Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, January 18, 1993 TAG: 9301180060
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A/6 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: KUWAIT CITY LENGTH: Medium
IRAQ REMOVES POSTS FROM INSIDE KUWAIT
Iraq began abandoning the six police posts it held inside Kuwaiti territory shortly before the U.S. missile attacks Sunday night, U.N officers said.The withdrawal came nearly two days after a deadline imposed by the United Nations, which had told Iraq to remove the posts by midnight Friday.
Otherwise, the U.N. officers said there was no activity on the border during the cruise missile attack on what Washington described as a nuclear target near Baghdad.
Earlier Sunday, three Iraqi agents tried to infiltrate Kuwait to survey its defenses, according to Kuwaiti Information Minister Saud al-Sabah. He said one was killed in a shootout with Kuwaiti border patrols. Another infiltrator was arrested and the other fled, he said.
U.N. officers reached by telephone at the border zone said 46 Iraqi policemen were abandoning the posts, comprising trailers and tents spread along a 27-mile stretch of the border. One officer said the pullout started about four hours before the U.S. attack.
The U.N. officers were watching the posts through night-vision glasses from distances of about a half-mile. They spoke on condition of anonymity. The U.N. spokesman, Abdel-Latif Kabbaj, was not available for comment Sunday.
About 300 U.S. Special Forces troops were in Kuwait before the current showdown with Iraq and were holding maneuvers in desert areas close to the border. About 1,100 infantry troops arrived during the weekend.
The U.S. commander, Maj. Gen. Robert Frix, said Kuwait had asked for Patriot missiles and the request was being "very strongly considered."
The surface-to-air missiles are credited with deflecting most of the warheads from the Scud missiles Iraq fired at Saudi Arabia and Israel during the 1991 Gulf War.
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.