U.S. troops in Kuwait to counter Iraq's

U.S. troops in Kuwait to counter Iraq's

KUWAIT (Reuter): A planeload of U.S. soldiers touched down in Kuwait yesterday, the first units of an American force rushing to the emirate to counter an Iraqi troop build-up near the border, witnesses said.

A DC-10 aircraft landed at the closely-guarded military sector of Kuwait international airport shortly before dusk carrying 300 troops from mechanized infantry units based in Fort Stewart, Georgia.

U.S. ambassador Ryan Crocker and a group of U.S. army officers stood on the tarmac waiting to greet the men, the first of a 4,000-strong contingent ordered to Kuwait.

Kuwaiti soldiers backed by tanks were already in positions near the border.

But as a deadline set by Iraq for an easing of UN sanctions ticked away, the rhetoric in Baghdad's government-controlled press showed no sign of compromise.

Iraq's ruling Baath party newspaper reiterated Iraqi demands saying: "The ball is in the Security Council's court."

Iraq has set yesterday, when UN chief arms monitor Rolf Ekeus is due to report to the Security Council on Baghdad's compliance with his mission, as the deadline for the lifting of the sanctions imposed after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

But Kuwait said the report would not be filed yesterday.

"Let the whole world hear that the sons of Kuwait...have vowed to put all they treasure in defense of this small and peaceful country," Kuwaiti crown prince and prime minister Sheikh Saad al- Abdulla al-Sabah told parliament.

"This report will not be submitted today...this is a message to the head of the Iraqi regime in Baghdad that the Security Council will not be drawn into responding to the threats of the Iraqi regime," Sheikh Saad told parliament.

There was no word from United Nations headquarters on the prince's comments.

U.S. Defense Secretary William Perry said in Washington that the total number of Iraqi soldiers could reach 80,000, including units which were still moving towards the border area.

Washington has ordered 36,000 U.S. troops and 200 warplanes into the region to block any attempt by Iraq to repeat its 1990 invasion, which resulted in the expulsion of the occupation force by a U.S.-led multinational army in February 1991.

Perry said U.S. forces being deployed in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait would stay as long as needed. By the end of the day there would be 200 tactical U.S. warplanes in the region.

Confident

On a desert plain close to the frontier with Iraq, Kuwaiti chief of staff Maj. Gen. Ali al-Moumen said he was confident his troops could deal with any attack by Iraqi forces.

"I feel comfortable with the threat we can see. They've got superiority in numbers but we have our own advantages," Moumen said. Reporters touring the border area saw small groups of Kuwaiti troops and tanks deployed on the barren plain.

UN peacekeepers on the border were keeping a close eye on a tent city of 2,000 stateless Arabs that has sprung up between the frontier and the gathering Iraqi force.

Kuwait has charged that many are soldiers in civilian dress and there are worries they be used by Iraq to stage a demonstration or to act as a human shield in case of war.

"This continues to be a source of potential concern," one diplomat said.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammad Saeed al-Sahaf said in a statement that Iraq wanted a diplomatic solution to the crisis and Russia, China and France were working in this direction.

But Iraq would not accept anything short of definite assurances that the "suffering of the Iraqi people" would end -- a reference to hardships resulting from the sanctions.

He hinted that Iraq was seeking a quid pro quo of a lifting of sanctions in return for recognition of Kuwaiti sovereignty, a step Iraq has consistently refused to take in the past. Western diplomats in Kuwait said this was unacceptable.

Kuwait said foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), linking Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, would meet in Kuwait tomorrow to discuss the crisis. They will also meet U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher there.

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