HAFR AL-BATEN, 3 August 2005 — Kuwaitis mourned the death of King Fahd on the eve of the 15th anniversary of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait with sadness and sorrow describing him as the champion of the liberation of Kuwait.
“Kuwait remembers with great appreciation and gratitude the courageous stance taken by King Fahd by devoting all the resources of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia toward Kuwait’s liberation from the Iraqi occupation,” Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah said in an article published by the Al-Watan daily yesterday.
All Kuwaiti television channels abruptly cut their usual programs and replaced them with recitations of the Holy Qur’an and aired clips of King Fahd’s speeches during the Gulf crisis in 1990. Kuwait’s Channel 1 constantly broadcast the late king’s emotional reactions after the liberation of Kuwait in which he said that all his efforts to help Kuwait came as a duty borne of brotherly love for its neighbor.
“I was young at that time and did not hear these emotional words from King Fahd until I listened to them on Kuwaiti TV,” said Adel Al-Mutairy, a Kuwait University student.
“I cried realizing this precious man who was instrumental in liberating Kuwait had only died yesterday,” he added.
“It is a painful coincidence to mourn King Fahd on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the Iraqi aggression against Kuwait. It just serves to remind all Kuwaitis of his courageous decision to help us against the occupation,” said Saud Al-Onazi.
