Firas Al-Atraqchi: Troops Not On Kuwait Border

The United Nations Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission (UNIKOM), which monitors military activity in the demilitarized zone between Iraq and Kuwait, today denied initial reports that Iraqi troops had been massing near the border with Kuwait.

According to Reuters wire reports, UN officials denied any military activity in the zone. UNIKOM official Daljeet Bagga told Reuters "We have not seen such a thing. There is nothing in the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone between Iraq and Kuwait) or close to it. We have no confirmation of that," said the U.N. official.

Kuwait's daily newspapers Al-Watan and Al-Qabas make no mention of any Iraqi military activity.

According to KUNA, the Kuwaiti news agency, Information Minister Ahmed al-Fahd al-Sabah, reiterated Kuwait's opposition to U.S. invasion plans for Iraq.

"We are against a strike, but we hope Baghdad cooperates (with the United Nations) to spare the region a war. Nobody in the world wants war. The brotherly Iraqi people are our neighbours and will remain so," he said.

The question, then, poses itself: who, or what, is passing along misinformation as legitimate news leaks? And to what purpose?

Today’s Sludge Report published on Scoop did a pretty good job of answering that question.

ENDS

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