Two decades on, Kuwait seeks better Iraq ties
KUWAIT CITY, Jan 15, AFP A landmark visit to Baghdad last week by
Kuwait's prime minister is seen by many Kuwaitis as a good sign of
improving relations, 20 years after Iraq's invasion of its tiny,
oil-rich neighbour. "The visit of Sheikh Nasser (Mohammad al-Ahmad
al-Sabah) to Iraq was indeed historical," the liberal Al-Jarida
newspaper said in a front-page editorial on Friday.
"Twenty years after Operation Desert Storm was launched to liberate
Kuwait... he proves that the real storm that should blow over the two
neighbouring nations is that of cooperation and mutual respect," the
daily said.
Wednesday's visit to Iraq was the first by a Kuwaiti premier since
1989, coinciding with the 20th anniversary of the Gulf War. Iraqi troops
invaded Kuwait on August 2, 1990. On January 17, 1991, a US-led
multi-national coalition force launched Operation Desert Storm, a 40-day
war that pounded Saddam's forces out of the wealthy emirate. Mahmud Ali
still remembers the devastation of the seven months of Iraqi occupation
and the killing of around 2,000 civilians.
"The memories of destruction caused by Saddam Hussein's troops on our
small country have not completely disappeared," Ali, a private sector
employee in his 40s, told AFP at a local mall. But 20 years later, he
says life must go on.
"That was done by Saddam and he is gone, so it's better for both of
our nations to establish strong ties and cooperate," said Ali, echoing a
common Kuwaiti sentiment. Saddam was toppled by the 2003 US-led
invasion, and later tried and executed. Before leaving Kuwait, Iraqi
forces torched more than 700 oil wells, took several thousand Kuwaiti
and other civilians prisoner and looted the wealthy emirate.
Most of the prisoners were freed after the war, but just over 600 are
still missing and believed dead. The remains of about half have been
found, and the search is still on for the rest."What happened to Kuwait
on August.
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