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Unity Kuwait participates in Arab Games opening ceremony
Posted: Monday August 16, 1999 11:07 AM
AMMAN, Jordan (AP) -- Even though Kuwait did not send athletes to the Arab Games, it participated in the opening ceremony to maintain "the unity of the Arab family," a government minister said. Kuwait is boycotting the games to protest the presence of the Iraqi team at the games, Trade and Commerce Minister Abdul Wahab al-Wazan was quoted as saying by the Jordan Times on Monday. Yet Al-Wazan and two senior sports officials attended the opening ceremony on Sunday at the Amman International Stadium. Kuwait's flag was carried by a sole flag bearer from Jordan while teams from 20 other Arab countries and the Palestinian Territories marched behind their own flags. The 21-day games features about 4,500 athletes in 28 events, plus track and field competitions. The track and field events began four days before Sunday's formal opening to allow athletes to finish in time for the World Athletics Championships in Seville, Spain. The games, which began in 1953 as a symbol of Arab brotherhood, have frequently exposed the politics and intense rivalries of the Arabs outside the sporting arenas. Supposed to be held every four years, the games were canceled in 1969 and 1973 because of the Arab-Israeli wars. There also was a hiatus from 1976 to 1985 when Libya refused to hold the games. Iraq will be participating in the games for the first time since the 1985 Rabat games. Iraq was kept out by hosts Syria and Lebanon in 1992 and 1997, under pressure from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Kuwait, which was invaded and briefly occupied by Iraq in 1990, has consistently lobbied against allowing Iraq to participate in Arab sporting events. It demands the return of more than 600 Kuwaitis that it says are being held by Iraq since the invasion. Iraq denies it has any Kuwaiti prisoners. Wazan said his participation at the inauguration of the games was to ensure "the unity of the Arab family" and is a "clear signal to the good ties" between Kuwait and Jordan, the Jordan Times said. Kuwait was angered by Jordan's support for Iraq during the 1991 Gulf War to evict Iraq from Kuwait. Ties between the two countries have improved since then. "But the participation of our sportsmen was left to the sports authorities ... [who] decided not to take part in the event due to the outstanding issue of our prisoners in Iraq," al-Wazan was quoted as saying.
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