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| Kuwait Map. Credit: CIA World Factbook. |
Kuwait's National Day and Liberation Anniversary
Press Statement
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
February 26, 2013
The United States has long valued its friendship and cooperation with Kuwait, and I am pleased to congratulate the people of Kuwait as you celebrate the 52nd anniversary of your independence and the 22nd anniversary of Kuwait’s liberation.
As we jointly promote efforts to advance peace and prosperity in the Middle East and beyond, the United States will continue to rely on the close ties we have built together over many years. These ties extend well beyond the shared sacrifice of our militaries to include the fields of education, business, health care, and culture.
On behalf of the American people, please accept our congratulations once again on these important anniversaries, as well as our best wishes for peace, prosperity, and happiness.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FROM CIA WORLD FACTBOOKBritain oversaw foreign relations and defense for the ruling Kuwaiti AL-SABAH dynasty from 1899 until independence in 1961. Kuwait was attacked and overrun by Iraq on 2 August 1990. Following several weeks of aerial bombardment, a US-led, UN coalition began a ground assault on 23 February 1991 that liberated Kuwait in four days. Kuwait spent more than $5 billion to repair oil infrastructure damaged during 1990-91. The AL-SABAH family has ruled since returning to power in 1991 and reestablished an elected legislature that in recent years has become increasingly assertive. The country witnessed the historic election in May 2009 of four women to its National Assembly. Amid the 2010-11 uprisings and protests across the Arab world, stateless Arabs, known as bidoon, staged small protests in February and March 2011 demanding citizenship, jobs, and other benefits available to Kuwaiti nationals. Youth activist groups - supported by opposition legislators and the prime minister's rivals within the ruling family - rallied repeatedly in 2011 for an end to corruption and the ouster of the prime minister and his cabinet. Opposition legislators forced the prime minister to resign in late 2011. In October and November 2012, Kuwait witnessed unprecedented protests in response to the Amir's changes to the electoral law reducing the number of votes per person from four to one. The oppostion, led by a coalition of Sunni Islamists, tribalists, some liberals, and a myriad of youth groups, boycotted the Decemeber 2012 legislative election, resulting in a historic number of seats won by Shia candidates. Since 2006, the Amir has dissolved the National Assembly on five occasions (the Constitutional Court dissolved the Assembly once in June 2012) and reshuflled the cabinet 12 times, usually citing political stagnation and gridlock between the legislature and the government.
