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Egypt hopes Iraq

to return to Arab

fold soon

AMMAN: Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa on Saturday blamed the "Iraqi regime" for the plight of the Iraqi people and said he hoped Baghdad would soon return to the Arab fold. Moussa arrived in Amman with a letter for King Hussein from President Hosni Mubarak, who on Friday renewed his offer to grant Iraqi President Saddam Hussein political asylum if the move would spare bloodshed and end the Iraqi people's suffering. He told reporters he had no plans to meet Lieutenant-General Hussein Kamel Hassan, a top aide of Saddam who fled to Jordan this month and called for the overthrow of the Iraqi leader. "The situation in Iraq is sad and we all feel with the suffering of the Iraqi people and we are pained by it," Moussa said at Amman airport. "We put the responsibility for that on the Iraqi regime which has to do all what it has to, to rid the Iraqi people of their sad situation," he added. He did not mention Saddam by name. "We hope that the developments...will allow Iraq to return to a normal situation and to take part in the Arab march though this has a lot of conditions," Moussa said. "It is certain that the current Iraqi regime has, through its actions, raised many question marks towards its ability to participate in this march." Talks between Moussa and his Jordanian counterpart Abdul-Karim al-Kabariti will also touch on King Hussein's recent shift in policy against Saddam. DEFECTOR OR REJECTED KUWAIT

Kuwait will not receive top Iraqi defector Lieutenant-General Hussein Kamel Hassan "because his hands were stained with Kuwaitis' blood", a newspaper reported on Saturday.

Hussein Kamel, who defected to Jordan this month, said in interviews published on Friday that he would like to visit Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to explain the situation and "seek their help" in toppling Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

"Kuwait fully rejects to receive that person because his hands were stained with the blood of Kuwaitis," al-Watan newspaper quoted a cabinet source as saying.

Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990 and annexed it as its 19th province until a U.S.-led coalition ousted Iraqi troops in 1991.

About 300 Kuwaitis were killed during the seven-month occupation.

"Documents confirm that he was in charge of the looting of Kuwaiti state and private property during the vicious Iraqi occupation," the Kuwaiti cabinet source was quoted as saying.

Kuwait this year published Iraqi documents showing that Hussein Kamel had ordered the looting of Kuwaiti oil industry equipment during the occupation.-Reuter