Kuwaiti messages to Gulf leaders; plan to remove Iraqi leadership

The ruler of Kuwait, Sheikh Jaber Ahmed El-Sabah, sent private messages to Gulf leaders and to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. The messages tackled coordination between the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, which is currently headed by Kuwait.

The Kuwaiti state council will hold today a private session to discuss developments and examine governmental policy.

Meanwhile, there is talk of informed Arab officials leaking aspects of the so-called "US plan" to strike at Iraq if diplomatic attempts made by France, Russia, Turkey and Egypt failed. They claimed that the final aim for the strike will be toppling Saddam Hussein and his system, despite US President Clinton's flat denial that this would be an objective of military action, and that a military presence would be created in a later phase to change the interior political landscape in Iraq.

This force, according to the leaks, supporting internal public or military acts against the current government, would remain until the situation became stable, leading to holding elections and establishing a federal democratic system loyal to the US.