Iraq crisis: Kuwait embassy set for exodus

THE United States on Tuesday offered dependants of its diplomats in Kuwait and Israel the chance to leave the region if they wish, a move which could further raise the level of alarm over Iraqi attacks with chemical arms. "It is official," a US embassy spokesman said.

A senior Western diplomat in Kuwait said: "Everybody has been watching for weeks what the Americans will do ... This step might cause panic but it also depends on what other people [embassies] will do."

The "authorised departure" recommendation at State Department expense is currently being delivered to US diplomats in Kuwait and Israel, one diplomat said. The American families are not being ordered to leave but "if they want to leave they can leave and the government pays their way," one official in Washington said.

The recommendation to US officials "tells dependants they are allowed to leave if they choose," a US diplomat in Kuwait said. "The offer is effective immediately."

There are some 8,000 American civilians in Kuwait but the exact size of the US embassy staff was not given. "We are not allowed to disclose this information but there are between 100 and 200 US diplomats and dependants in Kuwait," an embassy spokesman said.

Several US embassy staff were seen yesterday with their families in public in Kuwait. Diplomats in Kuwait said the much smaller German embassy there had already made a similar move while it, the Spanish and Swiss embassies were due to distribute gas masks to their citizens in Kuwait. Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990 and was expelled by a US-led coalition in the 1991 Gulf war.

Reuters, Kuwait