Kuwait rejects reports on hosting more US troops

A top Kuwaiti official dismissed the American proposals to station at least 4,000 additional soldiers in the Persian Gulf nation following the US military withdrawal from Iraq at the end of the year.Sheik Jaber Al Mubarak Al Sabah, who is also defense minister, said on Sunday that there is no plan to increase US troop levels in the country. It was not immediately clear whether this was Kuwait's final word to the Pentagon or a suggestion that nothing is yet resolved and negotiations are in progress. The reference to the issue of US troops was mentioned as part of a lengthy statement on a variety of issues. A rebuff from Kuwait would be a significant blow to US efforts to boost the numbers of forces in the Persian Gulf, where the US and its Arab allies fear growing Islamic Awakening and the resultant boost in Iran's power and influence as revolutionary governments have all shown deep interest in expanding ties with Iran. Earlier this month, US officials said the Pentagon hoped to shift at least 4,000 soldiers from Iraq to Kuwait at the end of the year, pending a final decision by military planners and Kuwaiti leaders. The Pentagon said Monday that officials are still working on the issue of where troops will be arrayed in the region after the US departure from Iraq. Sheik Jaber was quoted by the official Kuwait News Agency as saying that Kuwait will be used only as a transit point for forces, including those leaving Iraq. Kuwaiti officials could not be reached Monday to elaborate on the comments. Thousands of US troops have been in Kuwait since the 1991 war that drove Iraqi forces out of the oil-rich Persian Gulf state. A decade-old agreement has governed the number of US troops in Kuwait, but it is believed to expire at the end of this year. That would open the possibility of talks on all provisions for US forces in Kuwait. The proposed relocation of troops to Kuwait is part of a still-developing Pentagon strategy that ends the Iraq war but positions a strong US force just across the border. Western media reports have said that the US relocation plan is part of wider US attempts to challenge the growth of Iran's influence and bonds with the regional states. The Pentagon said plans are still being made. "There have been no final decisions made or inked about force posture in that part of the world - in the Persian Gulf region and the Middle East, post-Iraq," Navy Capt. John Kirby, a Defense Department spokesman, told reporters Monday. "We've long said that there's likely going to be a different posture as our troops come home out of Iraq, but we're still working our way through all that right now," Kirby said. Asked if Sheik Jaber spoke prematurely or if he was surprised by the Kuwaiti statement, Kirby didn't directly answer, but said: "Those are sovereign decisions that any state gets to make about whether there's foreign troops on their soil and, like I said, we're still working our way through what the posture in the Middle East, writ large, is going to look like after our troops come home." His words revealed that the US is pressurizing Kuwait to accept the Pentagon's relocation plan, but the Persian Gulf state is resisting Washington pressures as it knows any such move would not only intensify tension in the region but also push his country into the middle of this tension.