Timeline Kuwait
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632-661 The Rashidun Caliphate,
also known as the Rightly Guided Caliphate, comprising the first
four caliphs in Islam's history, was founded after Muhammad's death.
At its height, the Caliphate extended from the Arabian Peninsula, to
the Levant, Caucasus and North Africa in the west, to the Iranian
highlands and Central Asia in the east. It was the one of the
largest empires in history up until that time.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashidun_Caliphate)
1860s-1890s The Saud family moved to exile in
Kuwait when the Ottoman Empire conquered much of Arabia.
(WSJ, 11/13/01, p.A14)
1913 The boundary between Iraq
and Kuwait was defined.
(SFC, 2/24/98, p.A9)
1915 In Kuwait Sheikh Mubarak
died. Kuwait’s rule later alternated between the 2 branches of the
al-Sabah family, the al-Salem and the al-Jaber lines, after the 2
sons of Mubarak.
(Econ, 1/21/06, p.47)
1932 Kuwait’s Municipal Council
was established.
(www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/gulf/kuwait-legislature.htm)
1938 Oil was found in Kuwait.
(SSFC, 4/13/03, p.E1)
1953 The Kuwait Investment
Authority (KIA) was founded as the world’s first sovereign wealth
fund. In 2008 its assets were estimated at $200 billion.
(WSJ, 1/16/08, p.A10)(Econ, 1/19/08, p.80)
1959 A group of Palestinians
met in Kuwait and formed Fatah. Yasser Arafat became the group’s
leader.
(SFC, 11/11/04, p.A18)
1960 Sep 14, Iraq, Iran,
Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela formed OPEC. Fuad Rouhani
(1907-2004) of Iran served as its 1st secretary-general. In 1964 he
was succeeded by Abdul Rahman Bazzaz of Iraq.
(HN, 9/14/98)(WSJ, 7/28/03, p.A8)
1961 Jun 19, Kuwait regained
complete independence from Britain along with Qatar, Bahrain
(NG, 5/88, p.662)(DT internet 6/19/97)(HN,
6/19/98)
1961 Jun 24, Iraq demanded
dominion over Kuwait.
(MC, 6/24/02)
1961 Jun 26, A Kuwaiti vote
opposed Iraq’s annexation plans.
(HN, 6/26/98)
1961 Jul 1, British troops
landed in Kuwait to aid against Iraqi threats.
(HN, 7/1/98)
1961 Nov 30, Soviets vetoed a
UN seat for Kuwait, pleasing Iraq.
(HN, 11/30/98)
1962 Nov, Kuwait approved a new
constitution and became the first Arab state in the Gulf to
establish an elected legislature.
(AP,
9/11/11)(www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/gulf/kuwait-legislature.htm)
1962 Kuwait passed a law
requiring women to get their husband's signature to obtain a
passport.
(AP, 10/21/09)
1963 Jan 29, Kuwait’s
constitution came into force as the new National Assembly convened.
but only a select few were eligible to vote. Power rested with the
royal family.
(www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/gulf/kuwait-legislature.htm)(Econ,
7/8/06, p.40)
1963 Iraq renounced its claim
laid to Kuwait.
(SFC, 2/24/98, p.A9)
1973 Oct 16, OPEC, the Arab
oil-producing nations, announced they would begin cutting back on
oil exports to Western nations and Japan. The next day, the five
Arab members of the OPEC committee were joined in Kuwait by the oil
ministers of Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, and Syria. The result
was a total embargo that lasted until March 1974 and caused oil
prices to quadruple.
(www.harvardir.org/articles/1659/)(AP,
10/17/97)(WSJ, 7/28/03, p.A8)
1973 In Kuwait Law No. 14
established the Constitutional Court, which has exclusive
jurisdiction to interpret the constitutionality of legislation and
is empowered to review electoral contestations. The Court is
comprised of five members who are chosen by the Judicial Council.
(www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/gulf/kuwait-legislature.htm)
1981 May 25, Sheik Zayed bin
Sultan Al Nahyan (1918-2004), United Arab Emirates President, urged
in 5 other Arab monarchies (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi
Arabia) to form the Gulf Cooperation Council. The unified economic
agreement between the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council was
signed on 11 November 1981 in Riyadh.
(Econ, 11/20/04,
p.90)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_Cooperation_Council)
1982 Aug, In Kuwait the
official Souk al-Manakh (camel market) collapsed erasing $94 billion
in paper wealth overnight. The crash prompted a recession that
rippled through society as individual families were disrupted by the
investment risks of particular members made on family credit.
(Econ, 12/5/09,
p.81)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Souk_Al-Manakh_stock_market_crash)
1983 Dec 12, A truck bomb
exploded at the US Embassy in Kuwait. Shiite Muslims backed by Iran
drove bomb-laden trucks into six targets. The most deadly of these
struck the US Embassy, killing five persons and wounding 62. Other
trucks destroyed the French embassy and several Kuwaiti
installations (www.danielpipes.org/article/173).
(WSJ, 4/28/05, p.A1)
1984 Dec 4, A five-day hijack
drama began as four armed men seized a Kuwaiti airliner en route to
Pakistan and forced it to land in Tehran, where the hijackers killed
American passenger Charles Hegna.
(AP, 12/4/04)
1984 Dec 9, In Iran a five-day
hijack drama ended when Iranian commandos captured the Kuwaiti
plane. 4 armed men had seized a Kuwaiti airliner en route to
Pakistan and forced it to land in Tehran, where the hijackers killed
American passenger Charles Hegna.
(AP, 12/4/04)
1984 Gulf Cooperation Council
(GCC) members (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, UAR)
agreed on the creation of a two-brigade (10,000 troops) Peninsula
Shield Force, based in Saudi Arabia near the Kuwaiti and Iraqi
borders.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peninsula_Shield)
1987 Mar 23, US offered
military protection to Kuwaiti ships in the Persian Gulf.
(SS, 3/23/02)
1987 Jul 22, The United States
began its policy of escorting re-flagged Kuwaiti tankers up and down
the Persian Gulf to protect them from possible attack by Iran.
(AP, 7/22/97)
1987 Aug 11, Britain and
France ordered minesweepers to the Persian Gulf, but said they would
not be used in combined operations with the United States as it
escorted reflagged Kuwaiti ships.
(AP, 8/11/97)
1987 Aug 22, The supertanker
Bridgeton and three other reflagged Kuwaiti tankers left Kuwait
under U.S. escort and safely cleared Persian Gulf waters where the
Bridgeton had hit a mine the month before.
(AP, 8/22/97)
1987 Oct 16, In the Persian
Gulf, an Iranian missile hit a re-flagged Kuwaiti ship in the first
direct attack on the tanker fleet guarded by the U.S.
(AP, 10/16/97)
1987 The emir dissolved
parliament.
(SFEC, 7/4/99, p.A20)
1987 Kuwait’s sovereign wealth
fund bought over 20% of British Petroleum, but the deal was
opposed by PM Margaret Thatcher. This forced the Kuwaitis so sell
over half their stake.
(Econ, 1/19/08, p.80)
1988 Apr 5 A 15-day hijacking
ordeal began as gunmen forced a Kuwait Airways jumbo jet to land in
Iran.
(AP, 5/5/97)
1988 A cease-fire was declared
between Iraq and Iran. Iraq re-asserted its claim to Kuwait.
(SFC, 2/24/98, p.A9)
1989 Jul 9, Two bombs explode
in Mecca, killing one pilgrim, wounding 16. Saudi authorities blame
Iranian-inspired terrorists and later beheaded 16 Kuwaiti Shiite
Muslims for bombings. Iran denied involvement.
(AP, 2/1/04)
1990 Jul 24, Iraq, accusing
Kuwait of conspiring to harm its economy through oil overproduction,
massed tens of thousands of troops and hundreds of tanks along the
Iraqi-Kuwaiti border. US warships in Persian Gulf were placed on
alert.
(AP, 7/24/00)
1990 Aug 1, Iraq pulled out of
talks with Kuwait.
(www.milnet.com/gulfwar.htm)
1990 Aug 2, Iraq invaded
Kuwait, seizing control of the oil-rich emirate. The day came to be
known in Kuwait as “Black Thursday.” 330 Kuwaitis died during the
occupation and war. Sadam Hussein, leader of Iraq, took over Kuwait.
G. Bush led an inter-national coalition for sanctions and a demand
for withdrawal. The Iraqis were later driven out in Operation Desert
Storm.
(SFC, 9/4/96, p.A8)(TMC, 1994, p.1990)(AP,
8/2/97)(SFEC, 7/30/00, p.C18)
1990 Aug 2, By a vote of 14-0,
the United Nations Security Council condemned the invasion and
annexation of Kuwait by Iraq and demanded in Resolution 660 the
unconditional withdrawal of Iraqi troops from Kuwait.
(HNQ, 5/27/99)
1990 Aug 2, Yasser Arafat
supported Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait. This resulted in the PLO’s
isolation.
(SFC, 11/11/04, p.A18)
1990 Aug 3, US announced the
commitment of Naval forces to Gulf regions.
(SC, 8/3/02)
1990 Aug 3, Radio Kuwait went
off the air due to the Iraqi invasion.
(SC, 8/3/02)
1990 Aug 5, An angry President
Bush again denounced the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, telling
reporters, “This will not stand. This will not stand, this
aggression against Kuwait.”
(AP, 8/5/00)
1990 Aug 7, President Bush
ordered U.S. troops and warplanes to Saudi Arabia to guard the
oil-rich desert kingdom against a possible invasion by Iraq. The US
Persian Gulf War began. Operation Desert Shield ended Feb 28, 1991.
It cost $8.1 billion and left 383 US casualties with 458 wounded.
(AP, 8/7/99)(WSJ, 9/22/99, p.A8)(MC, 8/7/02)
1990 Aug 8, As the Persian Gulf
crisis deepened, American forces began taking up positions in Saudi
Arabia; Iraq announced it had annexed Kuwait as its 19th province;
President Bush warned Iraqi President Saddam Hussein that “a line
has been drawn in the sand.”
(AP, 8/8/00)(MC, 8/8/02)
1990 Aug 26, Fifty-five
Americans, who had been evacuated from the US Embassy in Kuwait,
left Baghdad by car and headed for the Turkish border.
(AP, 8/26/00)
1990 Aug 28, Iraq declared
occupied Kuwait the 19th province of Iraq, renamed Kuwait City
Kadhima, and created a new district named after President Saddam
Hussein. A puppet regime under Alaa Hussein was set up. Alaa Hussein
was convicted of treason in 2000 and sentenced to death. Saddam
Hussein, saying he sympathized with his foreign captives, pledged to
free detained women and children.
(RTH, 8/28/99)(SFC, 5/4/00, p.A18)(AP, 8/28/00)
1990 Sep 13, The UN Security
Council at its 2939th meeting adopted Resolution 666, regarding
foodstuffs to be supplied to the civilian population in Iraq or
Kuwait in order to relieve human suffering.
(www.caabu.org/press/documents/unscr-resolution-666.html)
1990 Sep 27, The deposed emir
of Kuwait delivered an emotional address to the UN General Assembly
in which he denounced the “rape, destruction and terror” inflicted
upon his country by Iraq.
(AP, 9/27/00)
1990 Sep 28, The exiled emir of
Kuwait visited the White House, where he told President Bush the
Iraqis were destroying and looting his country.
(AP, 9/28/00)
1990 Oct 3, Iraqi President
Saddam Hussein made his first known visit to Kuwait since his
country seized control of the oil-rich emirate.
(AP, 10/3/00)
1990 Oct 13, At the start of a
three-day conference in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, the crown prince of
Kuwait promised greater democracy for the emirate if it were freed
from Iraqi occupation.
(AP, 10/13/00)
1990 Oct 19, Iraq ordered all
foreigners in occupied Kuwait to report to authorities or face
punishment.
(AP, 10/19/00)
1990 Nov 23, Iraq ended curfew
in occupied Kuwait, but began calling up army reservists in their
thirties.
(AP, 11/23/02)
1990 Nov 26, Mikhail Gorbachev
told Iraq to get out of Kuwait.
(MC, 11/26/01)
1990 Nov 29, The UN Security
Council, led by the United States, voted 12-to-two to authorize
military action if Iraq did not withdraw its troops from Kuwait and
release all foreign hostages by January 15th, 1991.
(AP, 11/29/00)
1990 Dec 11, Hundreds of
foreigners flew out of Iraq and Iraqi-occupied Kuwait, ending four
months of captivity following Iraq’s invasion of its oil-rich
neighbor.
(AP, 12/11/00)
1990 Dec 17, President Bush
pledged “no negotiation for one inch” of Kuwaiti territory would
take place as he repeated his demand for Iraq’s complete withdrawal.
(AP, 12/17/00)
1990 Dec 18, Less than a month
before a UN deadline for Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait, President
Bush told reporters he believed Americans would support a military
strike, if one proved necessary. In Baghdad, the ruling
Revolutionary Command Council said Iraq was “ready for the decisive
showdown.”
(AP, 12/18/00)
1990 Dec, Some 540,000 American
troops assembled to drive Iraqi forces from Kuwait.
(WP, 6/29/96, p.A22)
1990 Yemen’s refusal to endorse
military action against Iraq after Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait so
annoyed the governments of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait that they
expelled a million Yemeni migrant workers, costing the country huge
sums in remittances.
(Econ, 7/23/11, p.45)
1991 Jan 9, Secretary of State
James A. Baker the Third and Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz met
for six hours in Geneva, but failed to resolve the Persian Gulf
crisis. President Bush, in Washington, accused Iraq of "a total
stiff-arm, a total rebuff." Mr. Baker told Mr. Aziz that America
would throw Iraq out by force if it did not leave
Kuwait.
(AP, 1/9/01)(Econ, 5/24/08, p.19)
1991 Jan 16, The White House
announced the start of Operation Desert Storm to drive Iraqi forces
out of Kuwait. President Bush said in a nationally broadcast address
“the battle has been joined” as fighter bombers pounded Iraqi
targets. Because of the time difference, it was early January 17th
in the Persian Gulf when the attack began. At 4:30 P.M. EST, the
first fighter aircraft are launched from Saudi Arabia and off of
U.S. and British aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf on bombing
missions over Iraq.
(AP, 1/16/01)(MC, 1/16/02)
1991 Jan 17, The Persian Gulf
War began as Coalition planes struck targets in Iraq and Kuwait. The
first Iraqi Scud missile attacks on Israel were launched. There were
reports of death and injury, and possibly even chemical weapons
being used. For a few tense hours, it looked as though Israel would
retaliate against Iraq, causing the allied coalition to break up.
Six months of preparation and diplomacy might be undone by a few
poorly aimed, 1950s-vintage ballistic missiles. Later that evening,
U.S. Patriot surface-to-air missiles were launched against the
incoming Scuds, and for the first time in history, a ballistic
missile was shot down by another missile. The use of Patriot
missiles in Israel’s defense helped to keep that country out of the
Gulf War, thereby safeguarding the integrity of the
American-European-Arab coalition. Jeffrey Zahn became the 1st US
pilot shot down. Lt. Cmdr. Michael Scott Speicher (33) was shot down
over western Iraq. In 1993 the ruins of his plane were found. In
2009 his remains were found and positively identified.
(SFC, 9/4/96, p.A8)(SFEC,12/797, p.A1,16)(HN,
1/17/99)(AP, 8/2/09)
1991 Jan 17, On the first day
of Operation Desert Storm, US-led forces hammered Iraqi targets in
an effort to drive Iraq out of Kuwait. A defiant Iraqi President
Saddam Hussein declared that the “mother of all battles” had begun.
Iraq attacked Israel with ten Scud missiles. The US Patriot defense
missile was used in battle for the first time to shoot down a Scud
fired at Saudi Arabia.
(AP, 1/17/01)
1991 Jan 23, Iraqi forces in
Kuwait deliberately created a huge oil spill in the Persian Gulf.
(SFC, 2/24/98, p.A9)(MC, 1/23/02)
1991 Jan 25, During the Gulf
War Iraq sabotaged Kuwait’s main supertanker loading pier, dumping
an estimated 460 million gallons of crude oil into the Persian Gulf.
Missiles fired from western Iraq struck in the Tel Aviv and Haifa
areas, killing one Israeli and injuring more than 40 others.
(AP, 1/25/01)(SFC, 11/20/02, p.A14)
1991 Feb 22, The US invaded
Kuwait in the Gulf War Desert Storm and quickly chased out the Iraqi
forces. US soldiers may have been exposed to minute amounts of the
nerve gas agent called Substance 33. Russia had developed the
Novichok family of nerve gases that were designed to be undetectable
by American instruments and they may have been in Iraqi hands at
this time. Gen. Anatoly Diamianovich Kuntsevich was in charge of the
secret development of the gases and post-Soviet disarmament and the
information about the battlefield sensors was revealed by former
Soviet scientist Vil Mirzayanov. Their stories agree.
(TMC, 1994, p.1991) (WSJ, 4/30/96, p.A-14)
1991 Feb 24, The United States
and its Gulf War allies launched a large-scale ground assault
against Iraqi troops, many of whom surrendered to the advancing
forces. General Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of the coalition army,
sent in ground forces to liberate Kuwait from the Iraqis.
(HN, 2/24/98)(AP, 2/24/01)
1991 Feb 26, Allied troops took
control of Kuwait after a 100-hour ground war. It was later reported
that high concentrations of US armor-piercing depleted uranium
shells were detonated in Iraq and Kuwait.
(SFC, 9/4/96, p.A8)(SFC, 11/24/98, p.A4)
1991 cFeb 26, A cease-fire was
called by Pres. Bush after 100 hours of ground combat. Following the
cease-fire a retreating Iraqi unit stumbled into the Gen.
McCaffrey’s 24th infantry division and some 400 Iraqis were reported
killed. Army investigations concluded that the Iraqis started the
Rumaylah battle.
(SFC, 5/15/00, p.A3)(WSJ, 5/19/00, p.A38)
1991 Feb 26, Iraqi President
Saddam Hussein announced on Baghdad Radio that he had ordered his
forces to withdraw from Kuwait.
(AP, 2/26/98)
1991 Feb 27, President Bush
declared that “Kuwait is liberated, Iraq’s army is defeated,” and
announced that the allies would suspend combat operations at
midnight. General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, the US commander in the
Gulf, briefed reporters in detail on the successful allied
offensive. Coalition forces liberated Kuwait after seven months of
occupation by the Iraqi army.
(SFC, 2/24/98, p.A9)(HN, 2/27/99)(AP, 2/27/01)
1991 Feb 28, A cease-fire was
announced in Kuwait. Allied and Iraqi forces suspended their attacks
as Iraq pledged to accept all United Nations resolutions concerning
Kuwait. In 1998 George Bush co-wrote “A World Transformed” with
Brent Scowcroft, his national security advisor. The book was a
dialogue about the foreign policy problems face by the US during the
Bush administration (1988-1992). In 1995 Michael Gordon and Bernard
Trainor published "The General's War: The Inside Story of the
Conflict in the Gulf."
(SFC, 9/4/96, p.A8)(SFC, 5/4/99, p.D1)(AP,
2/28/01)
1991 Mar 1, The US Embassy in
Kuwait officially reopened.
(AP, 3/1/01)
1991 Mar 5, Iraq repealed its
annexation of Kuwait. The Iraqis turned over 35 prisoners of war,
including 15 Americans, to the Red Cross. An anti-Saddam Hussein
uprising was reported sweeping city after city in Iraq.
(AP, 3/5/01)
1991 Mar 7, Iraq continued to
explode oil fields in Kuwait.
(www.parstimes.com/spaceimages/fires-kuwait-2.jpg)
1991 May 19, Martial-law courts
in Kuwait began trying people accused of collaborating with Iraqi
occupation forces, sentencing one man to life in prison for wearing
a Saddam Hussein T-shirt. (The trials came under international
criticism, and were halted.).
(DT internet 5/19/97)
1991 Mar 24, In liberated
Kuwait, banks reopened for the first time since Iraqi troops had
shut them down the previous December.
(AP, 3/24/01)
1991 May 19, Martial-law courts
in Kuwait began trying people accused of collaborating with Iraqi
occupation forces, sentencing one man to life in prison for wearing
a Saddam Hussein T-shirt. The trials came under international
criticism, and were halted.
(AP, 5/19/01)
1991 Aug, American soldiers
detected mustard agent from their Fox mobile chemical-detection
laboratory in a large metal tank in Kuwait that was probably left
behind by retreating Iraqi forces.
(SFC, 12/11/96, p.A1)
1991 Nov 6, Kuwait celebrated
the dousing of the last oil fires ignited by Iraq
during the Persian Gulf War. Iraqi forces had
blown up an estimated 732 Kuwaiti oil wells.
(AP, 11/6/01)(WSJ, 1/21/02, p.B1)
1991 The US scattered some
118,000 land mines in Iraq and Kuwait during the Gulf War.
(WSJ, 1/19/02, p.A1)
1991 Yugoslavia exported 149
M-84 tanks to Kuwait. They were assembled in Croatia from components
made throughout Yugoslavia.
(Econ, 1/8/11, p.52)
1992 Parliament was restored
under western pressure.
(SFEC, 7/4/99, p.A20)
1993 Apr 13, The day before a
visit by Pres. Bush, fourteen people were arrested in Kuwait for
plotting to assassinate him. Washington said the plot was organized
by Iraqi intelligence.
(SFC, 9/4/96, p.A8)
1994 Oct 7, Iraqi troops moved
south toward Kuwait. Pres. Clinton dispatched a carrier group,
54,000 troops and warplanes to the gulf area. The Iraqis pulled
back.
(SFC, 9/4/96, p.A8)
1994 Oct 10, Iraq announced it
was withdrawing its forces from the Kuwaiti border; seeing no signs
of a pullback, President Clinton dispatched 350 additional aircraft
to the region.
(AP, 10/10/99)
1994 Oct 11, Iraqi troops began
moving north, away from the Kuwaiti border.
(AP, 10/11/99)
1994 Nov 10, Iraq, hoping to
win an end to trade sanctions, recognized the independence and
boundaries of Kuwait.
(SFC, 2/24/98, p.A9)(AP, 11/10/99)
1996 Sep 16, Kuwait agreed to
allow the US to send 3,300 troops to its soil over the confrontation
with Iraq.
(SFC, 9/17/96, p.A10)
1998 Jun 13, It was reported
that the Old World Screwworm had broken out in Iraq, Kuwait and
Bahrain. 19 people were reported infected by the disease in which
carnivorous larvae hatch from eggs laid in broken skin.
(SFC, 6/13/98, p.A7)
1999 May 4, Sheik Jaber
al-Ahmed al-Sabah dissolved the 50-seat parliament after lawmakers
threatened to oust the Islamic affairs minister over errors and
omissions in a recent Koran publication. Sheik Saad al-Sabah, the
crown prince, served as prime minister.
(SFC, 5/17/99, p.A12)(SFEC, 7/4/99, p.A20)
1999 May 16, In Kuwait the
Cabinet voted to give women the right to vote in the 2003 general
elections.
(SFC, 5/17/99, p.A12)
1999 Jul 3, In Kuwait elections
were held for seats in the 50-member parliament. Only some 113,000
men of the 1.8 million population were allowed to vote. Liberals
raised their number of seats from 4 to 14.
(SFEC, 7/4/99, p.A20)(SFC, 7/5/99, p.A12)
1999 Nov 23, In Kuwait the
Parliament rejected a decree giving women the right to vote. Sheik
Jaber Al Ahmed Al Sabah had issued the decree in May. Nearly
identical legislation filed by lawmakers was pending.
(SFC, 11/24/99, p.C2)
1999 Nov 30, In Kuwait the
Parliament rejected a bill that would have allowed women to vote by
a vote of 32-30. Only men over 21, who had held Kuwaiti nationality
for 20 years, were allowed to vote or run for office.
(SFC, 12/1/99, p.C5)
1999 Dec 10, In Kuwait a US
airmen was instantly killed when an Air Force C-130 transport landed
short of the runway at Al Jaber Air Base. The plane regained
altitude, dumped fuel and made an emergency belly landing following
which 2 more airmen were killed. The pilot was charged with
involuntary manslaughter for killing three servicemen by crashing
the plane.
(www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/ahmed-al-jaber.htm)(http://tinyurl.com/2sebsu)
2000 Jun 25, In Kuwait a
refinery explosion at the Mina al-Ahmedi plant killed 5 people and
closed the largest of the 3 oil processing facilities.
(WSJ, 6/26/00, p.A1)(WSJ, 6/28/00, p.A1)
2000 Dec 31, Six Persian Gulf
nations (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United
Arab Emirates) signed a regional defense pact.
(SFC, 1/1/01, p.A10)
2001 Mar 12, A US Navy fighter
dropped an errant 500-pound bomb in Kuwait that hit an observation
post and killed 6 people. Cmdr. David Zimmerman was later
reprimanded and relieved of command.
(SFC, 3/13/01, p.A1)(SFC, 5/23/01, p.C4)
2001 Sep 23, The 6-member
Persian “Gulf Cooperation Council” (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar,
Saudi Arabia, UAR) met in Jidda and pledged support for an int’l.
coalition against terrorism.
(SFC, 9/24/01, p.A7)
2001 Oct 7, Sulaiman Bhughaith,
a Kuwaiti Islamist, emerged in Afghanistan as a spokesman for Osama
bin Laden.
(WSJ, 10/24/01, p.A16)
2001 Oct 11, In Kuwait Luc
Ethier, a Canadian employed at the Ahmad al-Jaber airbase, was shot
and killed in Fahaheel. Ethier’s wife was also shot.
(SFC, 10/12/01, p.A15)
2002 Feb 1, In Kuwait a huge
oil field fire killed 4 workers and shut down production of some
600,000 daily barrels.
(SFC, 2/2/02, p.A7)
2002 Mar 29, Iraq expressed
interest in resuming relations with Kuwait.
(SFC, 3/30/02, p.A11)
2002 Apr 4, The UN released
$995 million in compensation for Iraq’s 1990 invasion. Most went to
1,058 individuals. Saudi Arabia received $82.6 million and Jordan
got $44.9.
(SFC, 4/5/02, p.A12)
2002 Jun 5, It was reported
that US intelligence believed that Khalid Shaikh Mohammed of Kuwait,
a key bin Laden lieutenant, was the mastermind of the Sep 11
terrorist attacks.
(SFC, 6/5/02, p.A16)
2002 Aug 31, Kuwait will buy 16
attack helicopters from Boeing in a deal worth $886 million. Defense
Minister Sheik Jaber Mubarak Al Hamad and U.S. Ambassador Richard
Jones signed the deal.
(AP, 8/31/02)
2002 Sep 28, Kuwait closed its
last fiscal year with a $1.94 billion surplus, the National Bank of
Kuwait reported.
(AP, 9/28/02)
2002 Oct 8, Two Kuwaitis opened
fire on U.S. troops on a military exercise on a Kuwait’s Failaka
Island in the Persian Gulf, fatally wounding a Marine in what the
Interior Ministry called a "terrorist" attack.
(AP, 10/8/02)(SFC, 10/9/02, p.A1)
2002 Oct 12, Kuwait's interior
minister said that 15 Kuwaitis in police custody had confessed to a
deadly attack on U.S. Marines, but that no firm link has been
established between them and al-Qaida.
(AP, 10/12/02)
2002 Oct 18, Five trucks
carrying looted Kuwaiti archives left the Iraqi capital, bound for
Kuwait.
(AP, 10/18/02)
2002 Nov 2, Kuwait closed the
office of Al-Jazeera, the Arab world's most popular satellite TV
network, claiming it was "not objective."
(AP, 11/3/02)
2002 Dec 21, French television
journalist, Patrick Bourrat, was struck while crossing the path of
an incoming tank during US military exercises in Kuwait. Bourrat
died the next day.
(AP, 12/22/02)
2003 Jan 21, In Kuwait American
contract worker Michael Rene Pouliat (46) was killed by gunman in an
ambush near Camp Doha. Another worker was wounded. Saudi border
guards arrested a Kuwaiti suspect the next day.
(SFC, 1/23/03, p.A11)
2003 Jan 23, The government of
Kuwait said a Kuwaiti had confessed to the Jan. 21 shootings of two
U.S. defense workers in Kuwait.
(AP, 1/24/04)
2003 Feb 25, A US Army
Black Hawk helicopter on night training crashed in the Kuwaiti
desert, killing all four crew members.
(AP, 2/25/03)
2003 Mar 21, A CH-46 Sea Knight
helicopter crashed in Kuwait and killed 12 British and 4 US
soldiers. US Marines captured the strategic port in the southern
Iraqi city of Umm Qasr.
(AP, 3/21/03)
2003 Mar 22, Sgt. Hasan Akbar,
a US soldier, threw grenades into 3 tents at Camp Pennsylvania, a
101st Airborne command center in Kuwait, killing one fellow
serviceman and wounding 13. In 2005 Akbar was convicted of
premeditated and attempted murder. On April 28, 2005, Akbar was
sentenced to death.
(AP, 3/23/03)(SFC, 4/22/05, p.A13)(SFC, 4/29/05,
p.A10)
2003 Mar 29, A low-flying Iraqi
missile avoided the detection of US defense systems and landed just
off the coast of Kuwait City, shattering windows at the seaside Souq
Sharq shopping mall.
(AP, 3/29/03)(SFC, 3/29/03, p.W5)
2003 Jul 5, In Kuwait Islamists
and supporters of the royal-led Cabinet kept their grip the all-male
parliament in elections, while liberals urging voting rights for
women suffered major losses.
(AP, 7/6/03)
2003 Jul 13, Kuwait's emir,
Sheik Jaber Al Ahmed Al Sabah (76), appointed his brother as prime
minister, separating the post from the crown prince for the first
time in a move seen as a step toward political reform.
(AP, 7/13/03)
2003 Nov 30, A bus carrying
Kuwaitis returning from the funeral of a Shiite Muslim religious
leader overturned in southern Iraq, killing at least 15 people.
(AP, 11/30/03)
2004 Dec 12, Palestinian leader
Mahmoud Abbas apologized to Kuwaitis for the Palestinian support of
former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein after Iraq invaded Kuwait in
1990.
(AP, 12/12/05)
2005 Jan 10, In Kuwait a
shootout killed two policeman and a suspect they were chasing in a
suburb of the capital.
(AP, 1/10/05)
2005 Jan 15, Police and
militants fought a gun battle in a small Kuwaiti town near a US
military logistics center, leaving one Saudi gunman dead and two
policemen wounded.
(AP, 1/15/05)
2005 Jan 16, The first Kuwaiti
released from Guantanamo Bay was taken into government custody after
he arrived home.
(AP, 1/16/05)
2005 Jan 30, Kuwaiti security
forces stormed a building in a residential part of the capital and
exchanged gunfire with suspected terrorists, killing one suspect in
a battle that also left a security officer and a bystander dead.
(AP, 1/30/05)
2005 Jan 31, Kuwaiti police
stormed several suspected terror hideouts, arresting a reputed
terror leader and sparking a gunbattle that killed five people,
including four of his followers.
(AP, 1/31/05)
2005 Feb 5, Kuwaiti police and
troops in armored personnel carriers used explosives to blast their
way into a concrete block home in Sulaibiyah capturing 5 suspected
terrorists.
(AP, 2/5/05)
2005 Feb 8, In Kuwait Amer
Khlaif al-Enezi, the alleged ringleader of a terror group accused of
plotting to attack Americans and Kuwaiti security forces, died of
heart failure while in prison.
(AP, 2/9/05)
2005 Mar 10, The UN panel
overseeing compensation for victims of Iraq's 1990 invasion of
Kuwait approved new awards worth $265 million, mostly to families of
people who died in Iraqi detention.
(AP, 3/11/05)
2005 Mar, Kuwait based MTC
agreed to pay nearly $3.4 billion for Amsterdam-based Celtel Int’l.,
founded by Mo Ibrahim, who stood to make $700 million by selling his
one-fifth stake. Celtel had 5 million customers spread across 13
African countries.
(Econ, 4/2/05, p.58)
2005 Apr 19, In Kuwait
lawmakers agreed to permit women to vote and run in local council
elections, although the measure requires more legislative action
before it becomes law.
(AP, 4/19/05)
2005 May 2, In Kuwait a push to
allow women to participate in local elections stalled when Islamist
and conservative lawmakers abstained en masse from a key vote in
parliament, leaving the measure undefeated but short of the number
of votes needed for passage.
(AP, 5/2/05)
2005 May 3, Kuwait’s Parliament
created a constitutional roadblock that effectively kept women out
of this year’s race for municipal council seats.
(SFC, 5/4/05, p.A3)
2005 May 16, The Kuwait
Parliament extended political rights to women, but religious
fundamentalists who opposed women's suffrage succeeded in attaching
a clause requiring future female politicians and voters to abide by
Islamic law.
(AP, 5/16/05)
2005 Jun 5, Kuwait named two
women to public office for the first time, less than a month after
parliament passed a historic law granting women the right to vote
and run for office.
(AP, 6/5/05)
2005 Jun 12, Kuwait state TV
reported that the Kuwaiti government has appointed its first female
Cabinet minister, a month after lawmakers in this oil-rich nation
granted women the right to vote and run for office. Massouma
al-Mubarak (54), a women's rights activist and columnist, was given
the planning and administrative development portfolios.
(AP, 6/12/05)
2005 Jun 20, Massouma
al-Mubarak, Kuwait's first female Cabinet member, took the oath of
office over the shouts of Muslim fundamentalist and tribal lawmakers
opposed to women in politics.
(AP, 6/20/06)
2005 Jun 30, The UN panel
overseeing compensation for victims of Iraq's 1990 invasion of
Kuwait approved its final claims, bringing the total award to $52.5
billion.
(AP, 6/30/05)
2005 Sep 4, The oil-rich
Persian Gulf state of Kuwait said it will donate $500 million in aid
to U.S. relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina.
(AP, 9/4/05)
2005 Nov 10, A senior official
said Kuwait has detected two cases of bird flu in birds but it was
not clear if the virus strain was the deadly version that has
devastated poultry in Asia.
(AP, 11/10/05)
2005 Nov 11, In Kuwait an
agricultural official said the deadly strain of bird flu has been
detected in a flamingo, the first known outbreak of the virus in the
Gulf region.
(AP, 11/11/05)
2005 Nov 18, In Kuwait a bus
carrying US troops overturned, killing one American soldier and
injuring 19 others.
(AP, 11/18/05)
2005 Dec 27, In Kuwait 6 men
were convicted and sentenced to death on charges they belonged to a
terrorist group that planned to attack US troops in Kuwait. They
were among 37 Kuwaitis and other nationals accused of joining the
Lions of the Peninsula, a group the prosecution claims was planning
attacks. The defendants were captured after clashing with Kuwaiti
police in January 2005.
(AP, 12/27/05)(AP, 3/9/06)
2006 Jan 15, Crown prince Sheik
Saad Al Abdullah Al Sabah, in his mid-70s and ailing himself,
assumed the throne of Kuwait following the death of emir Sheik Jaber
Al Ahmed Al Sabah.
(AP, 1/15/06)
2006 Jan 20, Kuwait’s PM Sheik
Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah agreed to take charge of Kuwait due to the
poor health of the new emir. The move was perceived as a first step
toward his eventually taking over the top office.
(AP, 1/20/06)
2006 Jan 24, Kuwait’s
Parliament voted unanimously to oust the ailing emir, ending a
nine-day leadership crisis by temporarily handing power to the
Cabinet headed by PM Sheik Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah.
(AP, 1/24/06)
2006 Jan 29, Sheik Sabah IV Al
Ahmad Al-Jaber Al Sabah was sworn in as the new emir of Kuwait.
(AP,
1/29/06)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabah_Al-Ahmad_Al-Jaber_Al-Sabah)
2006 Feb 7, Kuwait's new Emir
Sheik Sabah Al Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah (76) turned to his brother,
Sheik Nawwaf Al Ahmed Al Sabah (68), as the new crown prince and
successor to the throne. Sheik Nasser Al Mohammed Al Sabah (65) was
appointed PM and directed to form a new government.
(AP, 2/7/06)
2006 Mar 8, In Kuwait Mishaal
al-Shimmiri, a Muslim fundamentalist convicted in absentia and
sentenced to 10 years in prison for belonging to a terrorist group,
turned himself in to an appeals court hearing a case that stemmed
from clashes with police in Jan 2005.
(AP, 3/9/06)
2006 Mar 8, In Kuwait Mishaal
al-Shimmiri, a Muslim fundamentalist convicted in absentia and
sentenced to 10 years in prison for belonging to a terrorist group,
turned himself in to an appeals court hearing a case that stemmed
from clashes with police in Jan 2005.
(AP, 3/9/06)
2006 Mar, Persian Gulf stock
markets suffered their 1st serious correction after years of 6-7%
annual gains. Stock market reversals in Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the
UAR, along with Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia triggered outrage
among local small investors.
(WSJ, 3/27/06, p.C1)
2006 Apr 4, Kuwaiti women voted
and ran as candidates for the first time in a municipal election in
the conservative country's capital, but initial reports indicated
not many women were casting ballots.
(AP, 4/4/06)
2006 Apr 27, The UN panel
overseeing compensation for victims of Iraq's 1990 invasion of
Kuwait said the UN has paid out a $248 million installment to cover
claims for losses and damages.
(AP, 4/27/06)
2006 May 21, Kuwait's ruler
dissolved parliament and called early elections amid a dispute
between the government and lawmakers over electoral reform.
(AP, 5/21/06)
2006 May 21, A Kuwait criminal
court acquitted five former Guantanamo detainees of charges that
they collected money for Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network.
Abdullah Salih al-Ajmi (29), released from Guantanamo in 2005, took
part in a suicide bomb attack in Mosul in April, 2008.
(AP, 5/21/06)(SFC, 5/8/08, p.A8)
2006 Jun 29, Women in Kuwait
voted in parliamentary elections for the first time, a vote that
also inspired surprisingly vocal calls for reform and criticism of
the ruling family. The elections were a victory for political
reformists but a disappointment for female candidates, none of whom
won a seat. The opposition won a big majority.
(AP, 6/29/06)(AP, 6/30/06)(Econ, 7/8/06, p.40)
2006 Jul 31, Every Kuwaiti
citizen will get a $694 gift from the government after parliament
unanimously backed the one-time payout. 2 million foreign workers,
who make up the rest of Kuwait's population of 3 million, do not get
the payment.
(AP, 7/31/06)
2006 Sep 4, Lt. Col. Marshall
Gutierrez (41), whistleblower on food overcharging for the Iraq war,
was found dead in his quarters in Kuwait. A Kuwaiti contractor had
accused Gutierrez of seeking bribes.
(WSJ, 10/20/07, p.A1)
2006 Oct 31, In Kuwait an Iraqi
government spokesman said Iraq needs around $100 billion in the next
four to five years to recover and rebuild its infrastructure at the
opening of an international aid meeting.
(AP, 110/31/06)
2006 Dec 5, Kuwait's highest
court overturned the conviction of Nasser Najr al-Mutairi, a former
Guantanamo Bay prisoner who was returned to the emirate in 2005.
(AFP, 12/5/06)
2006 Dec 10, The oil-rich Arab
states on the Persian Gulf said that they will consider starting a
joint nuclear program for peaceful purposes. The six-nation Gulf
Cooperation Council included Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab
Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman.
(AP, 12/10/06)
2007 Jan 14, A court convicted
Sheik Talal Nasser Al Sabah, a member of Kuwait's ruling family, for
drug trafficking and condemned him to death.
(AP, 1/15/07)
2007 Mar 3, In Kuwait a
criminal court acquitted two former Guantanamo Bay prisoners of
joining al-Qaida or the Taliban.
(AP, 3/3/07)
2007 Mar 4, Officials said
Kuwait's Cabinet has resigned in a widely expected move that
pre-empts a vote of no-confidence in the health minister, who is a
member of the ruling family. Kuwaiti governments have previously
pre-empted votes of no-confidence by resigning and Cabinet
reshuffles. Such moves have even led to dissolving parliament.
(AP, 3/4/07)
2007 Mar 12, In Kuwait a US
military contractor was killed and three others injured in an
accident that may have involved unexploded ordnance at the largest
American military base.
(AP, 3/12/07)
2007 Apr 4, In Kuwait a medical
source said preliminary tests for bird flu were positive on four
Bangladeshi workers who had been culling infected chickens.
(AP, 4/4/07)
2007 May 20, Kuwait broke ranks
with the US dollar and decided to track a basket of currencies. It
was estimated that the dollar still accounted for 70% of the basket.
(Econ, 11/24/07, p.75)(http://tinyurl.com/2wojz3)
2007 May 27, Kuwait's
government announced that it is moving the country's weekend to
Friday and Saturday instead of Thursday and Friday effective Sep 1.
(AP, 5/28/07)
2007 Jun 7, It was reported
that US prosecutors have opened an inquiry into allegations that a
Kuwaiti contractor used foreign workers against their will in
building the US Embassy in Baghdad.
(WSJ, 6/7/07, p.A1)
2007 Oct 4, It was reported
that in Kuwait the nomadic Bedouin, Arabic for "without," numbered
about 100,000 people and have been refused what they feel is their
birthright: citizenship.
(AP, 10/4/07)
2007 Nov 18, In Kuwait a US
soldier was killed and another was seriously injured in a road
accident.
(AP, 11/18/07)
2007 Dec 17, It was reported
that the US was investigation allegations that Public Warehousing
Co. owned by Kuwait’s Sultan Al-Essa family, had solicited as much
as $80 million in kickbacks under cover as discounts from US
suppliers.
(WSJ, 12/17/07, p.A1)
2008 Jan 4, The Zambian
government awarded a 1.2 billion dollar crude oil deal to a Kuwait
firm to supply over 1.4 million tons of oil to the southern African
nation.
(AP, 1/5/08)
2008 Jan 11, President Bush had
tears in his eyes during an hour-long tour of Israel's Holocaust
memorial and told Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that the US
should have bombed Auschwitz to halt the killing. Bush wrapped up
his 3-day visit to Israel and departed for Kuwait, where he sought
Arab support for the US-backed Mideast peace deal.
(AP, 1/11/08)
2008 Jan 16, The UN Security
Council imposed sanctions on three Kuwaitis who allegedly help
finance al-Qaida operations and recruit fighters for the terrorist
network. The three men, Hamid Al-Ali, Jaber Al-Jalamah and Mubarak
Mushakhas Sanad Al-Bathali, will be added to a list of some 480
individuals and businesses with purported links to al-Qaida and the
Taliban.
(AP, 1/16/08)
2008 Jan 31, US Army Maj. John
Cockerham and his wife pleaded guilty to bribery, conspiracy and
money laundering committed while he was a contracting officer in
Kuwait (2004-2006, during which time he made over $9 million. Maj.
James Momon Jr., his successor, later pleaded guilty to pocketing
over $1 million. Cockerham and his wife were initially indicted on
Aug 22, 2007.
(SSFC, 10/26/08, Par
p.6)(www.usdoj.gov/atr/cases/f225400/225441.htm)
2008 Mar 19, Kuwait’s ruled
dissolved Parliament and set elections for May 17 after a political
standoff delayed reforms.
(WSJ, 3/20/08, p.A1)
2008 Apr 22, Iraqi PM Nouri
al-Maliki, at a meeting in Kuwait, urged neighboring countries to
help dry up "the springs of terrorism" by preventing militants from
obtaining weapons and financing from abroad.
(AP, 4/22/08)
2008 May 13, In Kuwait Sheik
Saad Al Abdullah Al Sabah (b.1930), who ruled here for just nine
days in 2006 before being removed for ill health, died.
(AP, 5/13/08)
2008 May 17, Voters in Kuwait
lined up to vote in parliamentary elections that could substantially
change the legislative body of this tiny, oil-rich Gulf emirate
following electoral reforms to reduce corruption and vote buying.
(AP, 5/17/08)
2008 May 18, Kuwait's
parliamentary elections showed strong gains for Muslim hardliners.
Women candidates failed to win a single seat.
(AP, 5/18/08)
2008 Jun 1, In Kuwait Muslim
hard-liners walked out of the inaugural meeting of parliament to
protest 2 female Cabinet ministers who were not wearing head
scarves.
(SFC, 6/2/08, p.A3)
2008 Jul 17, Kuwait's official
news agency says the tiny Gulf country has named an ambassador to
Iraq for the first time since the 1991 Gulf War.
(AP, 7/17/08)
2008 Jul 20, Barack Obama made
a brief stop in Kuwait, a key US ally. The delegation met with the
emir, Sheik Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah, and other senior officials.
(AP, 7/21/08)
2008 Aug, Cambodia leased
agricultural land to Kuwaiti investors following mutual prime
ministerial visits.
(Econ, 5/23/09, p.62)
2008 Oct 26, Kuwait's Central
Bank stepped to prop up one of the country's biggest banks and said
it was considering guaranteeing deposits in domestic banks, in one
of the first concrete signs that the global financial crisis may
next hit the oil-rich Gulf.
(AP, 10/26/08)
2008 Oct 29, The UN panel
overseeing compensation for victims of Iraq's 1990 invasion of
Kuwait said it has paid a $888.6 million (709.4 million euros)
installment from Iraqi oil funds to cover losses and damages
suffered by governments and private companies.
(AP, 10/29/08)
2008 Dec 28, Kuwait decided to
scrap a deal to form a $17.4 billion petrochemical joint venture
with US company Dow Chemical.
(Reuters, 12/29/08)
2009 Jan 8, Kuwait’s top
investment bank, Global Investment House, said it had defaulted on
most of its $3 billion in debt, raising concerns that other Arab
Gulf financial firms may follow as the global financial crises
spreads through the region.
(WSJ, 1/9/09, p.C2)
2009 Jan 19, The Arab League’s
22 leaders met in Kuwait City for a 2-day session on infrastructure
projects and ways to deal with the global financial crises.
(SFC, 1/19/09, p.D1)
2009 Jan 20, In Kuwait the
deeply divided Arab League failed to come up with a plan to
reconstruct the devastated Gaza Strip and could not agree on whether
to back Egyptian peace efforts to end the crisis.
(AP, 1/20/09)
2009 Jan 30, Kuwait’s National
Assembly passed a law banning women from working between 8 pm and 7
am except in hospitals. Legislation also limited the workweek to 48
hours and required accommodation for expatriate workers. New
penalties for begging carried a 6-month sentence and a fine of 500
Kuwaiti dinars followed by deportation.
(SSFC, 2/1/09, p.A4)
2009 Feb 8, Kuwait's Central
Bank governor unveiled a $5.15 billion economic stimulus package
aimed at helping struggling investment companies and offering bank
loan guarantees.
(AP, 2/8/09)
2009 Mar 18, Kuwait's emir,
Sheikh Sabah al Ahmad al Jaber al Sabah, dissolved the 50-member
parliament, to avert parliamentary questioning of his nephew, the
prime minister. He called for new elections within two months,
saying some lawmakers had abused democracy and become a threat to
stability.
(AP, 3/18/09)(WSJ, 4/9/09, p.A1)
2009 May 16, Kuwaitis voted in
the second parliamentary election in a year. 210 candidates for the
50-seat parliament included 16 women. Kuwaiti women won political
rights in 2005, and practiced them for the third time. Kuwait’s
population of about 3.4 million people included 2.3 million foreign
workers. Kuwaitis elected 4 women and rejected a number of Islamic
fundamentalist candidates. 21 incumbents lost their seats.
(AP, 5/16/09)(AP, 5/17/09)(Econ, 5/23/09, p.50)
2009 Jun 7, Bahrain, Kuwait,
Qatar and Saudi Arabia signed an agreement paving the way for a
monetary union and plans for a unified regional currency.
(SFC, 6/8/09, p.C1)
2009 Jul 26, Hazem al-Braikan
(36), a Kuwaiti businessman linked to Citigroup and charged in the
United States with fraud, was found dead in his bed in Kuwait
City with a gunshot wound to the head and a handgun at his side. The
US SEC charged al-Braikan last week with scheming to make millions
by manipulating the stock of certain US companies.
(AP, 7/26/09)
2009 Aug 11, Kuwaiti
authorities announced they have arrested an al-Qaida-linked group
that was planning to attack Camp Arifjan, a key US military base in
Kuwait. 5 of the suspects are cousins who were convicted for
involvement in the 2002 attack on a group of US Marines training on
the Kuwaiti island of Failaka, where one Marine was killed and
another wounded.
(AP, 8/11/09)(AP, 8/13/09)
2009 Aug 15, In Kuwait a fire
at a wedding tent killed 57 women and children as it consumed the
structure in a blazing inferno lasting just three minutes. The
bridegroom’s ex-wife was later found to be the arsonist. In 2010 a
Kuwaiti appeals court confirmed a death sentence against Nasra
Yussef Mohammed al-Enezi (23). She had been convicted in March of
setting fire to the wedding tent as her husband took a second wife.
(AP, 8/16/09)(AP, 8/18/09)(SFC, 8/18/09,
p.A4)(AFP, 5/26/10)
2009 Oct 20, Kuwait's highest
court granted women the right to obtain a passport without their
husband's approval, in the latest stride for women's rights in this
small oil-rich emirate. The landmark decision "freed" Kuwaiti women
from the 1962 law requiring their husband's signature to obtain a
passport.
(AP, 10/21/09)
2009 Oct 28, Kuwait's highest
court ruled that women lawmakers are not obliged by law to wear the
headscarf, a blow to Muslim fundamentalists who want to fully impose
Islamic Sharia law in this small oil-rich state.
(AP, 10/28/09)
2009 Oct 29, In Kuwait an
American soldier was killed in an accident.
(AP, 10/29/09)
2009 Nov 16, US federal
prosecutors said the Kuwait logistics firm, Public Warehousing co.,
had inflated prices and defrauded the US government under its
multi-billion dollar contract to feed American troops. The contract
was set to expire in December 2010.
(SFC, 11/17/09, p.D2)
2009 Dec 14, Gulf leaders
arrived in Kuwait for a two-day annual summit with the global
recession's impact on their economies, fighting in Yemen and Iran's
nuclear drive high on the agenda.
(AP, 12/14/09)
2009 Dec 15, In Kuwait Gulf
Arab nations put into force a monetary pact, moving a step closer
toward the elusive goal of a single regional currency and greater
integration between the mainly oil-rich states. The announcement was
made by Kuwait's finance minister came as leaders from the
six-member Gulf Cooperation Council nations were wrapping up a
two-day summit in which they launched a regional electricity
project. The GCC groups Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab
Emirates, Oman and Bahrain.
(AP, 12/15/09)
2010 Feb 14, Kuwait's state
news agency said the Kuwaiti telecom group Zain has agreed to
offload its African assets to India's Bharti Airtel, in a deal
valued at $10.7 billion. The next day Bharti confirmed the deal.
(Reuters, 2/14/10)(Econ, 2/20/10, p.61)
2010 Apr 10, Kuwait deported
back to Egypt at least 21 supporters of leading pro-reform Egyptian
activist and former UN nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei, a
day after arresting them. Some 20 more Egyptians were still being
detained in Kuwait.
(AFP, 4/10/10)(AP, 4/11/10)
2010 Apr 25, Kifah Hassan,
chief executive of Iraqi Airways, had his passport seized and the
plane he arrived on was impounded at Gatwick Airport in a
long-running legal dispute with Kuwait Airways. The dispute dated
back to Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, when,
according to the oil-rich emirate, 10 of its planes and aircraft
parts were plundered after its airport was seized.
(AFP, 4/30/10)
2010 May 1, Kuwaiti media
reported that seven people were arrested in a sweep of a suspected
spy cell.
(AP, 5/6/10)
2010 May 3, Kuwait said that
several suspects are being questioned in connection with a busted
spy cell which a local newspaper said had been working for Iran.
(AFP, 5/3/10)
2010 May 5, Kuwaiti and Saudi
officials said an Iranian espionage group has been dismantled in
Kuwait. The cell was reportedly acting on behalf of Iran's
Revolutionary Guard.
(AP, 5/6/10)
2010 May 10, In Kuwait a
criminal court acquitted eight Kuwaitis allegedly linked to Al-Qaeda
of plotting to attack a key US military base in the emirate.
(AFP, 5/10/10)
2010 May 11, In Kuwait writer
Mohammad Abdulqader al-Jassem (54) was detained on charges of
instigating to overthrow the regime. The next day he began a hunger
strike to protest the accusations. On Dec 15 Kuwait's appeals court
reduced to three months a one-year jail term given to a al-Jassem
for allegedly slandering the prime minister.
(AP, 5/19/10)(http://tinyurl.com/26zlwm3)(AP,
12/15/10)
2010 May 26, Iraq's government
dissolved state-owned Iraqi Airways over a decades-old financial
dispute dating back to Saddam Hussein's invasion of his oil-rich
neighbor Kuwait. A lawyer for Kuwait Airways called the Iraqi
government's strategy a "cynical tactic" and said it will not end
the dispute because Kuwait will still hold the government
accountable for the debt.
(AP, 5/26/10)
2010 Jul 29, The UN released
$650 million in Iraqi compensation to Kuwait, the latest payment of
a war reparation scheme that began in 1994. The payment brings the
total sum of compensation paid to Kuwait to $30.15 billion. A
further $22.3 billion is due to Kuwait.
(AFP, 7/29/10)
2010 Sep 20, Kuwait revoked the
citizenship of cleric Yasser al-Habib, a hard-line Shiite scholar,
accusing him of trying to stir up discord among Muslims by
describing the Prophet Muhammad's wife, Aisha, as an "enemy of God."
(AP, 9/20/10)
2010 Sep 24, In Kuwait US Army
Spc. Marc C. Whisenant (23) of Holly Hill, Fla., died in a military
vehicle roll-over.
(AP, 9/28/10)
2010 Oct 11, The emir of Kuwait
arrived in Algeria for a two-day visit on the latest step of a north
African tour.
(AFP, 10/12/10)
2010 Oct 13, Kuwait gave 28
million euros to Mauritania during Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah's
whistle-stop visit to the poor northwest African nation.
(AFP, 10/13/10)
2010 Oct 17, In Kuwait some 100
people stormed the offices of privately owned Scope TV’s studios and
destroyed its equipment after the channel aired shows critical of
the ruling Al Sabah family.
(SFC, 10/19/10, p.A2)
2010 Oct 28, Kuwait's court of
appeals upheld the acquittal of eight nationals, two of them tried
in absentia, of charges of forming an Al-Qaeda cell and plotting
attacks against a US military base. Five of the men were arrested in
August last year while a sixth suspect was already serving a life
sentence for a 2002 attack on the US military in Kuwait that killed
an American soldier. The accused said that purported confessions
presented to the court had been extracted under torture.
(AFP, 10/28/10)
2010 Dec 1, Kuwait began
hosting a two-day conference to try to attract aid and investment to
resource-rich but neglected east Sudan.
(AFP, 11/30/10)
2010 Dec 2, In Kuwait City a
two-day conference on east Sudan ended. Donors and investors pledged
3.55 billion dollars for the development of resource-rich but
neglected area.
(AFP, 12/2/10)
2010 Dec 7, Leaders of six
US-allied Gulf Arab nations, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC),
said they were monitoring with "utmost concern" developments in
Iran's disputed nuclear program and issued a thinly veiled warning
to their Persian neighbor not to meddle in their internal affairs.
The 2-day gathering of leaders from the Emirates, Saudi Arabia,
Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman followed the publication of leaked
US diplomatic memos that revealed deeper concern among Gulf Arab
leaders over Tehran's nuclear program than had previously been
known.
(AP, 12/7/10)
2011 Jan 12, Kuwait's PM Sheikh
Nasser Mohammad al-Ahmad al-Sabah received a red carpet welcome on
his first visit since Iraq's 1990 invasion of its oil-rich neighbor.
Both sides pledged to redouble efforts to resolve issues from that
conflict.
(AFP, 1/12/11)
2011 Jan 17, Kuwait’s state
news reported that ruling Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah is marking
several key anniversaries by handing out $3559 grants and free food
coupons for every citizen.
(SFC, 1/18/11, p.A2)
2011 Jan 26, Iraq and Kuwait
pledged to work toward resolving border disputes and debt issues as
the two former enemies seek to repair relations damaged by Saddam
Hussein's 1990 invasion of the oil-rich emirate.
(AP, 1/26/11)
2011 Feb 6, Kuwait's embattled
interior minister stepped down amid rising political tensions that
include calls for the first major Gulf street protests inspired by
uprisings in Egypt and elsewhere.
(AP, 2/6/11)
2011 Mar 8, In Kuwait police
barricaded the main Safat Square in Kuwait City before planned
protests for greater political freedoms that could bring another
Gulf state into the surge for reforms around the Arab world.
(AP, 3/8/11)
2011 Mar 27, Bahrain's largest
Shi'ite opposition group Wefaq accepted Kuwait as a mediator with
Bahrain's government to end a political crisis gripping the tiny
kingdom.
(Reuters, 3/27/11)
2011 Mar 28, Bahrain's foreign
minister said it was "completely untrue" that Kuwait would mediate
to resolve the country's political crisis, a reaction leading
opposition group Wefaq said augured badly for any resolution.
(Reuters, 3/28/11)
2011 Mar 29, A Kuwaiti court
condemned to death 3 members of a suspected spy ring. The two
Iranians and a Kuwaiti national were all serving in Kuwait's army
when they arrested in May 2010. Three Iranian diplomats involved in
the spy cell could not b prosecuted because of their diplomatic
immunity.
(AFP, 3/31/11)
2011 Mar 31, Kuwait's Cabinet
resigned over regional turmoil. The resignation appeared to be an
attempt by three Cabinet ministers, members of the ruling Al Sabah
family, to avoid being questioned over why Kuwait did not contribute
troops to the Saudi-led Gulf force that was sent to Bahrain. Kuwait
announced it is to expel a number of Iranian diplomats for alleged
spying.
(AP, 3/31/11)(AFP, 3/31/11)
2011 Apr 24, Kuwait announced a
pledge of "urgent humanitarian aid" to Libyan civilians, through the
Transitional National Council of Libya. The pledge was later said to
be $180 million.
(AFP, 5/7/11)
2011 May 10, The Gulf
Co-operation Council (Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia,
UAE) said it welcomed Jordan’s request to join the 6-member group.
Jordan had first applied for membership in the mid-1980s. The GCC
said it would encourage Morocco to also join.
(Econ, 5/21/11,
p.54)(http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=13586238)
2011 Jun 29, Kuwait's
parliament passed a deficit budget for the 2011-2012 fiscal year
projecting the highest spending in the OPEC member's history. The
price for oil needed to balance the budget was $85-90 a barrel.
(AP, 6/29/11)
2011 Aug 3, In Kuwait a
24-year-old Filipina domestic worker, reportedly blinded by her
employer, sought refuge at the Philippines Embassy after escaping
from her employer last month.
(SSFC, 8/7/11, p.A4)
2011 Aug 9, More than 2,000
Kuwaitis rallied outside the Syrian embassy in the Gulf state
demanding the expulsion of the Syrian envoy and the "freezing" of
relations with Damascus.
(AFP, 8/10/11)
2011 Sep 11, Kuwaiti youth
activists called for major reforms to turn the oil-rich emirate into
a constitutional monarchy, including the appointment of a premier
from outside the Al-Sabah ruling family.
(AFP, 9/11/11)
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