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Gifts and Mideast politics

 
Published Oct. 31, 1990|Updated Oct. 18, 2005

Last February, according to Kuwaiti and Jordanian officials, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein sent 55 automobiles as gifts to prominent Jordanians, including Mercedes-Benzes for Cabinet ministers and Toyota Corollas for several newspaper columnists who had written lyrical poems praising Iraq and Arab unity. The Iraqis made a similar offer of 40 Mercedes-Benzes and other cars to Egypt's diplomatic and journalistic elite last year, Egyptian diplomats and journalists said. But President Hosni Mubarak ruled the Egyptians could not personally accept the gifts. So newspapers took some of the cars and allowed the journalists to drive them. The rest of Hussein's fleet went into the government motor pool.

Welcome to the real world of Middle East politics, where the exchange of elaborate personal gifts has over the centuries become embedded in the culture as a way of rewarding friends and forming political alliances.

Other nations have similar practices. In the United States, political action committees contribute lavishly to candidates, while in Japan and other Asian nations, politicians and business associates commonly cement their relationships with expensive gifts.

But the political marketplace has become especially large and active in the Middle East since the oil boom began two decades ago. And it has played an important but little-discussed role in the events surrounding Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.

"You should never underestimate the importance of falous (money) in Arab politics," one Western diplomat said.

An example of how the money game has been played during the Persian Gulf crisis can be found in Egypt. Mubarak told a group of visiting members of Congress last month that 48 hours before the Iraqi invasion, Hussein telephoned to offer him $25-million to buy wheat for the Egyptian people with the promise of another $25-million within a month.

Mubarak indicated to the lawmakers that he considered the call an attempt to buy Egypt's support or silence in the event of an Iraqi move against Kuwait.

Mubarak refused the Iraqi offer and instead emerged as the leader of the Arab coalition opposing Hussein's invasion. He has since received pledges of financial support from Saudi Arabia, including an initial offer of $100-million in August and an additional $500-million this month, according to Western and Arab sources.

Iraq has become an aggressive player in this political marketplace in the last few years, as Hussein's regional political ambitions increased.

But the masters of political gift-giving, Arab analysts say, have been Iraq's main rivals _ the Saudis _ whose largesse has helped finance the Palestine Liberation Organization and national budgets of Syria, Jordan and Lebanon.

Saudi Arabia's policy of gaining goodwill by spreading a portion of its wealth has caused Arab political commentators over the years to quip that the Saudis have augmented their foreign policy with an "insurance policy" that seeks, in effect, to buy the friendship and loyalty of potential foes.

Saudi generosity ranges from budget subsidies for friendly rulers to personal gifts such as the Rolex watches many Arab journalists say they have received.

Iraq has moved forcefully into this money game over the past two years, since it emerged from its war with Iran in 1988. Kuwaiti and Western sources cite numerous examples of Iraqi largesse.

Hussein sent millions of dollars recently to Sudan to help the almost bankrupt military government buy weapons to fight rebels in the south, according to European diplomats and Arab sources.

Similar payments may have been made in Mauritania.

Both Sudan and Mauritania joined Jordan and Yemen last August in resisting the Arab League majority that condemned the Iraqi invasion and called for Hussein to withdraw his forces immediately.