KUWAIT: Kuwait yesterday welcomed Saturday's decision by the defence and foreign ministers of the six nation Gulf Co-operation Council to send a joint force to Kuwait "as soon as possible" to defend it against an Iraqi attack in the event of a US-led war.
The Kuwaiti cabinet said it "appreciated" the move which is seen as being symbolic of the council's "unity" rather than practical protection.
Baghdad has threatened to launch defensive attacks against Kuwait if the emirate's territory is used as a launchpad for a US military offensive against Iraq .
There was no indication of how many troops from the 5,000 strong "Peninsula Shield", set up by the council more than a decade ago, will be deployed in what was described as a "precautionary measure" or what relationship these troops will have with the 30,000 plus US soldiers already in Kuwait. One third of the emirate has already been declared a "no go area", due to the presence of US forces, and the entire northern half of the country is set to be sealed off from February 15th.
This Gulf force, formed to defend Gulf states from external threats, was not used in 1990 to prevent Iraq from invading Kuwait.
While taking this step, the council, comprising Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman, firmly rejects war on Iraq.
The decision to dispatch the "Peninsula Shield", taken at a meeting in Jeddah called by the Saudis, sent confusing signals about Saudi policy. The order to deploy the Gulf force at a time when the US is building up its troop strength in the Gulf, coincided with a report in the New York Times that Riyadh is preparing to disengage militarily from the US, decree significant democratic reforms and curb the conservative clerics and Wahhabi tribesmen who have been a main prop of the House of Saud for 75 years.
The paper said that Crown Prince Abdullah, the effective ruler of the kingdom, would ask the US to withdraw all US armed forces from Saudi soil once Iraq is disarmed.
The departure of US troops would be followed by decrees permitting Saudi men to begin electing representatives to provincial assemblies and, at the end of a six year period, a national parliament. Before initiating such a dramatic change in the governance of the kingdom, the Saudi ruling family will be compelled to rein in the conservative clerics and tribal leaders who control the kingdom's social policy. Under the current system, just one influential religious leader can veto any progressive proposal put before the appointed "shura", or consultative council, created in the aftermath of the 1991 Gulf war.
Crown Prince Abdullah has been making a serious attempt to institute much needed reforms since assuming power in late 1996, but he has met resistance from senior princes, including Prince Naif, the minister of the interior, and Prince Sultan, the defence minister and next in line to the throne.
