Ambassador Karim Kawar

Transcript of Interview
Middle East Ambassadors React to War With Iraq

March 23, 2003
CNN Larry King Live

LARRY KING, CNN HOST: Larry King Live with CNN's continuing coverage of the war in Iraq. And the view from Iraq's Middle Eastern neighbors with ambassadors from Kuwait, Turkey, Jordan, and Egypt.

KING: Just a little Jewish guy from Brooklyn, so forgive me if the pronunciations are a little off, but we'll do our best. They are all in Washington. Ambassador Salem Al-Sabah, the Kuwaiti ambassador to the United States. Ambassador Farruk Logoglu, the Turkish ambassador to United States. Ambassador Karim Kawar, the Jordanian ambassador to the United States, and Ambassador Nabil Fahmy, the Egyptian ambassador to the United States. First to each, thank you, gentlemen, for coming.

Ambassador Sabah, what is the mood in Kuwait right now?

AMB. SALEH AL-SABAH, KUWAITI AMB. TO U.S.: Well, Larry, life was close to normal today. Things were as usual, but of course, we had a scare this afternoon, Washington time, evening Kuwait time, when there was a fifth attack against Kuwait by a missile lobbed from Iraq. But luckily enough, the missile was intercepted and destroyed. So people are a bit anxious, they are a bit scared, which is quite normal and to be expected. But all in all, life has gone on as normal.

KING: Ambassador from Turkey, your prime minister today described the conflict as "fire erupting in our neighborhood." What is the mood in Ankara?

FARUK LOGOGLU, TURKISH AMB. TO U.S.: I believe as a neighbor of Iraq, there is a lot of concern, a lot of apprehension, some of it in the form of demonstrations, but we are a member of the coalition, we are trying to be helpful to achieve the objectives set by the U.N. Security Council Resolution 1441. But it's not an easy period for the people and for the government of Turkey.

KING: You are -- the government of Turkey is in a tenuous position, aren't you?

LOGOGLU: Not in a real fundamental sense. We have made the ultimate decision of siding with the U.S., being on the right (UNINTELLIGIBLE). We have decided to be a member of the coalition, and we are a member of the coalition, so we had made our determination to be helpful in this effort.

LARRY KING: Ambassador Kawar, the Jordanian ambassador to the United States, there were protests today in Amman, I think we're going to show those, against the war. What is the feeling there?

KARIM KAWAR, JORDAN'S AMBASSADOR TO U.S.: Larry, there is a lot of tension in Jordan, as you can see. We have tried everything we can to avert a strike to the region. Yet diplomacy has failed. We have to grace ourselves for the worst. We are fearing that there will be a flood of refugees that will be coming to our borders. Having to care for them is a big responsibility, beyond what we can do. We call on the donor countries also to support us in that effort.

KING: Ambassador Fahmy, what is the story, the feelings in Cairo?

NABIL FAHMY, EGYPT'S AMB. TO U.S.: Very anxious, very difficult, Larry. Egypt, as you know, was the pioneer of peace in the region. Nevertheless, our people have lived through at least four Arab-Israeli wars and two wars where Iraq was fighting Iran and invaded Kuwait. We would like to look onto a period which does not involve war , and that is a source of anxiety and worry in our region.

KING: The Arab League foreign ministers meet Monday in Cairo. We'll start with Ambassador Sabah and go around again. Do you expect anything definitive to happen there?

AL-SABAH: Well, the Arab world, like any other geographical area, there are deep divisions within the Arab world, but at least as we are concerned, as Kuwait is concerned, we are going to push for two things. Number one, we're going to try and have our countries adopt a position that we see, that what is happening to Iraq is the responsibility of the Iraqi government. The Iraqi government has been given ample chance to comply with Security Council resolutions, to even leave the country, and unfortunately, the Iraqi regime decided not to and decided to stay put, which has brought us to this point.

The other thing that we would like to see the Arab League do is condemn these missile attacks against Kuwait, because after all, three of the missiles that were lobbed at Kuwait had trajectories toward Kuwait City, which is a populated area of civilians. It is not an act of self-defense on the part of Iraq. It was a direct attack against the population of Kuwait. So we would also like to see the Arab League condemn that.

It is not going to be an easy meeting, by no means, but it's an important meeting at this time, I think.

KING: Turkey, of course, is not a member of the Arab League. What, Mr. Ambassador, what will Jordan bring to the table?

AMBASSADOR KAWAR: Larry, I think the question is for me. We are of course concerned about the humanitarian crisis that will be faced. Again, many Iraqis will suffer as well. For us in Jordan, we will try to call for the end of this conflict as soon as possible.

KING: And what is Egypt's position going to be regarding the conflict at the conference, Ambassador Fahmy?

FAHMY: What we are going to do is basically focus on solving the conflict from where we are today and try to solve that through peaceful means, by bringing the hostilities to an end as soon as possible, and finding resolution through full compliance with the Security Council resolutions. This has to be resolved on the basis of what international law has determined, it applies to everybody, and of course, it also applies to Iraq.

KING: And Ambassador Logoglu, I know the United States has made it clear, does not want Turkish troops coming in, fearing a conflict with the Kurds. What is your position?

LOGOGLU: I want to put this in perspective. We have been hearing a lot about this in the American media, recently. Turkey is a member of the coalition. Turkey is working very closely with the United States in this effort over Iraq, and we do not have any hostile purposes or hidden agenda with regard to Iraq.

The reason why we want to be there is to address the humanitarian crisis that's already there. We also have some concerns with regard to potential terrorist threats that might emanate from northern Iraq against Turkey, but at the end of the day, we want to be helpful to the effort that's being made by the coalition there, and currently, we are in discussions with the U.S. authorities about how this Turkish presence can be arranged, and I hope we will get a resolution of this discussion within the next few days.

KING: Ambassador Sabah, what is your reaction to this prisoner of war situation today?

AL-SABAH: Well, I think, Larry, that's very tragic. It's a humanitarian thing, and I think that there are rulers and regulations, the framework on the issue of the POWs, and we would hope that Iraq would abide by these rules and regulations and treat the prisoners of war humanely. What we saw today was of course a very inhuman way of dealing with prisoners of war. So it's a terrible (ph) situation, and you know, we're used to seeing Iraq over and over and over again not abide by international rules and regulations, so in a way, I think it's expected from Iraq, but I hope they would change their ways.

KING: Ambassador Kawar, what is the after plan? Is Jordan concerned about what happens after the fighting?

AMBASSADOR KAWAR: Larry, we believe we are dealing here with two fronts. One is the Iraqi front, but also there is the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, which is being overlooked. It is very important, for the sake of the Arab and the Muslim world, to address the Israeli- Palestinian conflict. Both the Israelis and the Palestinians have suffered. It is very important to address this issue in parallel, as we are looking at the Iraqi crisis. But we hope that the conflict in Iraq would not grow beyond the boundaries of Iraq, that the territorial integrity will be maintained, that peace and stability will be reinstated, and that we do not give a false hope that democracy can happen overnight in Iraq.

KING: Ambassador Fahmy, do you fear the use of chemical or biological weaponry by the Iraqis, especially as the troops get into Baghdad?

FAHMY: Egypt, about 12 years ago, in 1990, suggested that the Middle East be a zone free of all weapons of mass destruction, be they nuclear, chemical or biological, and that we apply the same standard to everybody. We ourselves have made that commitment, and frankly, it is something we look forward to all the countries in the region, be it Iraq, Iran, Israel or anybody else. Therefore, we do condemn any use of chemical or biological weapons by anybody anywhere. KING: And what, Ambassador Logoglu, is the position of Turkey, just to make it clear, with regard to air space and Americans use of it?

LOGOGLU: The Turkish parliament approved the use of Turkish airspace for overflights, and the Turkish government authorized actual use of this facility, and to the best of my knowledge, the airspace of Turkey has been used by coalition aircraft in the last day or so. So it's there, it's operation, and I think it's a key element of the coalition effort vis-a-vise Iraq.

KING: Ambassador Al-Sabah, did you expect more retaliation against Kuwait than has thus far occurred in the fifth day?

AL-SABAH: Well, we expected the worst, but I think, you know, five missiles in the past three days is nothing to be happy about. Of course, we readied ourselves to the worst, and thankfully that three missiles were intercepted, two fell in unpopulated areas, and thankfully again that none of the missiles carried any weapons of mass destruction. So we were ready for the worst, and we are going to remain to be vigilant on this issue.

KING: Ambassador Kawar, are you optimistic or pessimistic about overall peace in this region?

AMBASSADOR KAWAR: I have to be optimistic that peace will be achieved, and that it would be very important for the U.S. to play its key role in bringing the conflicting parties back to the negotiation tables to achieve a long-lasting peace. I hope we're not too far from that day.

KING: As my mother would say, from your lips to God. Thank you very much, ambassadors from Kuwait, Turkey, Jordan and Egypt.

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