The US Defence Secretary, William Cohen, says American forces could still strike Iraq at any time.

Mr Cohen is visiting some of the thousands of US servicemen and women in the Gulf who took part in Operation Desert Fox last week.

He told reporters in Kuwait that despite the imminent withdrawal of manyUS troops and war planes from the area, nearly twenty-thousand will remain.

Mr Cohen also met members of the ruling family of Kuwait.

He said that the United States could not have carried out the latest operation without Kuwaiti assistance.

Yesterday's Kuwait's foreign minister sought to distance his country from the attacks.