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Dear Anai & List, I am enclosing two articles on this issue. HZ -------------------------------------- http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1035775338064&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154 Dec. 7, 2002. 01:19 PM Iraqi president apologizes to Kuwait BAGHDAD (AP) — President Saddam Hussein apologized aturday to the Kuwaiti people for his invasion of Kuwait 1990, saying he was not apologizing out of weakness but a desire to set the record straight. In a speech read on national television by the Iraqi information minister, Saddam outlined the events that led to the invasion and said: "We apologize to God about any act that has angered him in the past and that was held against us, and we apologize to you (the Kuwaitis) on the same basis." He said that in 1989, he had tried to reach a peaceful settlement of Iraq's dispute with Kuwait, but that the neighbouring Gulf country's officials were not interested in negotiating. At the time, he said, American troops were carrying out manoeuvres with Kuwaiti forces, which was a threat to Iraq. He maintained Iraq was the victim of a conspiracy by Kuwaiti officials who were syphoning off oil along the two countries' borders that actually belonged to Iraq. He also repeated charges that Kuwait was producing oil beyond its assigned OPEC quota, bringing down oil prices to the detriment of the Iraqi economy. In the speech read by Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf, the Iraqi leader was careful to distinguish between the Kuwaiti people and the country's leaders. Saddam added that Iraqi officials later found documents showing the United States and Kuwaiti officials had colluded in military plans against Iraq and his country had to defend itself, leading to the invasion of Aug. 2, 1990. "There was no hope in solving issues by diplomatic means," he said. ------------------------------------------------------------------ http://www.news24.com/News24/World/0,1113,2-10_1295174,00.html Saddam Hussein says sorry Baghdad - Iraqi President Saddam Hussein apologised to the Kuwaiti people on Saturday for his 1990-1991 occupation and urged them to struggle against foreign armies. "We apologise to God for any deed that angered him in the past, which we might not have known of and is blamed on us, and on this basis we also apologise to you," a letter from Saddam to the Kuwaiti people read out on Iraqi state television said. In an apparent reference to the US military presence in Kuwait, the statement read by information minister Mohammed Saeed al Sahaf urged the Kuwaiti people to join Iraq in resisting the occupation of foreign forces. "Why will not the faithful, the devoted and the holy warriors in Kuwait meet with their counterparts in Iraq under the blanket of their creator, instead of under the blanket of London or Washington and the Zionist entity, to discuss their matters on top of which is the jihad (holy struggle) against the occupation of infidel armies," the statement said. The letter was read on Iraqi television at the same time as Baghdad was handing over a declaration on its weapons programmes under last month's UN resolution. _________________________________________________________ A community of almost THREE MILLION Arab Internet users. Become part of it! http://www.maktoob.com _______________________________________________ Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk