Kuwait: We do not intend to reduce foreign forces

Kuwait stated that it has no intention of reducing the number of US forces in its territories.

The Kuwaiti minister of defense, Sheikh Salem al-Sabah, said, "We do not intend to reduce the British and American forces within the agreement signed between Baghdad and the secretary-general of the United Nations, Kofi Annan."

He said that the security environment is not yet clear and that Kuwait has to examine the signed agreement and the Security Council's opinion of it.

The Kuwaiti Cabinet expressed its approval of the agreement signed between Iraq and the U.N., stating that if it has fulfilled Security Council requirements it could spare the Iraqi people and the region from the repercussions of military actions.