Defence Minister of Kuwait to come to Russia to familiarise himself with new samples of weapons

Minister of Defence of Kuwait Sheikh Jabir al-Sabah stated that the purpose of his visits to Iran and Russia is to get an idea of the new samples of arms and military hardware "which can be of use to the army" and to strengthen bilateral relations in the sphere of defence. The Minister said this to journalists on Sunday before his flight to Teheran from where he will go to Moscow.

Saudi newspaper Al-Sharq al-Awsat quoted a member of the delegation as saying that signing of any agreements and contracts in the course of the trip is not planned.

The Minister also stressed that the army of the Emirate is ready to rebuff any attack, including missile strikes. He did not rule it out that if a military operation against Iraq was carried out, Kuwait might become an object of subversion and terrorist acts, and called upon the population to be vigilant.

He also noted that units of the U.S. Marines with heavy arms are arriving in the Emirate to participate in the joint U.S.-Kuwaiti manoeuvres slated to be held in October and are not linked to the situation around Iraq.