$Unique_ID{bob00386}
$Pretitle{}
$Title{Kuwait
Address by Mr. Abdel Aziz Saqr Representative of the Participants}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Embassy of Kuwait, Washington DC}
$Affiliation{Embassy of Kuwait, Washington DC}
$Subject{kuwait
kuwaiti
arab
highness
crown
emir
political
prince
constitution
god}
$Date{1990}
$Log{}
Title:       Kuwait
Book:        Kuwait Events
Author:      Embassy of Kuwait, Washington DC
Affiliation: Embassy of Kuwait, Washington DC
Date:        1990

Address by Mr. Abdel Aziz Saqr Representative of the Participants

Bismillah Alrrahman Alrrahim

     Your Highness Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmed Al Sabah, Emir of the State of
Kuwait, may God protect him.

     Your Highness Sheikh Saad Al Abdallah Al Sabah, the venerable Crown
Prince and Prime Minister,

Distinguished Brothers,

     In such a meeting that is Kuwaiti in purpose, auspices and attendance, it
is of no utility to dwell on the profound and broad dimensions of the
aggression, refute the aggressor's claims for their falsity and calumny, nor
expose the aggressor's practices for their perfidy and brutality. For each one
of us is among the victims of the aggression and the conqueror; in terms of
home, children, kinsfolk, one's self, livelihood and work. Each one us has
faith in God's justice and help, and is confident that the tyrant will reap
but thorns, defeat and misfortune.

     In such a meeting, one that looks to the future amidst tragic
conditions, it is not prudent to stand on ruins despite the immense
devastation, to shed tears in spite of the overwhelming ordeal, or to put salt
in the wound to wash with pain some of the bitter remorse. For we are the
generation that built Kuwait, or are its sons, and we were able - with God's
help then and with our own arms - to turn Kuwait into a beacon of civilization
and an urban miracle. And we are able - God willing and with our resolve - to
restore to liberated Kuwait its glory and grace.

     In such a parley, called by officialdom and responded to by the
citizenry, the goal is far from pledging allegiance to the Sabahs, the because
Kuwaitis' allegiance to them was never questionable to be confirmed, never
rescindable to be renewed, and never tied to dates to be extended. Rather, it
began with amity and consistency, continued with cooperation and
understanding, and was institutionalized by the constitution and covenants.
The Kuwaiti people, in the harshest and gravest circumstances, proved faithful
to their pledge and their commitment to their entire constitution and beliefs
when they adhered to their legitimacy and stood as one man behind the Emir of
the nation and his Crown Prince, thereby earning them the world's respect and
spoiling the invaders' dreams. I even emphasize that the Kuwaiti popular
consensus on adhering to lawfulness was a decisive factor in the emergence of
an unprecedented world consensus on behalf of Kuwait.

Your Highness the Emir
Your Highness the Crown Prince and Prime Minister
Gentlemen,

     This gathering is thus not a festival of denunciation and condemnation,
and not a rally of support and backing, because in such matters we moved
beyond words to deeds, utilized the flame of passion to whet the intellect and
mind, and we have flocked to Jeddah for an earnest, new dialogue that lays
that foundation for the liberated Kuwait of tomorrow, with this perception
of the motives for this meeting and its objectives, allow me to state what I
view as the most important fundamentals to which we must commit ourselves in
rebuilding the Kuwaiti house:

First:

     The popular participation based on freedom of speech, decision-making
by majority, and controlling execution. I do not believe that we today need
to elaborate on warrants for this primary and most important fundamental and
its imperatives. All that transpired in our national and Arab arena attest:
the Iraqi conquest of Kuwait is -in its final analysis - one of the tragic
products of the absolute Iraqi rule which disregards humanity and disrespects
freedom. The Arab failure to prevent aggression in the first place, then to
deter it and repulse it, and later to reach an Arab way out of the crisis, is
attributed primarily to the denial of peoples' role and disruption of their
interests. On the other hand, the Kuwaiti experience proved that when voices
of the opposition abide by the rules of political action and take guidance
from public interest, total loyalty to the homeland and its national
legitimacy, is shown.

     The popular participation we call for in Kuwait does not need theorizing
and formulating because it has clear definitions, foundations and institutions
in the country's constitution, which Your Highness has kindly cited, and can
play their political, social and economic role without excesses, and can draw
boundaries of each party once the Constitution of 1962 has been sincerely
observed and consciously applied in all its provisions and articles. It is
particularly so because this Constitution's emulation of other nations'
experiences strengthened its genuine Kuwaiti identity. It thus came as a
political attire of Kuwaiti fabric and style, one that befits the measurements
of the Kuwaiti society, suits its political and social atmosphere, and
fulfills the needs of its development and advancement.

     The constitutional document, which since its ratification and issuance
became a pledge and a covenant between the people and their political
leadership, has certainly gained a new historic dedication after Kuwait's
martyrs emblazoned it with the blood of sacrifice, and when the people adhered
to legitimacy and expressed their noble faithfulness to their pledge and their
true respect for their covenant.

     If the Kuwaiti constitution ensured the full political liberties of the
citizen, I find it dutiful and beneficial in this context to stress that a
free Kuwaiti press can play a significant role as an instrument of true
interaction between the people and the authority.

Second:

     The other fundamental I should like to underline is the "Islamic creed."
The new Kuwaiti house should focus on Islamic education, to raise a generation
that believes in the Almighty, appreciates the greatness of Islam, its
firmness on behalf of rightness, and its tolerant treatment of living beings,
one that understands its meanings and positions on this and that, shows
openness to the world and interest in its innovations,  prays to God for
goodness, and coexists well with the others and their notions without
bigotry.

Third:

     And here I find it necessary to prelude the theme by saying that the
plight which the Kuwaiti citizen is undergoing today places him under the
tremendous pressure of pains, frustration and bitterness which makes it
difficult to ask that he maintains clear vision and objective reasoning in
this regard.

     The Kuwaiti citizen can not be blamed or reproached for that, because the
crisis is so overwhelming and shocking that it confounds even those with
patience and wisdom. But I am quite confident that when Kuwait has regained
its freedom and legitimacy, the invaders have retreated in defeat, and the
bout of anger and intensity of pain have ebbed away, we shall all recognize
with our sincere nationalist sentiment and our genuine Arab feelings that one
of the Iraqi regime's most important objectives in invading Kuwait was to
drive the wedge of strife among the peoples of the Arab nation, and to sow
prejudice and hatred into their souls so that they would remain divided and
incongruous and the conspiring regimes might manipulate their passions and
work against their interests. Let us all resist the flames of malice on
account of the disgraceful positions some regimes adopted toward the
nationalist sin committed by Iraqi.

     Pan-Arabism is our root and is our inescapable destiny, and those who
judge some Arab nations according to the conduct of those who usurped power
forget that those people are separated from their leadership by huge gaps and
a tremendous crack. If he who overran Kuwait is an Arab, and the minority he
deluded were Arabs, we should remember and be proud that those were also Arabs
who, representing an overwhelming majority, stood by us, opened their hearts,
homes and countries to us, and sent their sons as soldiers defending our right
and struggling on our side. Nor should we forget that we too were once among
those deluded by the Iraqi regime's glittering slogans and misled by its false
banners, for we shored it up without reservation and backed it without
limitation so that it could then invade our country using arms it bought with
our money to allegedly defend the Arab nation and homeland.

Your Highness the Emir
Your Highness the Crown Prince and Minister,
Gentlemen,

     If these are, in our view, the principle tenets we must rest upon in our
planning to rebuild the liberated Kuwait - God willing - then our interest in
this future duty that is fraught with hopes and challenges should not affect
at all the dedication of our endeavors and resources toward supporting our
kin, brothers and sons inside the homeland, and alleviating the pains and
griefs of our kin, brothers and sons outside Kuwait. This must be done in the
framework of an overall plan under the supervision of an official and popular
working team with clearly defined responsibility and a broad mandate, and one
that is tightly controlled, provided that ultimate priority be given to those
steadfastly remaining on the homeland soil, while providing assistance to
those who need it abroad without any discrimination or favoritism, but rather
on the basis of need, necessity and the country's interest.

     Finally, Your Highness, I do not have the least doubt that I represent
the sentiments and passions of all those present in this chamber when I
express our true gratitude, appreciation and gratefulness to the Guardian of
the Holy Places, King Fahd ibn Abdul Aziz, the King of Saudi Arabia, His
Highness the Crown Prince, his prudent government, and his brotherly people
for their noble Arab, Islamic stance behind Kuwait, its Emir, government and
people for their generous hosting of this gathering. Our thanks, appreciation
and gratitude also go to their Majesties, Highnesses, Excellencies, the
leaders of sisterly Arab countries and their proud peoples who have reflected
the profundity and sincerity of Arab brotherhood and the truthfulness and
splendor of Islamic solidarity by hosting and caring for Kuwaiti citizens,
supporting and upholding Kuwaiti rights and by sending their sons and troops
to repel invasion and aggression.

     May God have mercy upon the martyrs of Kuwait, render its people
triumphant, support its Emir and Crown Prince, and grant us all guidance and
inspiration in its service.