Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 15, 1991 TAG: 9102150306
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: DHAHRAN, SAUDI ARABIA LENGTH: Medium
Kuwaiti Col. Abdullah al Kandari also said that reports from Kuwaiti resistance fighters indicated that the Iraqi army appears to be preparing for a bloody, house-to-house fight in Kuwait City, sealing off windows and fortifying houses in strategic locations.
In what Kuwaiti officials say is retribution against civilians in response to the allied bombing raids, 12 of the 65 most recently executed had their throats slashed, their heads removed and their corpses left in front of their homes for 36 hours as a warning to others, Kandari said. At least a dozen people were executed because they did not wait in line for supplies, he said.
"They are taking revenge for the air attack on Iraq against the civilians in Kuwait," he told reporters at a news conference in the Saudi capital of Riyadh. "They are getting very sensitive," he said. "They will just act on any incident they see, and they will either take you to jail or they will start execution."
Kuwaiti government officials both in the Middle East and in Washington have become outspoken about atrocities in Kuwait over the past two days, in the wake of the allied bombing of an underground facility in Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday in which at least scores of civilians were killed.
In the weeks since the beginning of the air campaign and its accompanying images of injured Iraqi civilians, the Kuwaitis have watched with alarm as, in their view, the attention of the world media has turned away from the suffering of civilians inside Kuwait.
"Since the beginning of the air campaign, the focus of the media has been taken away from the pain and suffering which has been endured by the Kuwaitis as a result of Saddam Hussein's invasion of our country," Kandari said. "The world should remember, it is the aggressive actions of Saddam Hussein which have caused this pain. Saddam Hussein is responsible for this war."
Before war broke out, an Amnesty International report estimated that Iraqi troops had murdered up to 1,000 Kuwaiti citizens. It said that in some cases babies were taken off life-support systems so the machinery could be sent to hospitals in Iraq.
Kandari said that there were now an estimated 300,000 Kuwaitis in the occupied emirate and that about 700,000 had taken refuge outside Kuwait.
Based on communications with the Kuwaiti resistance that were severed by Iraqi forces only about a week ago, Kandari said that it appeared clear that Iraqi forces inside Kuwait were preparing not to withdraw but to defend Kuwait City in what could be a bloody house-to-house battle that is among the scenarios allied forces fear most.
"I think this is the intention," he said. "They have fortified houses at very strategic positions, they have strengthened windows and they've made it like a defensive position there," he said.
Earlier this week, reports from inside the emirate indicated that Iraqi occupation troops were moving from exposed positions into fortified apartment blocks.
"Residents say that Iraqi soldiers have started moving from exposed locations like schools and sports stadiums to houses and apartment blocks overlooking main streets in different residential areas," said a report from the Higher Kuwaiti Committee, one of several organizations formed by Kuwait's government-in-exile.
The report said that Iraqis had sealed off windows with concrete, leaving only small openings for their weapons.
A videotape shot by the Kuwaiti resistance in southern Kuwait just before the beginning of the allied air campaign showed aonce-opulant southern Kuwait suburb turned into a virtual ghost town, with even the window air conditioners removed from the buildings.
by CNB