A mission, comprised of US defense and state department officials, is expected to arrive and hold talks in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries soon, Kuwait Times reported on Monday. During the tour, the U.S. officials will discuss a possible US plan to attack Iraq.
This visit is a prelude to the expected visits by senior US officials, including Secretary of State Colin Powell and Defense Secretary Ronald Rumsfeld, the newspaper added. According to this report, the US representatives will explain to Arab Gulf officials the need for a United States-led strike and the logistics required from the Gulf states.
The sources said Kuwait has been asked to receive 100,000 troops, Saudi Arabia is requested to base a majority of troops while Qatar and Bahrain will host ammunition depots. These requests are despite the fact the GCC countries have voiced their opposition to launching an attack on Iraq from their territories.
In a related development, Iraqi parliamentary speaker Saadun Hammadi invited the US Congress to send a fact-finding team to Baghdad for three weeks to check on allegations Iraq was developing weapons of mass destruction.
Hammadi invited US Congress members to come to Baghdad with "nuclear, chemical and biological (NCB) experts" to check that claims of the US government that Iraq is developing weapons of mass destruction "are not true."
The invitation, which was carried by the official INA news agency, was sent to Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert and Senate Majority leader Tom Daschle via a diplomat from the Polish embassy, which represents US interests in Iraq, AFP reported. (Albawaba.com)
