KUWAIT
CITY, February 5 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The forthcoming
U.S.-led invasion of Iraq is looming high on the horizon with Kuwait
declaring a closed military zone on the Kuwait-Iraq border and foreign
diplomats started leaving Baghdad.
The
Kuwaiti defense ministry announced Tuesday that it was establishing a
“military exclusion zone” from February 15 on the emirate’s
northern border with Iraq, some 60 percent of the country, amid a
massive U.S. military buildup in this area with troop numbers topping
35,000 amid threats to oust the strong man of Iraq President Saddam
Hussein by force, Agence-France Presse (AFP) reported Wednesday,
February 5.
Add
to that, the American School of Kuwait and the American International
School have decided to close from February 10 until March 22, citing
security concerns after a series of shootings of U.S. citizens in the
emirate.
In
Baghdad, the U.S. interests section in the Polish embassy closed its
doors Wednesday and the three Polish diplomats who work there left
Baghdad by road for Amman, an official with the embassy told AFP.
Poland
said Monday, February 3, it had recalled its ambassador to Baghdad,
Andrzej Biera, “for consultations” on the heightened tensions in the
region.
Diplomatic
sources in Baghdad reported that representatives from the Yugoslav and
Spanish embassies had also already left Iraq “for talks.”
Last
week, the United States moved to reduce its diplomatic presence in
Kuwait and Saudi Arabia due to heightened fears of attacks against U.S.
interests and other security concerns as the likelihood of war with Iraq
heightened.
In
Israel, U.S. and Israeli troops staged more anti-missile drills Tuesday,
firing off batteries of Patriot rockets in southern Israel’s Negev
desert. Israel has also increased the number of warplanes on “maximum
alert”, AFP quoted as saying Air Force commander General Dan Haloutz
said Tuesday, February 4.
The
Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE), in addition, slumped two percent in the
week ending Wednesday, continuing a downward trend triggered by
increased fears of a U.S.-led war on Iraq and a market correction.
The
KSE is the second largest stock exchange in the Arab world in terms of
capitalization after Saudi Arabia.
In
the meantime, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Wednesday that
although there were no definite links, Iraq appeared to allow a
“permissive environment” in which Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda
network could operate.
“What
we see in terms of intelligence is that the Iraqi regime appears to be
allowing a permissive environment in which Al-Qaeda is able to
operate,” Straw said.
Straw’s
comments came as a leaked report from the government’s Defense
Intelligence Staff (DIS) agency concluded that relations between Baghdad
and Bin Laden had “foundered” due to ideological differences.
The
U.S. push for war on Iraq reached a turning point as Secretary of State
Colin Powell was due to appear before the U.N. Security Council with new
hard evidence to bolster Washington’s claims that Saddam Hussein is
concealing banned weapons.
U.S.
Military Build-up Running High
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The
Lincoln aircraft carrier joined its sister carrier the
Constellation in the Gulf
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As
an another sign that U.S.-led invasion is getting closer, U.S. military
build-up in the region received an additional boost last week with the
USS Abraham Lincoln arriving in the Arabian Sea, putting a third
aircraft carrier battle group within striking distance of Iraq, AFP
said.
The
addition of the carrier means that the United States now has well over
300 combat aircraft in the region, as well as more warships that can
launch Tomahawk cruise missiles.
The
Lincoln joined its sister carrier the Constellation, which is in the
Gulf, while the Harry Truman is in the eastern Mediterranean.
A
fourth aircraft carrier, the Theodore Roosevelt, is expected to join the
buildup in the Mediterranean, and two more the Japan-based Kitty Hawk
and the east coast-based George Washington, are on alert to deploy on
short notice.
The
U.S. Air Force also said a number of F-117 fighters landed at a base in
Europe Tuesday on their way to the Gulf region in the first deployment
of stealth combat aircraft of the buildup.
Preparations
are also advancing on Iraq’s northern front with Kurdish military
sources saying three airstrips, up to 1,000 U.S. soldiers, in the
northern Iraqi Kurd enclave have been repaired following a U.S. request
for them to be ready by mid-February.
