Kuwait and Iraq were yesterday involved in a naval clash when two Kuwaiti coastguard boats were shot at by an Iraqi vessel whilst on patrol within the UN-administered demilitarised zone separating the two Gulf War foes.
With tensions between the two countries at levels not seen since the first Gulf War as Kuwait gears up for joining US-led military action against Iraq, there are concerns that the incident will push an already strained relationship to breaking point. A UN spokesman described the incident, in which one coastguard was injured, as the most "serious of its kind" since Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait in 1990.
A Kuwaiti defence spokesman accused Iraq of violating the demilitarised zone set up by the UN after the Gulf War. "The Iraqis will have some questions to answer as to why a boat with armed men aboard entered the demilitarised zone," said the spokesman.
White House spokesman, Mr Ari Fleischer, said President Bush had been briefed on the incident. "This underscores why the President is not encouraged by Iraq's fundamental approach toward the issues of peace and disarmament," said Mr Fleischer.
A US military source inside Kuwait, however, said: "As far as we can tell this was not an Iraqi military vessel involved in the shooting. Everyone just needs to take a deep breath and assess the event calmly.
"We don't want this turning into a Gulf of Tonkin incident," he added, in reference to the gunboat shooting in the South China Sea that triggered the Vietnam War.
Tension between Kuwait and Iraq has been running high in recent weeks at the prospect of military action. On Saturday Kuwait said it had intercepted two Iraqi boats which had infiltrated the narrow stretch of water separating north-eastern Kuwait from mainland Iraq.
Kuwait has also been accusing Iraq of shooting at its coastguards and border watch towers in the area. A Kuwaiti government source said: "There's nothing that can be done about these incursions at the moment. But this incident is certainly not going to help persuade the Kuwaiti people that we have a friendly neighbour in Iraq."