US Secretary of State Colin Powell flew into Kuwait on Sunday with tough words for Iraqi President Saddam Hussein as he joined celebrations to mark the emirate's liberation from Iraqi occupation a decade ago, said reports.
Powell told reporters on his plane from Amman that the Iraqi president was a "dictator" and that Iraq was "trapped in a prison of its own making," said AFP.
"I never ever have underestimated the power of a dictator ... but we pretty much removed his stings," said the secretary, who was US military chief during the 1991 Gulf War.
"We did exactly what (former president George) Bush said: the aggression did not stand and Iraq is trapped in a prison of its own making," Powell said, referring to the expulsion of Iraqi forces from the oil-rich emirate, said the agency.
Speaking to a local television crew at a welcoming ceremony at the airport, Powell said any new threats by the Iraqi President were nothing but bluster, as the international community would stand by Kuwaitis.
"Kuwait is free, Kuwait has friends, Kuwait has allies," he said. "Saddam has nothing but rhetoric and shooting his mouth off. You have strength and you have world opinion and so Kuwait will remain free."
Earlier on the plane, Powell said he looked forward to talks on Monday with Kuwaiti leaders on renewed US efforts to contain Iraq, despite international condemnation last week after US and British warplanes bombed Baghdad for the first time in two years.
"We had a marvelous and demanding shared experience, and in the 10 years that have passed, we have all stayed in touch and it will be good to see them," he said.
"It will be good to reflect on what we accomplished and remind everybody this was a guy (Saddam Hussein) who invaded a country that was not doing anything to him."
The general will attend a huge parade billed the "Popular National March" along the Kuwait City seafront on Monday.
Powell has already visited Egypt, Israel, the West Bank and Jordan on a whirlwind tour of the Middle East to bolster Arab support for a tough US line on Iraq.
The MBC satellite channel said that the secretary extended an invitation to Jordan's King Abdullah II to visit Washington.
A similar invitation was received Saturday by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak who is due to visit the US early April.
During his visit to Ramallah in the West Bank, Powell called for the lifting of the Israeli blockade on the Palestinian territories "as soon as possible."
He is due to fly to Riyadh and Damascus on Monday afternoon, said reports - Albawaba.com
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