Word: emirs
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Kuwait paid the final installment of its $16.5 billion Desert Storm debt to the U.S. in December, relying partly on the country's Fund for Future Generations. Nevertheless, the Emir Sheik Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah ordered the government to write off $5 billion in consumer debts and assume responsibility for an additional $25 billion owed by commercial banks. Despite these obligations, a $5 billion reconstruction loan sought last fall was oversubscribed by a consortium of international banks...
This dependence on the U.S. has made Sheik Jaber more responsive to quiet American diplomacy pushing for democracy. Even opponents of the regime believe the Emir is sincere in proposing an election for a new parliament next October, though the most vocal advocates still cannot agree on whether to open the voting franchise, now limited to 65,000 Kuwaiti men, to women and others...
...believe the Emir's cautious reforms are enough to ensure Kuwait's future stability. The country's leaders are listening to good advice, says former Planning Minister Sulaiman Mutawa, but it is imperative that they take the initiative in directing youthful energies into national development projects. The postwar period has given Kuwaitis an opportunity to be admired for political enlightenment as well as envied for their immense wealth. The country has done well at restoring its luxurious way of life, but internal tensions and external threats could yet impede full recovery...
...tiny country, with a population of 500,000 and a land area only four times the size of Washington, D.C., is unabashed in its desire to foster a warm relationship with the U.S. Last week the President greeted Bahrain's emir, Sheik Isa bin Salman al-Khalifa, with a 21-gun salute at the White House in honor of his nation's role as the principal allied naval base during the gulf...
That brings up another point--just how liberated" is Kuwait? They still have their Emir. Elections look as far away as ever. And there's always the Kurds...if the Democrats get really desperate for cheap shots at the President...