US assures Kuwait of support

The former American President, George Bush, has assured Kuwaitis that the United States will never leave their country undefended.

He was speaking at a ceremony in Kuwait, where events have been taking place to mark the end of the Iraqi occupation ten years ago.

In his speech, the American general who headed the thirty-three nation coalition against Baghdad, Norman Schwarzkopf, told war veterans that freedom was still worth living and dying for.

However, Iraqi newspapers have mocked the events in Kuwait.

They called the festivities provocative and said Kuwait had nothing to celebrate because it had been occupied by American forces since the end of the Gulf War.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service