**February 24-28: Kuwait - Iraq ~ Huge Celebebration ~ Kuwait Liberated from Iraqi Occupation Forces ~ World Leaders Invited ~ President Talibani, etc..
February 16, 2011Kuwait liberation one of UN's biggest achievements
UNITED NATIONS: Kuwaiti Ambassador to the UN Mansour Ayyad Al-Otaibi said his country owes its 1991 liberation from the Iraqi occupation to the UN, and stressed that although the Kuwaitis will "never forget" that ordeal, will continue to build trust with the Iraqis to avoid recurrence of that nightmare.
Kuwait is a small country. We owe our liberation to the United Nations. We consider the liberation of Kuwait as one of the biggest achievements of the United Nations," Ambassador Al-Otaibi told the UN Radio in an interview on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Kuwait's liberation, due later this month.
Kuwait has a strong relationship with the UN based on the UN backing of Kuwait against Iraq," he added. The Kuwaiti ambassador also expressed appreciation to other countries for the role they played in the liberation of Kuwait, namely the US, the UK and the Gulf States. "Kuwait will never forget their help in liberating Kuwait," he stressed.
He noted that after its liberation, Kuwait strengthened its relationship with the UN, especially in the development field. "We have supported all United Nations activities in development fields and we continue to do that. We actually decided to double, and sometimes even to quintuple our contributions to many UN agencies, funds and programs, out of appreciation to the role of the UN agencies," he said.
We think that small countries, as well as rich ones, have a responsibility to help the UN and its programs in the humanitarian field," he added. In answer to questions, he said "Kuwaitis who lived the invasion cannot forget it easily. Iraq itself knows that Kuwait will never forget what happened, but we are working with them now to build trust, to take measures, to make sure that what happened will not be repeated." He noted that the "Iraqis themselves want to embark on a new road for themselves. They hav e a democracy, they know that they are prosperous and that development relies on their unity.
I know they have good intentions to solve all their differences with the neighboring countries, including Kuwait. The Security Council, the UN and Kuwait are ready to assist and encourage the Iraqis to implement their main Security Council resolutions," he insisted.
Asked to what extent the invasion caused Kuwaitis to reevaluate their country and society, Ambassador Al-Otaibi said Kuwait is an open society, even before the invasion, although it had some restriction on the participation of women in the political life.
But now, he added, "women got their political rights and this is long overdue. We are really proud to see eight percent of our Parliament represented by very highly educated women." "Whoever went to Kuwait before the invasion and after", he noted, "will see a lot of difference. The infrastructure is very modern and we are proud of the services in general. We are investing a lot in the education and health.
He acknowledged that "many things changed, not only on this front, but we are really happy with the changes that happened so far, and we are looking forward to more developments in our country."
