01 February 2002

Kuwaitis Bring Message of Sympathy, Solidarity to U.S.

New York -- Bringing a message of sympathy and understanding for the United States in its war against terrorism, a group of Kuwaiti former officials, journalists, businessmen, and academics paid a five-day visit to the New York City and Washington January 28 to February 1.

Meeting with members of Congress, Bush administration officials, as well as business, civic and academic leaders in the two cities, the group not only expressed their support for the U.S. effort to eradicate terrorism but also discussed economic, social and religious conditions in the Middle East with the Americans they met.

"We wanted to show the bright side of pan-Arabism and Islam and we wanted to show gratitude and sympathy to the United States and its people for their war against terrorism because we suffered from terrorism in our country for the past 20 years," said Mohammed Jassem Al-Saqer, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Kuwait's National Assembly.

Referring to the September 11 attacks on the United States, Al-Saqer said, "We are Arabs and Muslims also and we thought that these people don't represent us. As a matter of fact, they don't represent anybody in the Muslim and Arab world. They are a small minority and they should be condemned."

"So we are here to tell the Americans ... that we are with them in their war against terrorism," he told a group of civic leaders at a luncheon hosted by the Kuwait Information Office in New York City.

The 11 men and women traveled to the United States at their own expense to show their support; present the "unfiltered liberal point of view," according to Al-Saqer; and thank the United States for liberating their country after it was invaded by Iraq in 1990.

"This thing is very important to us, because if we don't address it ourselves nobody is going to," Al-Saqer said. "There are two signals coming from our part of the world giving the wrong impression to the American people, to the American government, to the American press. We are not like (the terrorists), the Arabs are not like that and we wanted to show you the bright side of Arabs and Islam."

The group engaged in lively discussions with those attending the luncheon. They addressed such issues as democracy, education, and human rights in the Arab world; Iraq and its leader, Saddam Hussein; Iran; Israel; and the American news media.

Saad bin Tifla Al-Ajmi, former minister of information and director the Kuwait Information Center in London, pointed out that the delegation did not represent one group or one party and did not intend to portray a "rosy picture" of their country. "We don't think we're perfect," he said.

"We may have differences on the definition of terrorism in other parts of the world," Al-Ajmi told one man who asked about the situation in Israel and the Occupied Territories, "but make no mistake about it, when it comes to the September 11 events and (Usama) bin Laden and al-Qaeda we agree on what is terrorism. We have to focus on the issue which is we are for peace, we are for peace in the Middle East, we hope that all kinds of violence and killing of innocent people will stop."

Muslims can live with and "handle fundamentalism as civilized people because we will be differing with them on an intellectual basis," Al-Ajmi said. "But once a faction takes up arms to expand, to force its thought on others, then that is a different issue and we are with you on that all the way."

"The war has been a very difficult one. There is a huge debate within the Muslim world today. These people do not represent Islam. They have hijacked it. They have distorted Islam," he said.

Al Saqer attributed the rise in Islamic militants to "a very rigid" education system, lack of democracy, lack of freedom of the press, and lack of freedom of speech.

Jobs are also important, Al-Ajmi added. Students have degrees but no jobs and therefore are more vulnerable to extremist Islamic teachings.

Amer al-Tamimi, vice president of the Kuwaiti Democratic Forum, said that the way to tackle the situation "is to advance democratization in the Arab world."

"Islamic militancy has hijacked Islamic moderates and we should encourage the political regimes in the area to be more open, to end the monopoly of power and wealth, and advance democratization in order to encompass all the forces -- Islamists, liberal, progressive," Al-Tamimi said.

Bishara also criticized the U.S. media for its portrait of the Arab world after September 11.

"Somehow at the end of the day ... they have always chosen the hot line out for them. The wrong story, the bad images. It's OK to present the whole spectrum -- the American public is entitled to a fair reporting from that part of the world," he said.

"But I see consistently since September 11 ... reporting is slanted by and large to focus on Arabs who are fanatics and Muslims who are murderers. That is not fair. There are good Arabs and Muslims, the majority are. We made this trip exactly to counter that kind of image," Bishara said.

"It harms (Americans) first and does harm to the people who speak in moderate voices in Islam and the Arab world," said Bishara, who is also secretary general of the National Democratic Movement.

Al-Saqer answered questions about Saddam Hussein and Iraq. A former editor-in chief of Al-Qabas newspaper who interviewed Saddam Hussein 20 times in the years before the invasion of Kuwait, Al-Saqer warned Americans not to trust the Iraqi leader, calling him "the greatest terrorist of all times."

"Saddam is a street thug and is killing his own people.... He won't listen to anybody. I am not saying this out of hatred. Get him out," he said. "The later you move, the more dangerous he becomes."

Al-Ajmi added that not until Saddam Hussein has a dialogue with his own people should the international community have a dialogue with him.

The group began their visit at Arlington National Cemetery outside Washington where they laid a wreath at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier and ended their U.S. trip with a visit to "ground zero," as the World Trade Center site is called.

In Washington they met with members of Congress and their staff, had an open session with Washington journalists, the Washington Institute, and the Wilson Center. They met with Secretary of State Colin Powell, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, members of the State Department Policy Planning Staff directed by Richard Haass, and members of Vice President Dick Cheney's staff.

In New York they met with the Council on Foreign Relations.

Al-Saqer praised the reception his group received while in the U.S.

"When we came here we really did not expect this reception.... We did not know where we were heading. We knew our schedule, but not what kind of people, what kind of reception, what kind of ideas, what kind of problems (we would face.) I can say this now after five days that we have been well received, we have been well entertained, people were kind to us, gave us their mind, their time and went out of their way to listen to us," he said.

"We really appreciate it. This is the kind of people that we set out from Kuwait 10 days ago hoping to reach in America. You have proved that it was worth it," Al-Saqer said, inviting Americans to visit Kuwait.