Kuwaiti media's role in resisting occupation highlighted

Kuwait on Sunday relives the memory of an event etched in the annals of the nation's history, Liberation Day", when Kuwait was liberated from the Iraqi occupation, a report by the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) said.

During the tumult induced by Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, the national media rose to prominence through its coverage of the events, buttressing nationwide efforts to repel the invading forces.

Since the onset of the invasion on August 2, 1990, media outlets such as Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) and Kuwait State TV zeroed in on the dastardly deeds of the intruders, offering blow-by-blow reporting of events as they unfolded.

Moreover, news anchors Yousef Mustafa and Salwa Hussein shot to fame with their narration of some of the most pivotal events, chiefly, when late Amir Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah landed on Saudi soil.

Despite a raging invasion, Kuwait's media remained undeterred, as state radio moved to Saudi Arabia where it continued to operate from a makeshift base, delivering words of encouragement for Kuwaitis putting up stiff resistance at home.

Concurrently, a Kuwaiti media centre was established in the Egyptian capital Cairo to buoy state radio based in the Saudi city of Dammam.

Meanwhile, the invading forces had also targeted KUNA, where the agency's building was ransacked and destroyed, while its employees were detained.

However, despite the harrowing ordeal, KUNA refused to succumb to the invaders' malevolence, as the agency's bureau in London became the crux of KUNA's activity.

Kuwait's efforts to stave off the invading forces was not limited to the media, as nationals who were still in the country took the initiative to publish newspapers and hand out flyers that encapsulated Kuwaiti perseverance.

The endeavor brought together Kuwaitis from all walks of life, bonded by common patriotic ardor. 
 

Source: BNA