US urges Iraqi war crimes probe

Many Kuwaitis are still missing 10 years on

On the 10th anniversary of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, the United States is again calling for a war crimes tribunal to prosecute the leadership in Baghdad.

The move comes after the publication of a series of captured secret Iraqi files which Washington officials say provide detailed evidence of atrocities carried out during the war.

The United States has been assembling and de-classifying Iraqi documents found in Kuwait for about a year, but has only now begun to release them.

The first batch was published on a web-site run by the Iraq Foundation, a pro-democracy group based in Washington.

The US says the burning of Kuwaits oil fields was a war-crime

The documents apparently include instructions to Iraqi forces to destroy Kuwaiti oil fields, burn civilian houses and steal property.

US officials say there is also evidence that Iraq executed about 1,000 civilians and tortured many more.

International inquiry

Washington is urging the Security Council to set up a war crimes tribunal to hold President Saddam Hussein and his leadership accountable for such acts.

Talks about such a move have been going on for several months and the US wants to see an international inquiry into Iraqi war crimes launched by the end of the year.

Just how much impact that would have on Baghdad - if any - remains unclear.

The secret files apparently document Iraqi army atrocities

Washington says it is still working for a change of regime in Iraq, but the vast bulk of the money allocated by Congress to Iraqi opposition groups has yet to be distributed.

US officials can still not point to any signs that Saddam Hussein is losing his grip on power.

There are also growing signs that the unity of the western alliance that launched Operation Desert Storm has all but evaporated.

'Cruel' sanctions

On Wednesday, French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine launched a stinging attack against the continuation of sanctions against Iraq, labelling them "cruel".

"They are ineffective because they don't touch the regime, which is not encouraged to cooperate, and they are dangerous because they... accentuate the disintegration of Iraqi society," he said.

Sanctions have caused widespread food shortages

However, US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright warned against an early end to the trade embargo, saying it would provide Saddam Hussein revenue to rebuild Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.

"Saddam is encouraged by his success in seducing some governments and non-governmental organisations to embrace his disingenuous arguments," she said.

Closer links

Other countries - including Russia - have gone a stage further.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz visited Moscow last week, and recently the Kremlin announced it is to restore air links with Baghdad.

In a statement released on Monday, Russia also demanded that the US and Britain end their air-strikes on Iraq, and the UN lift the decade-long sanctions.

Meanwhile in Kuwait, some believe that the enmity between the tiny oil-rich state and its larger neighbour cannot last forever, and say economic ties will again be possible - when the regime of Saddam Hussein is over.