CAIRO, 17 December 2002 — Kuwait’s delegate to the Arab League said yesterday that criticism by Kuwaiti deputies of the League’s Secretary-General Amr Moussa did not represent the country’s official view.
“The declarations and positions concerning the secretary-general are only those of their authors and do not express the official point of view,” Ahmad Al-Kuleib said after meeting with Moussa.
Kuwait did however officially ask the Arab League chief to “respond to a message from Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah about a recent speech by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein”, a league source said.
Relations between Iraq and Kuwait took a turn for the worse on Dec. 7, when a qualified apology by Saddam for his 1990 invasion of Iraq included attacks on Kuwaiti leaders accused of collaborating with the United States.
On Sunday, Moussa rejected charges by Kuwaiti lawmakers that he supported Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, who invaded Kuwait in 1990.
“I am not pro-Saddam, I am pro-Arab and do not take a position for any of the parties,” Moussa told reporters in Cairo.
“We support Kuwait’s security as much as that of Iraq,” he had added, while acknowledging the emirate had a right to be bitter given the August 1990 Iraqi invasion.
Arab press reports had quoted Kuwaiti deputies criticizing Saturday the league’s position on Iraq, which has accepted a massive UN weapons inspection program in a bid to stave off a US-led military onslaught.
“It seems that (Moussa) has a liking for Saddam and a certain desire to support the Iraqi regime,” the Arab daily Al-Hayat quoted Kuwaiti deputy Muslim Al-Barak as saying. (AFP)
