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Al-Ahram Weekly 24 - 30 June 1999 Issue No. 435 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 24 - 30 June 1999 Issue No. 435
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Features Interview Travel Sports Time Out Chronicles People Cartoons Letters Arab countries in sports gathering?
By Lola KilaniJordan is still hoping that the 9th Pan-Arab Games it will be hosting in August will go down in history for being the first and only Games to have brought together all 22 Arab countries.
Since Amman's bid to host the 15-31 August Games was brought forward to 1999 instead of 2001 to avoid coinciding with the Mediterranean Games, the country has had to bear a heavy financial burden. It has also had to exert double the effort to finish facilities on time while hoping to achieve an overall Arab participation.
Whereas the first problem has been tackled with round-the-clock construction and preparations, the major snag was convincing Kuwait to take part alongside Iraq.
When it extended the invitation to the Games, Jordan reiterated that it would not prevent Iraqi athletes from attending the competition, stressing that the invitation was extended to all Arab countries in line with Arab League rules.
However, Kuwait officials repeatedly stated they would boycott the two-week event, renamed Al-Hussein Tournament after the late King Hussein, if Iraqi athletes were allowed to join more than 4,500 Arab participants.
Kuwait's Olympic Committee President Sheikh Ahmed Fahd Al-Sabah reiterated that the emirate's decision not to take part alongside Iraq reflected Kuwaiti public sentiment. He said that until all Kuwaiti prisoners held in Iraqi jails were released, Kuwait's position would remain unchanged. Kuwait was invaded by Iraqi troops in August 1990 which culminated in the 1991 Gulf War. It has said it will not attend any event that includes Iraq until Baghdad frees Kuwaiti POWs it captured during the seven-month occupation.
In May, the official Kuwaiti news agency KUNA quoted the Secretary-General of the Kuwaiti Olympic Committee Obeid Al-Anzi as saying, "No Kuwaiti will compete in the 9th Pan-Arab Games should Iraq compete, even on a symbolic level."
"If Iraq confirms it will compete, the boycott of the Games by Kuwait is unquestionable," AFP quoted Al-Anzi.
The Kuwaiti stance was the only obstacle to achieving overall Arab participation with the Jordanians pinning high hopes on making the event the best and biggest ever.
With a record 20 Arab countries having confirmed participation, Jordan extended an invitation to the remaining nations, Djibouti and the Comoros Islands, to take part with token delegations so that all 22 flags would be raised when the event opens in Amman on 15 August.
Hoping to avert a Kuwaiti boycott, Jordan's Minister of Youth and Sports Mohamed Kheir Mamsar last month toured the Gulf states of Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and the UAE and received assurances of utmost support. However, to quell any talk that Saudi Arabia would also join Kuwait in its boycott, Mamsar met with the president of the Arab Sports Confederation Prince Faisal Ibn Fahd Ibn Abdel-Aziz after which Saudi Arabia reversed its decision not to participate. The decision paved the way for Iraq, which has not taken part in an Arab Games since before its August 1990 invasion of Kuwait, to attend.
Mamsar's last stop was in Kuwait which he ended on a high note when the emirate backtracked on its outright boycott threat and agreed to dispatch a cabinet minister to attend the Games' inauguration. Kuwait's Social Affairs and Labour Minister Jassem Mohamed Al-Oun will now take part in the official ceremony in Amman in a symbolic participation which is intended to raise the Kuwaiti flag alongside those of its Arab brethren at the last Arab Games of the century.
The softening of Kuwait's rhetoric and agreeing to attend on a symbolic level, confirmed the solid relations between Kuwait and Jordan and proved that the absence of the Kuwaiti athletes was not directed against Jordan.
"The distinguished political ties between the two countries was the major cause behind the change of stance of Kuwaiti officials," one Kuwaiti official said.
Jordan only reopened its embassy in Kuwait in March, marking a new era in relations which were frozen since the 1991 Gulf War after the emirate accused Amman of backing Baghdad.
Jordan's charge d'affaires in Kuwait, Mohamed Qara'an, said that the expected visit by King Abdullah to Kuwait, the date of which has not been decided, will enhance Jordanian-Kuwaiti ties.
Mamsar has promised Kuwaiti officials that he would seek the release of the some 600 Kuwaiti and other prisoners, including 45 sportsmen, captured by Iraqi troops during the 1991 Gulf War.
Iraq was banned from the 7th and 8th Pan-Arab Games in Syria and Lebanon respectively. Lebanon, which hosted the Games last summer, received $28 million from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to help in the construction of sports facilities destroyed during the civil war.
Jordan has not received any direct aid apart from $500,000 in sponsorship from the Council of Arab Sports' Ministers while UAE television announced that it will lend Jordanian television the necessary equipment to cover the event estimated at $8.5 million.
The Games will cost around $40 million and only around $5 million is expected in revenue.
The last Arab Games of the century will include 27 out of the 62 Olympic events and will be followed by the First Arab Paralympics which will be held from 9-20 September.
The Pan Arab Games have been held eight times: Alexandria in 1953, Beirut 1957, Casablanca 1961, Cairo 1965, Damascus 1976, Rabat 1985, Damascus 1992 and Beirut 1997.
