Iraqis Annex Kuwait in ‘Eternal Merger’ : Middle East: Baghdad describes the takeover as ‘returning the branch to the whole.’

Iraq said today it has annexed Kuwait, the emirate it overran six days ago. U.S. troops began arriving to protect Iraq’s neighbor, Saudi Arabia, but Arab states balked at joining the U.S. forces.

Iraq said its formal takeover of Kuwait--which it described as a merger--came at the request of the provisional government it installed in the emirate last week.

A statement announcing the annexation came shortly after President Bush confirmed that U.S. forces had been dispatched to Saudi Arabia as part of a multinational effort.

“All the evil and all the conspirators, all the fleets and squadrons of aircraft, all the centers of brute force inside or outside the Arab homeland will not shake a single palm frond in Basra . . . Kuwait or Ahmadi,” the statement added. Mina al-Ahmadi is Kuwait’s main oil-loading terminal. Basra is a key port on the Shatt-al-Arab in southern Iraq.

The announcement followed an earlier statement on Iraqi radio indicating the annexation was imminent. That statement said Kuwait was “part of Iraq.”

“The Revolutionary Command Council has decided to return the branch, Kuwait, to the whole and to the Iraq of its origins in a comprehensive and eternal merger,” the statement said. Iraq has long laid claim to Kuwaiti territory and cited those claims as among the reasons for its invasion.

Iraq had already announced that Kuwait’s currency was being linked on a one-to-one basis to the Iraqi dinar.

Iraq also charged today that Israel is preparing to attack it, using aircraft painted with American colors, and warned of massive retaliation.

A statement by the Armed Forces General Command said it had received information that Israel had painted its planes with American markings. It also charged that Israeli fliers were issued with false U.S. identity papers.

“We issue an Iraqi warning famed for its effectiveness and power. We will retaliate against any aggression . . . on any targets that our arm can reach,” the statement said.

As thousands of U.S. troops headed for Saudi Arabia, Britain said it will join the multinational force, but Egypt and Morocco denied U.S. reports that they would also participate.

Saudi rulers have never before allowed U.S. troops onto their soil, and sources had said Arab participation in the multinational effort was a Saudi condition for doing so.

The fact that the Saudis are allowing in U.S. forces and warplanes indicates they consider Iraq’s president, Saddam Hussein, to harbor further expansionist intentions.

Bush provided no estimate of the number of U.S. troops involved in the deployment. But government sources said at least 5,000 ground troops were involved, along with 140 sophisticated fighters and bombers.