Iraqi President Saddam Hussein apologised to the Kuwaiti people today for his 1990-1991 occupation and urged them to struggle against foreign armies.
"We apologise to God for any deed that angered him in the past, which we might not have known of and is blamed on us, and on this basis we also apologise to you," a letter from Saddam to the Kuwaiti people read out on Iraqi state television said.
In an apparent reference to the US military presence in Kuwait, the statement read by information minister Mr Mohammed Saeed al Sahaf urged the Kuwaiti people to join Iraq in resisting the occupation of foreign forces.
"Why will not the faithful, the devoted and the holy warriors in Kuwait meet with their counterparts in Iraq under the blanket of their creator, instead of under the blanket of London or Washington and the Zionist entity, to discuss their matters on top of which is the jihad (holy struggle) against the occupation of infidel armies," the statement said.
The letter was read on Iraqi television at the same time as Baghdad was handing over a declaration on its weapons programmes under last month's UN resolution.