Kuwait rejected an apology by neighboring Iraq on Saturday for its 1990-1991 occupation of the Gulf Arab state and accused President Saddam Hussein of inciting terrorist attacks against U.S. troops in Kuwait. "The speech contained incitement and encouragement of terrorist acts which the whole world has rejected and condemned," the information minister and official government spokesman, Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahd al-Sabah, told the Kuwait News Agency.

For the first time in more than a decade, President Saddam Hussein grudgingly apologized Saturday to Kuwaitis for invading their country in 1990, blaming America and the Kuwaiti government for provoking the invasion.

"We apologize to God for any action that may anger the Almighty, if such an action took place in the past, unbeknownst to us but considered to be our responsibility, and to you (Kuwaitis) we apologize on this basis as well," Saddam said in a speech read on national television by his information minister.

"O, you brothers, what we wish for is what we are working to achieve for your brothers in Iraq: to live free, without foreign control of your destiny, will, decisions, wealth, present and future."

Saddam's declaration was delivered as Iraqi officials handed over to the United Nations a massive, 12,000-page declaration of their chemical, biological and nuclear industries as demanded by the Security Council.

The two moves appeared to be a dramatic bid to set aside the nightmare that began with the 1990 invasion, which led to defeat in the Gulf War and a dozen years of crippling international sanctions.

In Kuwait, Information Minister Sheik Ahmed Fahd Al Ahmed Al Sabah said, "Regrettably, the speech contained words to which we would rather not stoop and respond, He must apologize to the Iraqi people first for dragging them into wars that wasted their resources and apologize to the State of Kuwait by telling the truth and returning the prisoners."

Kuwait has been pressing Iraq to account for 600 people, mostly Kuwaitis, who disappeared during Iraq's seven-month occupation. Mohammed al-Jassem, editor of the Kuwait daily Al-Watan, said the speech "cannot be considered an apology by any means."

"This is a speech aimed at inciting Kuwaitis to attack Americans and at threatening Kuwait for cooperating with America," he said.

Saddam avoided the word "invasion" in describing what he did to Kuwait and sought to blame the Kuwaiti leadership and the United States, which again is threatening war if Iraq does not abandon its alleged weapons of mass destruction.

He said Iraq's actions in 1990 were "prompted by so many actions," including joint U.S.-Kuwaiti military maneuvers and Kuwait's lowering of crude oil prices "despite OPEC's warning."

"For those and other reasons, it was clear to us that danger for Iraq was in the offing and that it could not be solved through political channels," he said.

Saddam claimed Iraqi officials later found documents showing the United States and Kuwaiti officials had colluded in military plans against Iraq and his country had to defend itself.

"We would like to remind you that the Americans were in Kuwait preparing for hostile exercise against Iraq, before the Iraqi army entered," he said.

Saddam maintained that Kuwait, which hosts some 12,000 U.S. troops, now was under military occupation.

"And as you know, when the foreigners occupy a country, they don't only desecrate the soil, but also the soul, religion and mind," he said.

He added that if the United States was sincere about coming to liberate Kuwait in 1991, "they would have withdrawn from Kuwait ... but they occupied Kuwait and deployed their armies in other Gulf states increasing their influence and trying to occupy Iraq."

Saddam criticized Kuwait's rulers for their contacts with Iraqi opposition movements, saying they were "conspiring against Iraq and interfering in its internal affairs under foreign supervision."

"Doesn't any Iraqi or Kuwaiti have the right to say ... `why don't the believers, loyalists and holy warriors get together with their counterparts in Iraq under the tent of their creator - instead of the tent of London, Washington and the Zionist entity' ...," Saddam said.

PHOTO CAPTION

Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf reads a letter from Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to the Kuwaiti people in this still from Iraqi television, December 7, 2002. Saddam apologized Saturday for his 1990-1991 occupation of the oil-rich emirate but blasted their rulers for conspiring with the United States against Iraq. REUTERS/RTV