KUWAIT - The Iraq Factor.

After more than a decade of suspicion and bitterness arising from Iraq's invasion, the emirate agreed to a rapprochement with Baghdad at the Beirut Arab summit held at the end of March this year. For the first time, and in a written document, Baghdad had vowed to "honour Kuwait's independence,

sovereignty and security". After the summit, Iraqi newspapers stopped criticizing the Kuwaiti officials. In May, Iraq promised at the Arab League to return to Kuwait, through the UN military observation mission, national scripts and official documents taken during the invasion in 1990. On July 16, Saddam Hussein stressed in a statement to Gulf newspapers that his country "wants to open a new page in our inter- Arab relations".

All this was happening in the midst of an extremely volatile situation on the Arab-Israeli front. With the confrontation between the Israelis and the Palestinians steadily escalating, and Arab public opinion blaming the Sharon government as well as the US for backing Israel, no one among the Arab rulers wants to appear to be taking a soft stance towards Israel to be backing any American move in the region. In particular, no regime wants to appear as if it supports an American assault against Iraq at a time when most Arab people feel that the country that should be targeted is Israel.

It is in this geo-political context that the US is demanding full support for an offensive against Iraq. Kuwait has naturally been careful not to appear enthusiastic for an offensive against Saddam at this time. The Kuwaiti daily 'Al Watan' quoted Information Minister Ahmad Fahd Al Ahmad Al Sabah as saying on July 25, 2002, that "Kuwait still clings to its position in rejecting a strike on Iraq." He added "this is the very official stand of the state of Kuwait and no change is made in it". He added that said "Kuwait will not take any stances nor decisions in isolation of its sister member states in the GCC, whose members voiced their rejection to striking Iraq".

However, what Kuwaiti officials say in public is quite different from what they may agree to in private. A clear articulation of the Kuwaiti (as well as the GCC) position was made to 'AFP' on Aug. 7, 2002, by former GCC Secretary General Abdullah Bishara. In a report from Kuwait, the news agency quoted Bishara as saying: "Rest assured that the Gulf states won't throw a wrench in the wheel" in the event of war on Iraq. He added: "There is a discrepancy between what is being expressed publicly and what has been articulated quietly", referring to months of open protests by Gulf states against a war on Iraq.

Bishara added: "The US doesn't need any support, it needs acquiescence. It'll obtain the latter and won't get the former. Everyone in the Gulf will be happy (with a change of regime in Iraq) but won't say it publicly. They cannot endorse it, but there is acquiescence". Asked about Gulf states allowing their bases to be used as launch pads for strikes on Iraq, Bishara said it would "be done through a tacit understanding the US has with Gulf states. Kuwait can do nothing to stop its bases being used. The US can use these bases in a manner that won't compromise Kuwait's integrity".

Signals indicate that the emirate is expecting a US strike on Iraq to happen in the coming months, if not weeks. Speaking on Aug. 8, 2002, shortly after the 12th anniversary of the Iraqi invasion, Kuwait's First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah stressed that all necessary measures have been taken to withstand possible developments in the region. On the same day, the Kuwaiti Army Chief of Staff Ali Al Moumin expressed readiness to withstand any military risk be it from "traditional or non- traditional weapons".

In a statement to the daily 'Al Qabas', Moumin said Kuwaiti forces had been training with American, German and Czech forces in the field of "chemical defence". German and Czech forces specialised in biological and chemical weapons have been in Kuwait for some months and "there is a possibility for expansion whenever needed", according to Moumin.

A first round of US-German exercises in a chemical warfare environment were held in Kuwait on June 3. The chairman of the studies department for chemical research in the Kuwaiti Army Col. Sami Al Abaas said in a statement at the time that the Kuwaiti Army was attending these manoeuvres as an observer in order to be acquainted with the high technology. Some 250 American and German soldiers took part in the exercises.

The Background: Kuwait has been seen as having a strong anti-terrorist mindset as far back as the 1980s. A hardliner commentator in the US, Daniel Pipes, had written in the 'Wall Street Journal' on Nov. 18, 1986: "Is there any leader who consistently holds to the principle of not making deals with terrorists? There is, but he is not one most people would immediately think of: the ruler with the most principled record on the issue of terrorism is Jabir Al Ahmad Al Sabah, Emir of the tiny Persian Gulf state of Kuwait". His report followed the tough way in which Kuwait handled the series of terrorist actions in the emirate on Dec. 12, 1983 when radical Islamists drove truck-bombs into the US Embassy, the French embassy, Kuwaiti installations and other targets.

In a harsh and swift crackdown, the government arrested a number of the perpetrators and six were sentenced to death in March 1984, with the rest given prison terms ranging from five years to life in prison. To secure their freedom, their associates started launching attacks on Kuwaiti targets. The ruling family did not back down.

On the contrary, Shaikh Jabir took a tougher position with each escalation. For example, when terrorists tried to drive a car into the Emir's motorcade, he brought in an anti-terrorism law. In another incident, two Kuwaiti cafes were bombed and nine were killed. In response, the Emir brought in emergency measures and expelled 6,270 foreigners. Assassinations and sabotage of oil facilities were also tried, but the government did not compromise.

Thus the terrorists and their backers changed their approach and began linking actions overseas to the freedom of their colleagues in Kuwaiti prisons. For example, after the kidnapping of Americans in Lebanon, their release was made dependent on the freeing of prisoners in the Emirate. Ironically, it was the US at the time which pressured Kuwait to release the prisoners.

An editorial at the time in the Kuwaiti newspaper 'Al Rai Al Aam', directed at then president Ronald Reagan asked: "Have you forgotten that you are the chief advocate for combating terrorism in the world?... If we agree to exchange the sentenced prisoners in Kuwait for your hostages in Lebanon...you become an encourager of terrorism".

Pipes wrote in his 1986 article, while many Arab rulers have a reputation for supporting or abetting terrorism, Shaikh Jabir "is not only an exception to this depressing pattern, but a model for leaders in such countries as Israel and the United States. He represents true Arab honor".