Rumsfeld met with Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Muhammad Al-Sabah who thanked the United States for its help and for "their feat to liberate and to deliver Iraqis from their bondage."

Abu Dhabi satellite television reported Monday that 18 Kuwaits have been found among prisoners kept in an underground shelter in Baghdad.

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

"The issue of the POWs is most important to us," he said. "The secretary assured me they are doing their best to search for our POWs and the Americans who have been missing in this conflict and also in Desert Storm," he said.

Rumsfeld appealed to Iraqis to "provide any information that they may have so we can achieve or goal of returning all those individuals."

SPACE.WIRE