The men "are alive ... and in an underground shelter near the military tribunal in the Al-Khadra district," the channel said without naming its source.

The colonel, now running the civilian administration in the central city of Najaf, was quoted as saying he knew the soldiers in charge of guarding the prisoners "and told American and British forces about them on Monday".

"The prisoners were held by the Republican Guard and moved from one governorate to another. Before the ground war began they were put in the underground shelter in Baghdad" and remained there.

Kuwait says 605 people disappeared during Baghdad's occupation of the emirate in 1990-1991 and believes many were kept in Iraqi jails.

The emirate on Saturday offered a reward to anyone who helps determine the fate of the missing people.

"We have no information on the whereabouts of the POWs (prisoners of war) after the fall of the Iraqi regime, but we hope for a speedy solution to end the suffering of the POWs and their families which has lasted for more than 12 years," said First Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah.

Apart from Kuwaiti nationals, the 605 people missing or taken prisoner include 14 Saudis, five Egyptians, five Iranians, four Syrians, three Lebanese, one Bahraini, one Omani and one Indian, according to Kuwaiti authorities.

Saddam's regime said there had been prisoners, but that it lost track of them during an uprising by Shiite Muslims in southern Iraq following the rout in Kuwait.

The ousted Baghdad regime had also claimed 1,142 Iraqis had been missing since the Gulf War.

SPACE.WIRE