Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 26, 1991 TAG: 9102260458
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: DHAHRAN, SAUDI ARABIA LENGTH: Medium
Hassan al-Sanad, the Kuwaiti Information Ministry's deputy director, cited various sources, including city residents reached by satellite telephone.
"We confirm that Kuwait City is free," Sanad said. He spoke shortly after a senior U.S. military source in Riyadh said there were signs that Iraqi troops were retreating from Kuwait to prevent their annihilation by coalition forces.
Later, a senior U.S. military official told a briefing in Riyadh that allied soldiers were still fighting a fierce tank battle with Iraqi forces in and around Kuwait City's international airport.
"Kuwait City will be liberated, but I can't make that comment now," Marine Brig. Gen. Richard Neal said.
Earlier in the day, the Kuwaiti news agency had said most Iraqi forces had left Kuwait City and surrounding areas in a withdrawal over several days.
Sanad said the retreating Iraqis had seized a number of hostages as they left Kuwait City, including Kuwaiti, Syrian and Egyptian nationals. He did not give the source of that information or say how many hostages had been taken.
An officer in the Kuwaiti resistance, Col. Abu Fahad, said the Iraqis had taken thousands of hostages with them. "I believe they are using them to protect themselves," Abu Fahad said in a telephone interview with Cable Network News from Kuwait City.
Sanad said officials of Kuwait's government-in-exile had arrived in Dhahran from their exile bases in Taif and Jiddah, and were preparing to return to their homeland "as soon as it was safe." He said they planned to send a 30-truck relief convoy filled with food and water, possibly by Wednesday.
Earlier today, the emir of Kuwait declared martial law in the small emirate for three months, the radio of Kuwait's exiled government announced.
Crown Prince Sheik Saad al-Abdullah al-Sabah, the prime minister of Kuwait, was declared the military governor, the government radio said. The decree said he would coordinate with the Kuwaiti armed forces and commanders of other allied forces, but did not elaborate.
Quoting an unidentified "high-ranking Kuwaiti military official," the Kuwait news agency said Kuwaiti citizens were in control of key police precincts in Kuwait City, the emirate's capital.
"The resistance is now in control of the city of Kuwait and neighboring regions," the official said.
The report came a few hours after Iraqi President Saddam Hussein announced that Kuwait was no longer part of Iraq and that his troops were withdrawing, and as allied ground forces surged north, advancing on Kuwait City.
Abu Fahad said he had seen Kuwaitis, as well as Egyptians, Syrians and others, executed by Iraqis for no apparent reason.
"I have seen, by [my] eyes, a lot of my friends and some of our guys executed in front of their families and their houses for nothing, just being in the country," Abu Fahad said on CNN. "In the past few days, we didn't even leave our houses."
He added that the Iraqi withdrawal was "real disorganized."
Kuwaiti officials in exile in Bahrain said their information indicated only pockets of Iraqi troops remained in Kuwait City. They said those Iraqis probably stayed behind because their communications facilities were destroyed in allied bombings and they hadn't received Saddam's orders.
The officials also said that the occupation forces had been withdrawing over three or four days, and that Saddam's final order earlier in the day was synchronized with the near completion of the pullout.
The officials said that many Kuwaitis were out on the streets in joyful celebration. Kuwait was overrun by Iraqi forces on Aug. 2.
An earlier broadcast by Kuwait's exiled government advised Kuwait City residents to stay in their homes as allied troops roll in, but there already was one account of "dancing in the streets."
"Our joy is overflowing, thanks be to God. The enemy is turning tail," said Kuwait radio, which is believed to broadcast from Saudi Arabia.
It appealed to residents to stay calm, be alert for saboteurs and avoid celebrations, especially firing guns into the air. The radio warned that Kuwaitis could accidentally be shot by allied forces if found carrying arms. It also advised Kuwaitis not to fire on fleeing Iraqi soldiers.
The broadcast promised that the wealthy Kuwaiti government "will provide all needs, including power, food, services."
Leilani Young, a Las Vegas resident married to a Kuwaiti, said she got a call from relatives in Sweden who had been in radio contact with Kuwait City.
"The Iraqi troops are throwing down their weapons and leaving in anything they can get their hands on to drive," she said.
by CNB