Palestinians in Kuwait – Letter from Palestine

Letter dated 27 June 1991 from the Permanent Observer of Palestine

to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General

On instruction from the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, which is vested with the powers and responsibilities of the Provisional Government of Palestine, I have the honour to inform you of the following:

With reference to the letter dated 24 June 1991 from the Permanent Representative of Kuwait (A/45/1027), we deeply regret the sending of such letters which show blatant contempt for all the members of the United Nations and make light of the information available to the Organization concerning the situation in Kuwait, namely the illegal acts and practices committed against Palestinians residing in Kuwait, which have received wide coverage in the Arab and international media and have been condemned by the authorities and public opinion of many countries.

It is clear that the intention of the above-mentioned letter is to draw the Palestine Liberation Organization into a secondary struggle with the Kuwaiti authorities.  Yet this is precisely what we had sought to avoid until now, by trying to show restraint despite the barbaric acts perpetrated against our people.  It is in order to put things in context, rather than to engage in polemics with the Permanent Representative of Kuwait, that we wish to point out that the Palestine Liberation Organization had earlier dispatched to Kuwait exactly 45 officers and soldiers to guard the Embassy of Palestine and other Palestinian institutions.  This measure had become necessary following the assassination of certain Palestinian leaders in Kuwait, and it should be mentioned in this regard that we had made a point of informing the Kuwaiti authorities subsequently.

We wish to thank you for the efforts you have made concerning the verdicts returned by the court martial in Kuwait.  In this connection, we also welcome the preliminary results achieved through your action and through the efforts of numerous other parties, and we hope that such actions will continue.

I should be grateful if you would have the text of this letter distributed as a document of the General Assembly, under agenda item 23 and 153, and of the Security Council.

(Signed)  Nasser AL-KIDWA

Permanent Observer of Palestine

to the United Nations