Kuwait has placed its armed forces on alert for the 10th anniversary of the end of the Gulf War, but the emirate said at the same time it extends a hand to Iraq.
In an interview with the BBC.online, the country's Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Ali al-Mu'min, said the move had been taken after Iraqi threats to retaliate against Kuwait and Saudi Arabia for hosting Western warplanes that have recently bombed Iraq.
Meanwhile, "Kuwait is extending its hands to all and opening its heart to all," Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah wrote in Al-Rai Al-Aam newspaper, cited by AFP.
However, the minister urged Baghdad to comply with UN Security Council resolutions and earn the lifting of crippling sanctions imposed for the 1990 invasion.
"We want to see this (anniversary) celebration complete by Iraq's compliance with international legal resolutions, especially resolution 1284," Sheikh Sabah said.
This would facilitate "the lifting of sanctions on our brothers the Iraqi people who, like other peoples in the region, have suffered as a result of the irresponsible behavior of the Iraqi regime" he added.
Resolution 1284, which has been rejected by Iraq, offers a renewable suspension of sanctions after the return of UN disarmament inspectors to Baghdad.
A large number of former world leaders arrived in Kuwait overnight to take part in the two-day celebrations, led by ex-US president George Bush and former British prime ministers Margaret Thatcher and John Major.
Some 35 other prominent guests aboard the aircraft of Kuwait's emir also arrived, including US General Norman Schwarzkopf, the commander of allied forces in the war.
US State Secretary Colin Powell will join the celebrations as part of a tour of the region that has taken him to Egypt, Israel and will include the Palestinian lands and Jordan Sunday.
The oil-rich monarchy has launched a campaign under the title “Thanks America,” to show gratitude for the US-led coalition that forced the Iraqi troops out of Kuwait ten years ago.
But former UN secretary general Boutros Boutros-Ghali said the great hopes formed after the Gulf War had turned into a disappointment, according to an article he wrote in a Kuwaiti daily, cited by AFP.
"The international intervention to liberate Kuwait constituted great hopes, which later became a disappointment because we failed to reach a new basis for new relations in the new era," Boutros-Ghali wrote in Al-Rai Al-Aam newspaper.
The BBC said that although Kuwait's armed forces believe that the likelihood of an attack by Iraq on the anniversary of the end of the Gulf War is slim, they are on a state of full alert.
Patriot anti-missile missiles have been deployed in Kuwait City, covering the country's main Bayan Palace and the new US embassy, where some of the Gulf War commemorations will be held.
General al-Mu'min told the BBC that over the last 10 years, Kuwaitis had been hoping that tensions with their northern neighbor would ease.
But instead, he said, Iraq was maintaining huge military forces across the common border, with two divisions of troops just 20 minutes drive from Kuwait.
However, General al-Mu'min said Kuwaitis felt secure because of the presence of Western forces in the country
About 4,500 US troops are based in Kuwait, together with squadrons of US and British warplanes that regularly patrol the skies over southern Iraq.
A defense pact between the US and Kuwait, signed following the Gulf War, has been renewed for another 10 years – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
