Kuwait wants change of Iraqi regime

The French defense minister Michele Alliot-Mariot yesterday concluded in Kuwait a tour in the Gulf states which was an occasion to confirm France's desire to avoid a war in Iraq.

Meantime, the Kuwaiti defense minister stressed that the Kuwaiti army partially raised its preparedness, following the speech delivered by the Iraqi President Saddam Hussein concerning Kuwait.

In the three capitals Abu Dhabi, Doha and Kuwait, she had visited since Monday, Minister Mary stressed to the UAE, Qatari and Kuwaiti officials "the danger" of a single attack "will not be a result of a consistency in the framework of international law." Before leaving Kuwait, the French minister said " I re- confirm that France will stand in the future, the same in the past, with Kuwait in defense of its safety and territorial integrity."

Concerning the redeployment of 65,000 American troopers in the Gulf region, the French minister said that " the problem is not in the existence of these forces, rather in the possibility of using them." In a joint press conference with the French minister, the Kuwaiti minister stressed that the army raised the degree of its preparation following the threats implied in the recent speech of the Iraqi President. He said that the Kuwaiti army has taken all preparations and measures to withstand any emergency and stressed that Kuwait has no trust in the Iraqi regime. He said "we will be cautious with any non- democratic regimes that come to power in Iraq." Replying to a question on whether the change of the current Iraqi regime is important for Kuwait, Sheikh Jaber said "changing the regime is an important matter for the Iraqi people, the region and the world, especially after it has started to provoke for terrorism and this was clear in Saddam's recent speech he addressed to the Kuwaiti people."