Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, December 1997, p 67
Arab American Activism
THE IRAQI REGIME of President Saddam Hussain “continues to threaten Kuwait’s security,” according to Kuwaiti parliamentarian Dr. Naser J. Al-Sane, “but we need to differentiate between the leader and the people of Iraq.” Dr. Al-Sane, chairman of the committee on financial and economic affairs in the Kuwait National Assembly and head of the America-Kuwait Friendship Committee, spoke Sept. 16 at a program organized by the National Association of Arab Americans (NAAA) in Washington, DC.
The Kuwaiti parliamentarian called on the U.S. government to continue its “tough treatment of the Iraqi regime,” but emphasized that “Kuwaitis and the Iraqi people are brothers and [the Iraqi people] should not suffer.”
Al-Sane also encouraged policymakers in Washington to take a softer line with Iran. “We think Iran ought to be treated with a type of understanding [that would include] cooperation on both sides of the Gulf,” he said. Before such an understanding can be reached, however, Iran “must return to the United Arab Emirates” the three islands of Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs, which Iran has occupied militarily. “The more you corner the Iranian regime, the stronger the radicals get,” Al-Sane warned, adding that “Washington is far away, but [Kuwait] is right next door.”
Before taking questions from members of the audience, including a substantial number of ambassadors and other dignitaries from Arab countries, Al-Sane emphasized that Kuwait “does not have a rubber stamp Parliament.” Parliament’s primary role is as a “watchdog” over Kuwait’s executive branch, Al-Sane explained, later joking that members of Kuwait’s cabinet are very happy when parliament takes its annual three-month recess.
—Shawn L. Twing
