— Kuwait is set to commemorate the 31st anniversary of the Iraqi Invasion on Monday, as the world remembers the sacrifice of Kuwaiti people to defend their land.
On this occasion, Kuwaitis remember the efforts of late Amir Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, late Father Amir Sheikh Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah, late Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and late former minister and ambassador Sheikh Saud Al-Nasser Al-Sabah, who played a big role in liberating Kuwait.
Since the country’s independence in 1961, Kuwait worked on developing its foreign policy based on transparency, neutrality and dialogue.
According to Dr. Suleiman Al-Shaheen in his book on Kuwait’s diplomacy, he noted that the country focuses on developing economy to serve the political side, as well as humanitarian work and development projects around the world.
In a previous interview with KUNA, director general of Sheikh Saud Nasser Al-Sabah Kuwait Diplomatic Institute Ambassador Abdulaziz Al-Sharekh said that decades of diplomatic efforts and transparency made Kuwait a country that is highly respected by the world.
Protecting the country’s security and stability through developing cooperation and ties with other countries and maintain a wise relation with everyone had always been Kuwait’s first priority, he said.
During the Iraqi Invasion, the world stood with Kuwait to regain its freedom, as countries never forgot Kuwait’s generous aid, donations and humanitarian projects throughout the years through the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED), Al-Sharekh added.
Prior to the invasion, Iraq was continuously escalating media campaigns against Kuwait, until the disaster occurred on August 2nd, 1990. Kuwait’s government exerted great efforts to rally support of the international community in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and the meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement foreign ministers on 5 October, 1990.
Kuwait called on the international community to implement the UNSC’s resolution 660 issued on August 3, demanding withdrawal of Iraqi troops from Kuwait and paying compensations to Kuwait for the economic and social damage of the invasion.
The US and the then Soviet Union condemned the invasion and called on Iraq to withdraw its troops immediately, while foreign ministers of Muslim states also demanded withdrawal during their meeting in Cairo, Egypt.
The US also presented a bill to the UNSC to impose economic and military sanctions on Iraq to force it to withdraw the troops from Kuwait. The bill was approved by the UN and was issued as resolution 661, followed by resolution 662 which refused Iraq’s step to annex Kuwait, calling on all countries and international organizations to disapprove it.
During that time, many countries agreed on sending their troops to the region as a step to resolve the situation, as Arab and foreign armies arrived in Saudi Arabia, forming an international alliance to liberate Kuwait.
The UNSC then issued resolution 674 as the world’s five great powers approved using military force against Iraq.
At the end of November 1990, UNSC issued resolution 677, warning Iraq against eliminating the Kuwaiti identity and attempting to replace it with the Iraqi one. The council also issued resolution 678, giving Iraq an ultimatum until January 15, 1991 to withdraw its army or face war.
On 17 January, the troops of the international coalition to liberate Kuwait launched a military offensive on Iraqi locations in Kuwait and Iraq, including military bases, command centers, bridges, water stations and power plants.
Then US President George Bush, now deceased, gave the green light to coalition leader Norman Schwarzkopf to begin land military operations. The operations began on 24 February, 1991, with the troops of 30 countries who destroyed the Iraqi army in Kuwait, liberating the country after 210 days of occupation.

Source: Kuwait News Agency