BAGDAD, Iraq, Aug. 1 (UPI) -- The regime of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein marked the 12th anniversary of Iraq's invasion of Kuwait Thursday by urging its small but oil-rich neighbor to open a new page in good-neighborly relations.
The call for reconciliation, disseminated by Iraq state-controlled media outlets, contrasted with threats against Kuwait in previous years.
In the months since Islamist terrorists struck at the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, U.S. President George Bush has repeatedly declared the United States is determined to see Saddam toppled, Western analysts noted. The Iraqi response, they say, has been to seek to mend fences with the rest of the Arab world.
Last March, at a summit meeting of the Arab League in Beirut, there was a well-publicized show of reconciliation between the representative of Iraq and that of Saddam's long-time adversary, Saudi Arabia.
The analysts saw this gesture as reflecting Saudi preference for the status quo rather than risking destabilizing the Middle East that as a result of U.S. military intervention in Iraq.
Since the Beirut summit, Saddam has held back from media campaigns against Kuwait and has said he would respect its sovereignty, independence and national security.
However, he has failed to impress the Kuwaitis. On Wednesday, their Information minister, Sheik Ahmad Fahd Ahmad al-Sabah, said his government had no confidence in Iraq's intentions and had received no guarantees that Baghdad would not invade Kuwait again.
Baghdad has repeatedly urged Kuwait to open the way to resumption of relations severed with the Iraqi invasion. Among evidence Saddam proffers of his good intentions is, he says, acceptance of the Iraqi-Kuwaiti border as demarcated by the United Nations as well as a promise to return national archives seized during the Iraqi occupation.
For the Kuwaitis, the question of prisoners of war held by the Iraqis is a sore spot. They insist Iraq is holding 605 Kuwaitis although Baghdad denies it holds any. For its part, Iraq contends that the war ended with 1,142 Iraqis missing in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
While Baghdad has said it welcomes mediation sponsored by the Arab League, it has refused to take part in a tripartite committee, under the aegis of the International Committee of the Red Cross, that includes Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Saddam objects to participation by Britain and the United States.
According to Saddam, the United States and Israel are responsible for thwarting Iraq's rapprochement with Kuwait.
