facto voice of veterans on Capitol Hill and later an outspoken and influential critic of the Iraq War, died Monday. He was 77. The Pennsylvania Democrat had been suffering from complications from gallbladder surgery. He died at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, Va., with his family at his bedside, the hospital said.

In 1974 Murtha, then an officer in the Marine Reserves, became the first Vietnam War combat veteran elected to Congress. Ethical questions often shadowed his congressional service, but he was best known for being among Congress' most hawkish Democrats. He wielded considerable clout for two decades as the ranking Democrat on the House subcommittee that oversees Pentagon spending.

Murtha voted in 2002 to authorize President George W. Bush to use military force in Iraq, but his growing frustration over the administration's handling of the war prompted him in November 2005 to call for an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops.

"The war in Iraq is not going as advertised. It is a flawed policy wrapped in illusion," he said.

Murtha's opposition to the Iraq war rattled Washington, where he enjoyed bipartisan respect for his work on military issues. On Capitol Hill, Murtha was seen as speaking for those in uniform when it came to military matters.

Murtha "was the first Vietnam veteran to serve in Congress, and he was incredibly effective in his service in the House," said Rep. David Obey, a Democrat and chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. "He understood the misery of war. Every person who serves in the military has lost an advocate and a good friend today."

Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., said that in part because of Murtha, "America is now on track to removing all combat troops from that country by this summer."

President Barack Obama called Murtha, who was known in his home state for helping bring money and projects to areas depressed by the decline of the coal and steel industries, "a steadfast advocate for the people of Pennsylvania for nearly 40 years" with a "tough-as-nails" reputation.

Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, remembered Murtha as a tireless advocate for veterans and the military.

"From health care to weapons procurement, from shipbuilding to pay and benefits, no one understood the needs of our modern military better than he did," Mullen said in a statement.

"That we remain the greatest military in the history of world is testament in no small part to his vigilance and stewardship," he said.

Known for his seriousness, Murtha also had a lighter side. Gov. Ed Rendell recalled Monday that "he was a funny guy, he always enjoyed a good laugh and he was somebody who was a great and loyal friend."

Murtha was admitted to the Virginia hospital on Jan. 31 after complications arose from surgery he had received at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.

Rendell said Monday that he has not decided when to schedule a special election to replace Murtha. He has 10 days by law; the political parties must come up with their own candidates. The governor said that it would save taxpayer money to hold the election on May 18, the state's planned primary date, but that he might set it sooner in the event of urgent congressional issues.

Murtha was born June 17, 1932. The former newspaper delivery boy left college in 1952 to join the Marines, where he rose through the ranks to become a drill instructor at Parris Island, S.C., and later served in the 2nd Marine Division. He settled in Johnstown, then volunteered for Vietnam, where he served as an intelligence officer and earned a Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts.

He was serving in the Pennsylvania House in Harrisburg when he was elected to Congress in a special election in 1974. In 1990, he retired from the Marine Reserves as a colonel.

"Ever since I was a young boy, I had two goals in life — I wanted to be a colonel in the Marine Corps and a member of Congress," Murtha wrote in his 2004 book, "From Vietnam to 9/11."

Murtha's criticism of the Iraq war intensified in 2006, when he accused Marines of murdering Iraqi civilians "in cold blood" at Haditha, after one Marine died and two were wounded by a roadside bomb.

Critics said Murtha unfairly held the Marines responsible before an investigation was concluded and fueled enemy retaliation. He said that the war couldn't be won militarily and that such incidents dimmed the prospect for a political solution.

"This is the kind of war you have to win the hearts and minds of the people," Murtha said. "And we're set back every time something like this happens."

Murtha was a perennial target of critics of so-called pay-to-play politics. He routinely drew the attention of ethical watchdogs with off-the-floor activities, from his entanglement in the Abscam corruption probe three decades ago to the more recent scrutiny of the connection between special-interest spending known as earmarks and the raising of cash for campaigns.

Murtha defended the practice of earmarking. The money, he said, benefited his constituents.

Complete Biography On Colonel & Congressman John Murtha . . .

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McCain, the top Republican on the Armed Services Committee, said the current policy is not ideal, but that it has been effective.

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