Kuwait calls on the world to take measures against Iraq
Baghdad on Sunday renewed its accusations against Kuwait of stealing 300,000 oil barrels of the Iraqi oil every day and called for returning back these amounts.
For its part, the Kuwaiti government took this Iraqi accusation seriously and said that Iraq constitutes a real threat to the Gulf region, calling on the international community to take " serious measures " towards the Iraqi threats.
The US defense secretary William Cohen said that the US and British troopers positioned in the Arab Gulf region is " ready " to confront any Iraqi aggression.
In a press conference held on board of the US naval ship " German town" anchored in Singapore, Cohen said we have "explained " to the Iraqi President that he should not try to threaten his neighbors or people as he did in the past. "Our forces are ready. We reinforce the ' no fly Zone' in the north and the south and we closely monitor the conditions." To this effect, the Kuwaiti defense minister Sheikh Salem al-Sabah has warned the Iraqi leadership that it will " pay a dear price this time if it commits a military act against Kuwait."
In statements issued by the Kuwaiti daily " al-Rai al-Am," the Kuwaiti minister added " conditions are quite different from those prevailing in 1990. We have taken measures against any such attempt," adding " the threats always made by the Iraqi regime do not frighten us, being serious or for political consumption."
Diplomats and western military sources said that Kuwait is witnessing an escalating concern since the fall of the 10th anniversary of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.
An official at the Kuwaiti defense ministry said that the Kuwaiti naval, air and land forces are in their maximum alert along the year since the Gulf war and that " we are completely ready and regularly coordinate with our allies. We have confident in the reserve measures and arrangements that have been already taken."
In Baghdad, the Iraqi officials renewed their accusations of Kuwait in stealing the Iraqi oil.
The secretary general of the Arab people's forces conference Saad Qadsem Hamoudi said that Iraq's announcement about stealing its oil from southern fields is not new rather proved since 1990 through several Iraqi documents and memorandums.
He added that the " Rulers of Kuwait had previously admitted that in a statement made by " Kuwait's prime minister " Saad al-Abdullah al-Sabah of stealing the Iraqi oil during the meeting which was held in Saudi Arabia in July 1990 but the disputes was then over the amounts of stolen oil." The Iraqi official called on all " sides concerned to the region's security and stability, especially the UN security council and the Arab league to react in order to put an end to these violations and continued plundering of the Iraqi resources." He criticized the stand taken by the West toward this issue, questioning " has declaring the stealing of our resources has become prevented?" For his part, the Iraqi minister of commerce Muhammad Mahdi Saleh denied his country to have had threatened Kuwait, noting that Kuwait has not denied any of its neighbors but it is the one which is vulnerable and threatened by its neighbors.
He stressed that Iraq will defend its lands and airspace against any aggression. He attacked the rulers of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait and accused them of taking part in the air sorties carried out by the Western warplanes in the no fly zones in Southern Iraq.