1990 Arab League emergency summit

On August 10, 1990, an emergency Arab League summit was held in Cairo, Egypt, to address the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, which had begun on August 2. It was initially scheduled for August 9 but was postponed due to differences in viewpoints. However, some spokespersons indicated that the delay was intended to allow the Tunisian and Yemeni delegations additional time to arrive.^[1][2]

The summit was convened at the invitation of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. In a departure from standard procedure, no preparatory meeting of foreign ministers was held to establish the summit’s agenda. Tunisia, which hosted the Arab League headquarters at the time, did not attend the summit after its request to postpone the meeting until after a ministerial session was denied.^[3] The timing of President Mubarak's call for the summit coincided with a speech by U.S. President George H. W. Bush announcing the deployment of American forces to Saudi Arabia,^[4] as well as Iraq's declaration of unity with Kuwait, calling it "final and irreversible".^[5]

The conference commenced at precisely 12:20 p.m. with an address delivered by President Hosni Mubarak, in which he underscored the imperative for Iraqi forces to undertake an immediate withdrawal from Kuwaiti territory, to refrain from interfering in Kuwait's internal affairs, and to revoke all decisions and actions taken in contravention of these principles. The representative of Iraq objected to the participation of the Kuwaiti delegation.^[6] The summit proceedings were interrupted by a dispute between its chair, President Mubarak, and the Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, over the legitimacy of adopting the resolution without unanimity, as stipulated by the Charter. Mubarak claimed that the proposal originated from the Omani representative, Fahr bin Taimur, Deputy Prime Minister for Security and Defense Affairs.

• Support (12): Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Syria, United Arab Emirates
• Against (2): Iraq, Libya
• Reservation (3): Mauritania, Palestine, Sudan
• Abstention (3): Algeria, Jordan, Yemen

Source: ^[7]

White House spokesperson Marlin Fitzwater praised the Arab League’s initiative as "a positive and important statement," delivering a "strong condemnation of Iraq’s actions and expressing equally firm support for Kuwait's sovereignty."^[8]