The United States on Friday shrugged off a senior Kuwaiti official's comments that minimized the U.S. role in freeing his country from Iraq after being assured that the remarks do not represent those of the Kuwaiti government.
State Department spokesman Joe Snyder said Washington sought clarification of the matter "at the highest level of the Kuwait government" and was told that the remarks of Abdul-Aziz Masaeed, speaker of Kuwait's National Council, "do not represent those of the government of Kuwait."The Washington Post ran a front page story reporting an interview Masaeed gave to the Saudi-owned weekly magazine al-Majalla, published in London.
In the interview, Masaeed, who is known for his pro-government views, accused U.S. Ambassador Edward Gnehm of interfering in the emirate's domestic affairs by "talking about democracy."
He also said Washington sought to protect its own interests rather than do "a favor" for Kuwait and argued that if it were not for Saudi Arabia and the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council, "we wouldn't have been liberated."