Four months after a US-led coalition unseated Saddam Hussein, Kuwaitis are still haunted by his 1990 invasion of their country, writes Salah Hemeid The 13th anniversary of the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq was marked for the first time ever without Saddam Hussein holding the reigns of power in Baghdad. Most Kuwaitis, however, remain cautious about building bridges quickly with Iraq and few show willingness to restore ties with that country even though Saddam is now out of the picture. Public celebrations of the "Great Day of Calling" -- as Saddam dubbed the anniversary, inferring that he had been "invited" to liberate the Kuwaitis -- were done away with in Baghdad, with a small group of Iraqis preferring instead to celebrate a day of solidarity by renouncing the invasion and calling for the restoration of relations between the two countries. Since the country was liberated by a US-led coalition, the 2 August anniversary of the invasion has been marked in Kuwait, not by celebrations, but with increased media attention. Newspapers publish special supplements with editorials and comments by leading political figures, and the state-run television channel broadcasts footage of the brutality meted out by the Iraqi occupation forces during their seven-month sojourn in the country. In a front-page editorial the pro-government Al-Anbaa daily said Iraq still has much to do before relations can return to normal. The editorial went on to say that Iraq should apologise to Kuwait and pay reparations for damages incurred during the occupation. "We will forget like the Koreans forgot the Japanese occupation and the French the German occupation," stated the editorial. However, it continued, "no power on earth will be able to erase the memories from the collective conscience of the people." Other newspapers were more in favour of opening a new chapter in bilateral relations with Iraq, calling also for domestic reforms. The daily Al-Qabas praised Kuwait on this "painful anniversary" for what it called a "brave decision" to help "liberate Iraq". Public opinion also seemed divided on the issue. An opinion poll carried out by the Al-Watan newspaper indicated that about half the population of Kuwait still lives in fear of their northern neighbour even after the ousting of Saddam Hussein. Forty per cent of those interviewed said they were not afraid of Iraq and 10 per cent declined to answer. In another poll carried out by Al- Anbaa in which 500 people were interviewed, 51 per cent said yes to restoring diplomatic ties with Iraq, while 49 per cent were opposed. Many Kuwaitis who remember the fateful day on 2 August 1990 when the former Iraqi leader sent tanks rolling into the emirate are keen to witness his personal demise. The Kuwaiti cabinet met on Sunday, and in a statement released after the meeting Deputy Premier and State Minister for Cabinet and Parliament Affairs Mohamed Dhaifallah Sharar said that, "Kuwait is looking forward to establishing good neighbourly ties with a free and democratic Iraq in which all binding agreements and internationally endorsed pledges shall be observed in full and respected in a manner conducive to achieving peace and security in the entire region." In the meantime, Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohamed Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah has reiterated his comment that Kuwait will not permit a repeat of the aggression displayed by Saddam Hussein, saying also that Saddam constituted a great danger to the world. In an interview with the Lebanese Al-Sayyad magazine, Sheikh Mohamed spoke in positive terms about the Provisional Governing Council in Baghdad and also sounded positive about the possibility of building new relations with a post-Saddam Iraq. "We don't judge people according to their past, but we will judge the council according to what comes out of it; this is why we welcomed this council and its call for positive new relations with its neighbours in general, and Kuwait in particular," the Kuwaiti official said. Kuwait, which granted the US territorial access during the war on Iraq, has opened the border with Iraq for the first time since the 1991 Gulf War. It has not, however, reestablished diplomatic ties and there has been no talk so far of reopening the embassy. If comments made by the Kuwaiti media are anything to go by, nothing new can be expected to happen with regard to Kuwaiti-Iraqi relations in the near future. The Kuwaiti wounds caused by the invasion have not yet healed, and Kuwait remains suspicious of its northerly neighbour. On the Iraqi front, officials of the new administration -- many of whom had close ties with Kuwait during their time of opposition to Saddam -- have always maintained a new Iraq would be peaceful and friendly towards its southern neighbour. But many Iraqis still harbour hostility towards Kuwait on the one hand for what they see as Kuwait's role in the implementation of 12 years of harsh economic sanctions on Iraq, and for allowing their country to be used as a launch pad for the US-led war on Iraq on the other. The prospects for improved bilateral relations and cooperation between the two countries, however, have improved since the change of regime in Baghdad. Some major issues must still be clarified, such as the question mark still hanging over the fate of Kuwaitis missing in Iraq, and the issue of reparations for damage caused during the 1991 war -- estimated at about $160 billion. Once confidence has been restored, the two Arab countries will be able to overcome their differences, put the problems of the past behind them and rejuvenate their political, economic and cultural relations.
