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Half of Kuwait to be military zone
KUWAIT CITY, Kuwait (CNN) -- The Kuwaiti Defense Ministry said Tuesday all the northern territories -- comprising more than half of Kuwait -- will become a military zone effective February 15. Much of the area, northwest of Kuwait City, is already being used by U.S. military forces, but a large section is made up of recreational camps used by Kuwaitis and farms inhabited by several thousand foreign workers. The order means that no civilians will be allowed to enter the area and foreign workers who live there will have to be evacuated. Col. Yousef Abdul Razak Al Mula, who made the announcement, said, "No one will be allowed to enter the northern area of Kuwait unless that person has a permit from Army intelligence and the Security Department." The area extends from Salemy on the Saudi Arabian border northeastward to include the areas that border Iraq. Faylakah and Awhah islands in the Persian Gulf are also included. CNN's Martin Savidge says that part of the reason is the huge U.S. troops presence and the room required to house them -- particularly if they have to train and prepare for war. By last Friday CNN journalists said the U.S. force was anywhere from 25,000 to 35,000 strong and growing by the day Kuwait City, which is east and south of the northern territories, and areas south, where most Kuwaiti civilians live, are not included in the order. In recent days, the Kuwaiti government has begun to implement security measure in anticipation of a U.S. -led attack on Iraq. On Monday it was announced that the two main American schools in Kuwait would close for about six weeks because of growing tensions in the Gulf in the first substantive sign of war fears among Americans in the emirate. Iraqi officials have said Kuwait will be a target if the United States attacks Iraq. The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August 1990 marked the beginning of the Persian Gulf War.
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