A battle took place in the National Guard near our home and I break my mother with my mother
My family went out to Saudi Arabia and went to participate in the resistance, and I signed a prisoner
A decision was issued to be executed, but the difference of signatures saved me from death
My colleagues and I went out of the Iraqi prison by paying an amount of 12 thousand dinars
To be fair to the truth … many Iraqi soldiers sympathize with us
We will not forget the positions of Sheikh Issa, may God have mercy on him, taking into account the people of Kuwait
Orders to treat the Kuwaiti dinar with its Bahraini ideals, despite the blurring of the future
During his participation in the Islamic -Islamic Dialogue Conference, which was recently hosted by the Kingdom of Bahrain, Al -Watan met with the director of the Center for Enhancement of Moderation in the Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs in the sisterly State of Kuwait, member of the European Coordination Council “Amal” d. Abdullah Al -Sharbah, to recover his memories during the period of the invasion of Kuwait and his exit from his country to his second country, Bahrain, which he described as the “beloved” that embraced him during that critical stage in his life and the history of the sisterly state of Kuwait.
The partner began his speech by emphasizing his love for the precious Manama, which he and his brothers received him, saying: The sisterly Kingdom of Bahrain, dear to the hearts of all Kuwaitis, and myself personally, I visited Bahrain a lot, and the most important visit during the Saddam invasion of Kuwait was, and in that period I was prisoner, then I went out to the sisterly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, then I came and stayed in Bahrain for nearly three days.
He added: «In those days, with the fear we were suffering from the future and the fate of our unknown country, the sun shone when the countries supported Kuwait and the Kuwaitis at the time, especially the Arab Gulf states, led by Bahrain and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, Qatar and Oman, and many Islamic and Arab countries and friendly countries worldwide.
How do I not keep this beautiful and credit for Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the Emirates, Qatar, Oman and other countries that stood with us? I cannot forget the positions of all Arab leaders .. the owner of the greatness Prince Issa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, then we needed those who support us, but we needed any word. On the memories of war, families, exit and liberation, we had this meeting with him:
Who is Dr. Abdullah the partner?
D. Abdullah Al -Sharbah holds a doctorate in Islamic law from the Faculty of Dar Al Uloom at Minia University in the Arab Republic of Egypt, and a master’s degree from the Faculty of Graduate Studies at Kuwait University, specializing in the hadith and its sciences, and the graduate of the Institute for the Preparation of Excellent Preachers at the Kuwaiti Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs.
He served as a member of the General Secretariat for Contemporary Zakat Cases, Deputy Chairman of the Sharia Authority in the Zakat House, a member of the Muslim Wise Council of the European Coordination Council “Amal”, and the Secretary of the Supreme Committee for the Promotion of Moderation, in the Kuwaiti Council of Ministers, and is currently the director of the Center for Enhanced Moderation at the Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs in the State of Kuwait.
Tell us about the memories of the beginning of the invasion
– The Saddam conquest occurred in the year 1990, and it was Thursday, which is an official working day in that period, and I was working in the management of nationality and passports, I was militarily at the time, and I woke up in the morning until I went to work, and it is my habit at that time to take breakfast with my mother, may God have mercy on her, while we hear a bombing voice, and she said to me: “What you hear, the voice of the bear?” .. We did not know that there is a battle Which was close to our home.
But it never occurred to the mind, that there was an occupation of Kuwait, so I went by car to the workplace, and during the road I saw mechanisms and soldiers, but they are mechanisms that are not affiliated with the Kuwaiti army, and when I reached the work, the picture became clear that there was an invasion, and one of the officials was old and with experience, so we ordered that we take the shirt on which the military ranks are placed, and that we return to our homes, and he said: It happened, but go to your homes and make sure that you do not enter into any clash with the forces even if they provoke you.
And when did you go to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia?
– We stayed in Kuwait on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and things were foggy, and no one knows what happened and what would happen, then the father decided, may God have mercy on him, on Sunday to go out to Saudi Arabia, and his decision was wise, and there was no one who drove the car except for me and my father.
When we arrived in Saudi Arabia, they resided in the complex area, in a village called Harama, and I stayed with my father and my mother for a period of two weeks, then I returned to Kuwait after securing the residence of the parents to participate in the resistance, and then we thought that it would succeed, but the reality was different, and therefore the directives later came from the Kuwaiti political leadership abroad to reduce the operations, because the results would not be wise.
In such situations, resistance cannot cause great harm in the enemy, while it destroys the country and cities and killing families, and therefore the wisdom was to stop resistance with regret.
Tell us about the prison period and the death sentence against you?
– After my family’s decision to go out to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, my friends and I from the soldiers and I to return to Kuwait were returned to participate in the resistance, but we were arrested after the car was disrupted on the road, and we were 7 of the young people, including those who died, may God have mercy on them, and some of them are still alive.
We were taken to the Jahra police station, and we remained imprisoned for a while, then we were transferred to the Basra area to carry out the death sentence, but when we reached the Qaam of Basra at the time, they found that there are shortcomings in the signatures and some papers, and God Almighty inspired him to refuse to implement the ruling and asked the Iraqi soldiers to return us to complete the signatures from the authorities that were in Kuwait at the time, where they were, where they were They consider Kuwait as one of the governorates of Iraq.
Here, I would like to mention and confirm that the Iraqi people are innocent of this crime, and we love them and their son and appreciate them, and the relations today between Iraq and Kuwait at the level of intermarriage and tribal and tribal relations are great, and the people of Iraq have suffered a lot from this party more than any other people.
But how did you get out of prison?
– We went out with bribery and paid 12 thousand at the time, and then they considered the Iraqi and Kuwaiti dinar, and the Saudi riyal is a currency of one value, while the truth is that the Kuwaiti dinar equals 12 Saudi riyals.
In this Iraqi lawyer, we commanded us not to mention anything about entering the country surreptitiously, but rather the claim that we are the Bedouin shepherds, we misled the way when we were looking for our sheep that was lost in the desert!
Indeed, they went to the judge the next day, and we saw the lawyer sitting next to the judge, so we informed him of the lawyer’s account, so we were released on the same day. We arrived in Jahra, which is the first area to meet you and you are coming from Iraq.
And we had to leave Kuwait and took us a car of my friends, and we started a journey in the dark and we turned off the front and rear lights so that no Saddam soldiers followed us, but we discovered that we were congratulated in the desert, and in the moment of despair we decided to return again to Kuwait so that we did not perish in the desert, but suddenly, large lighting headlines appeared before us, and we thought they were for one of the Iraqi camps, and we only had a choice to surrender ourselves To them again, but, and from the grace of God, we found ourselves in front of the Saudi border guards.
Even the workers in the Saudi border center were suspicious of us, and they said: It is not reasonable to be Kuwaiti .. before a month, no one has come out or a car, how did you come out? But check our identities, and entered Saudi Arabia again.
But why did you decide to go to Bahrain despite your family in Saudi Arabia?
– I needed to extract some documents such as the passport and the driving license, and the pressure was great on the Kuwaiti embassy in Riyadh, while in Bahrain the matter is easier, and therefore I decided to come to Bahrain, and I discovered that the conditions are very appropriate, and cooperation is great, may God reward them well.
How did you live in that period?
– Things were very harsh, so you can imagine a person who lives in such feelings, with relatives who are not known for anything, and there were little means of communication, and we knew the news by listening to the Bahrain, Qatar or the Emirates, and Saudi Arabia, and we listen to some of the calls from the Kuwaitis, these broadcasts allowed people to communicate through them, so a person comes and says: I am so and so, and I am from Or from Hamad City, and I am looking for my brother so and so. And I am looking for my sister, so and so, their news was cut off, and I reassure you that I am fine.
How old were you at that time?
– I was about 19 years, and I worked militarily in Kuwait, and the hadith of graduation from the military, and when the invasion began, the late prince, God Almighty, Sheikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, issued his orders to take into account the people of Kuwait, and this was embodied when Bahrain embraced – may God bless her – the Kuwaiti naval forces and the Kuwaiti war fleet, and gave them special housing in Hamad Town, and among them was one of them. A room in a hotel in Bab Bahrain.
What did you find in Bahrain while staying in it?
– Based on the directives of the late prince, Bahrain has opened its doors to every Kuwaiti, and provided us with full care, and orders were issued to be treated by the Kuwaiti dinar like the Bahraini, especially after the Kuwaiti currency collapsed, and I consider this gesture one of the most important decisions that were taken to preserve our dignity, despite the blurring of financial transactions from some other countries, but Bahrain was keen to keep the Kuwaiti dinar. With its value. Some people took advantage of the circumstances, and they were buying a thousand Kuwaiti dinars with a value of only 10 dinars, but Bahrain preserved our dignity and the value of our work, and we do not forget this beautiful.
Many of the people of Kuwait went to other Arab countries at that stage, so how were the situation?
– Gulf and Arab countries have opened their doors to every Kuwaiti with great welcome, whether in Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Egypt, and other countries, and Kuwaitis felt that they lived in their second country without any feeling of alienation, so that the people were sympathetic to us, and they know that any word can be hurt our sense, and therefore they were keen to provide all support and assistance, we are in the end the brothers of Arabism, religion and history.
What things would have caused you embarrassment?
– For example, if you heard one of them describing you as a “refugee”, you will not be able to sleep at night, after I was a generous enhancement, and I want you to live with me with these difficult moments and dangerous feelings, which the Kuwaiti was feeling, but the Bahraini position was very distinct and not surprising, although it was a threat to Bahrain, but they stood the position of the heroes, the government and the old Penalty.
What happened after you stayed in Bahrain?
– I returned again to my family in Saudi Arabia, and I stayed there until the war of liberation and the storm of the desert began, and when the time of the land entry approached and the call was made to the men of the Interior and the Kuwaiti army, the father – may God have mercy on him – asked me to join the military forces, and despite some of my brothers, because I was captive to the Iraqis, my father insisted on his position, and that I would go to the liberation of Kuwait The intensity of his need for my presence with him, because I am the oldest of my brothers and the youngest of me between me and him, almost 6 years.
How did your life change after the liberation of Kuwait?
– We all returned to our homes, praise be to God, and I got the Medal of Editing from His Highness Sheikh Jaber Al -Ahmad, may God have mercy on him, and we were honored on more than one occasion, and we got increases in salaries and allowances.
