Slightly over 4,000 UAE troops are stationed in Salmi, in the western Kuwaiti desert, near the border with Iraq and Saudi Arabia, said a defense source with the Emirati army chief, who was also accompanied by UAE Information Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan.

Like other troops from Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries sent to Kuwait, they are operating under the umbrella of the GCC's joint force, the Peninsula Shield.

The source said the UAE troops' equipment included French Leclerc tanks, Apache helicopters, a frigate and a supply ship.

In all, some 20,000 troops from GCC states are in Kuwait, which with some 175,000 US and British forces deployed on its territory, is expected to be the main launchpad for the US-led military campaign.

The GCC comprises Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990 and occupied it for seven months before being driven out by a US-led coalition in the 1991 Gulf War.

All GCC forces now in Kuwait are operating under the umbrella of the Peninsula Shield even though they are drawn from individual armies, the defense source said.

The source quoted the UAE chief of staff as saying that Abu Dhahi's proposal for Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to step down to avert war would only be appreciated once it was "too late."

"They will remember it when the bombs start falling ... (but) it will be too late," Sheikh Mohammad said.

Although the UAE proposal was backed by most of Abu Dhabi's GCC partners, it was ignored by an Arab summit in Egypt in early March and dismissed by Baghdad as a non-starter.

US President George W. Bush has now given Saddam an ultimatum to leave Iraq by early Thursday or face war.

WAR.WIRE