Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=04/23/03

TYPE=SPECIAL REPORT

TITLE=US AMBASSADOR ON IRAQ AND MIDEAST, PART I

NUMBER=9-30

BYLINE=WILLIAM CHIEN

DATELINE=KUWAIT CITY

INTRO: United States Ambassador to Kuwait Richard H. Jones feels quite at home when he attends the uniquely Kuwaiti diwaniyaslocal gatherings where people discuss the recent events of the day. There, Ambassador Jones uses his fluent Arabic to put forth the American viewpoint, something often absent from discussion in the Middle East.

TEXT: In 2001, two weeks after September 11th, Ambassador Richard H. Jones was appointed to the position of United States Ambassador to Kuwait. Previous U.S. Ambassadorships were in Lebanon (1996-1998) and Kazakhstan (1998-2001).

The diwaniya concept stems from an old tribal custom when, in evenings after the Isha prayers, the men would gather to discuss the latest happenings and make decisions about the next day's activities, transact business or socialize. Officially the diwaniya started during the time of Kuwait's first Amir, H.H. Sabah I (1756-1762), when he not only came to the people's meeting places to hear their problems, grievances and suggestions, but also to talk with them about possible solutions. Due to the lack of a press, the diwaniya became an important place to learn about political events and business news.

/// JONES ACT ///

I think a lot of countries in the region can learn from Kuwait. For example, Kuwait has a Parliament for many years now, in some cases reversing or overturning government decisions. In many cases, bringing members of the government before it for testimony. In fact, a unique wrinkle of the Kuwaiti constitution is that they can actually have a vote of confidence on an individual minister and the Parliament has not been shy to exercise this right. The Parliament is the most visible representative of Kuwaiti democracy they feel very strongly about freedom of assembly and freedom of speech, which they exercise regularly. A uniquely Kuwaiti institution is the diwaniyas where people gather in the evening to exchange news and information about what happened during the day.

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As Ambassador for the United States, he often talks with Kuwaiti legislators about voting rights for women, noting it as a fault in the Kuwaiti system of governance.

///JONES ACT///

The failure is the right to vote for women. Something that the government proposed and unfortunately, it was one of those instances where the Parliament rejected a government proposal. But we haven't given up and I'm sure that not before too long we will see women voting in Kuwait. Well, we do have a dialogue with the government on these issues. I've raised the right of women to vote at all levels within the government. And more importantly in the Parliament I do have a dialogue with people on these issues and within the community. I attend diwaniyas regularly and use it as an opportunity to put forth our viewpoint.

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During Kuwait's campaign for the last parliamentary elections in 1996, each candidate held his own diwaniya where he professed his views. Later in private diwaniyas, the candidates' speeches were thoroughly scrutinized and analyzed. Every member of the diwaniya is entitled to speak, offer his opinions and participate fully, no matter what his position. Everyone, including foreigners, who enters a diwaniya is welcome.

Assigned on two separate occasions to the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he served as Counselor for Political Affairs and as an Economic Officer specializing in the petroleum industry, Ambassador Jones is very aware of Kuwait's deep importance to American interests.

/// JONES ACT ///

First of all, it is a major exporter of oil, and therefore plays an important role in maintaining stability in the international oil market. Currently, Kuwait is producing around 2.4 million barrels a day, a real contribution to price stability, which is very important to the health and well-being of the economy. Beyond that Kuwait has a very strategic location at the north of the Arabian Gulf and is a real partner when it comes to defense issues relating to security in the region, not only of course to Iraq, which has been highlighted recently, but vis-à-vis shipping in the Gulf, particularly freedom of navigation. They have long cooperated with us in that area, they have long cooperated with us in the enforcement of sanctions against Iraq in particular in the efforts against smuggling of Iraqi oil. And that was very important because under the Oil for Food program the United Nations was supposed to control their efforts but Iraq was quite good at smuggling oil, here at the Gulf we were able to shut that down as an avenue for their smuggling.

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Ambassador Jones also understands the role that Kuwait will play in rebuilding Iraq.

/// JONES ACT ///

We have a lot of plans for Kuwait. I think we'll maintain our very strong strategic cooperation, but particularly vis-à-vis Iraq we have a lot of American companies that will be involved in rebuilding and reconstructing Iraq, investing in Iraq in the future, will seek partners from Kuwait for a variety of reasons. Kuwaitis bring a lot of capital to the table, they bring knowledge of the Iraqi market, knowledge of the region, and established relationships with a wide variety of American companies cooperating with Kuwaiti companies. On the government level, we also expect to have close cooperation with Kuwait in terms of providing short-term finance, but also on consulting with them on the basic direction we should go.

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During the war in Iraq, Ambassador Jones and his embassy staff played an integral role.

/// JONES ACT ///

This embassy played a big role in the preparations for Operation Iraqi Freedom. We were in fact the support platform that helped our military achieve a lot of its objectives in its preparatory phase. We arranged Kuwaiti permission for the use of its facilities, ports, roads, provision of land, protective services for our troops while they were preparing to launch into Iraq, and for other logistical support from the Kuwaiti government. I met repeatedly with senior Kuwaiti government officials myself. The meetings I was having were replicated all down the line we got outstanding support I don't think there was a single request that we made to the Kuwaitis that was not approved.

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Ambassador Jones also lauds the Kuwaiti response to the needs of not only the troops, but the journalists who used Kuwait as a base camp during the war.

/// JONES ACT ///

They were very cooperative for opening their country to hundreds of thousands of American troops. And, all and a whole host of civilians who came into support the war effort. Not only opened their doors but provided support for journalists. The coalition press center was fully funded by the Kuwaitis. They established a humanitarian support to ward off a humanitarian emergency during the war and consult with one another to see what was needed and who was doing what and to coordinate their efforts with the US military so that they could do this in safety. So, the Kuwaitis cooperated in a number of ways that was very crucial to the war effort.

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From Kuwait, this is the Voice of America's William Chien, with part one of a two-part interview with the U.S. Ambassador to Kuwait, Richard H. Jones.(Signed)

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