Kuwait: Information on a Kuwaiti resistance organization called the Shahid Organization or "Muqawamat al-Shahid" or "Mukawamat al-Shahid" during the 1990-1991 Iraqi occupation of Kuwait
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 November 1997 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | KWT28164.E |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Kuwait: Information on a Kuwaiti resistance organization called the Shahid Organization or "Muqawamat al-Shahid" or "Mukawamat al-Shahid" during the 1990-1991 Iraqi occupation of Kuwait, 1 November 1997, KWT28164.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ad0c54.html [accessed 30 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
The following information was provided to the Research Directorate in a 3 November 1997 telephone conversation with a representative of the Committee for the Defence of War Victims in Kuwait and professor of political science at Kuwait University. There was a resistance organization that appeared after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait that called itself "al-Shahid." The group took its name from the Shaykh Fahd al-Ahmad al-Sabah, a member of the Kuwaiti royal family who was killed when Iraq invaded Kuwait ("Al-Shahid" means "the martyr" in Arabic). This organization counted non-Kuwaitis as well as Kuwaitis among its members. There were other, smaller resistance organizations that called themselves "al-Shahid," and their name meant "martyr" in a more general sense, not necessarily with reference to Shaykh Fahd al-Ahmad al-Sabah. These other "al-Shahid" groups were rather amorphous in character, and the representative does not know how many there were.
According to a 24 January 1991 dispatch from the Riyadh Domestic Service, the Kuwaiti resistance announced that the "Martyr Shaykh Fahd al-Ahmad Group" had killed 15 Iraqi soldiers on 22 January 1997 and more than 20 on another occasion. Please see the attached text of the dispatch for details.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.
References
Committee for the Defence of War Victims, Kuwait. 3 November 1997. Telephone interview with a representative.
Riyadh Domestic Service [in Arabic]. 24 January 1991. "Resistance Reportedly Kills 35 Iraqi Soldiers." (FBIS-NES-90-016 24 Jan. 1991)
Attachment
Riyadh Domestic Service [in Arabic]. 24 January 1991. "Resistance Reportedly Kills 35 Iraqi Soldiers." (FBIS-NES-90-016 24 Jan. 1991)
