For the first time in more than a decade, President Saddam Hussein grudgingly apologized on Saturday to the people of Kuwait for invading their country in 1990, blaming the Americans and the Kuwaiti government for provoking the invasion.
"We apologize to God for any action that may anger the Almighty, if such an action took place in the past, unbeknownst to us but considered to be our responsibility, and to you [Kuwaitis] we apologize on this basis as well," Saddam said in a speech read on national television by his information minister.
"O, you brothers, what we wish for is what we are working to achieve for your brothers in Iraq: to live free, without foreign control of your destiny, will, decisions, wealth, present and future," he added.
Saddam's declaration was delivered as Iraqi officials were handing over to the UN a massive, 12,000 page declaration of their chemical, biological and nuclear industries, as demanded by the Security Council.
The two moves appeared to be a dramatic bid to set aside the nightmare which began with the 1990 invasion, which led to defeat in the Gulf War and a dozen years of crippling sanctions.
In Kuwait, Information Minister Sheik Ahmed Fahd Al Ahmed Al Sabah rejected Saddam's apology as unworthy of a response and accused the Iraqi leader of inciting terror attacks.
"Regrettably, the speech contained words to which we would rather not stoop and respond," Al Sabah told the Kuwaiti News Agency. "He must apologize to the Iraqi people first for dragging them into wars that wasted their resources and apologize to the State of Kuwait by telling the truth and returning the prisoners."
Kuwait has been pressing Iraq to account for 600 people, mostly Kuwaitis, who disappeared during Iraq's seven-month occupation. Mohammed al-Jassem, editor of the Kuwait daily Al-Watan, said the speech "cannot be considered an apology by any means."
Saddam's comments carefully avoided use of the word "invasion" in describing what he did to Kuwait and sought to cast blame on the Kuwaiti leadership and the US, which again is threatening war if Iraq does not abandon its alleged weapons of mass destruction.
He said Iraq's actions in 1990 were "prompted by so many actions," including joint US-Kuwaiti military maneuvers and Kuwait's lowering of crude oil prices.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
COUNTERINTELLIGENCE TRAINING: The ministry said 87.5 percent of the apprehended Chinese agents were reported by service members they tried to lure into becoming spies Taiwanese organized crime, illegal money lenders, temples and civic groups are complicit in Beijing’s infiltration of the armed forces, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said in a report yesterday. Retired service members who had been turned to Beijing’s cause mainly relied on those channels to infiltrate the Taiwanese military, according to the report to be submitted to lawmakers ahead of tomorrow’s hearing on Chinese espionage in the military. Chinese intelligence typically used blackmail, Internet-based communications, bribery or debts to loan sharks to leverage active service personnel to do its bidding, it said. China’s main goals are to collect intelligence, and develop a
RSS