IOC Gives Kuwait Its Support, Stays Quiet on Iraq at Asian Games

The International Olympic Committee drew a line in the sand Thursday, saying it still recognizes the national Olympic committee of Kuwait.

The action was welcomed by the son of an IOC member from the Middle Eastern nation slain in the Iraqi invasion of his country last month.

“They now know that there is still a Kuwait and that we still have an Olympic committee. We are grateful for that,” said Sheik Ahmed Al-Sabah, head of the Kuwaiti Olympic panel in exile.

But the IOC refused to step into the debate on whether Iraq should participate in the Asian Games, which begin Sept. 22 in Beijing.

A statement from the IOC’s executive board said the matter was a decision for the Olympic Council of Asia, a 38-nation body that runs the games. The council’s ruling panel has voted to bar Iraq from the games and expel the nation from the organization, although that decision is due for review by the entire body two days before the games begin.

Iraq says it plans to send a team to Beijing and has accused Arab foes of treachery in voting it out. Kuwait also plans to have a team there.

“The IOC executive board expressed its support for the Kuwait National Olympic Committee and for all Kuwaiti athletes, hoping that they will soon be able to resume their activities under normal condition in their country,” an IOC statement said.

Today began a week of meetings that will include the IOC’s choice of the city to host the 1996 Olympics. Six bidders--Athens, Atlanta, Belgrade, Manchester, Melbourne and Toronto--opened their official presentation booths in the convention center where the IOC’s 96th Session, or annual meeting, opens Sunday. The vote comes on Tuesday.

Also today, the IOC board said it is ready to start on a framework for readmitting South Africa after more than 20 years of exile. But first, the board said, apartheid must be abolished.

“We have not changed from our position,” said Michele Verdier, the IOC spokeswoman. “The conditions that led to our expulsion of South Africa are still there. We will readmit South Africa when those conditions have been eliminated.”

But Verdier said recent political changes in South Africa required the IOC to start preparing for the day athletes from that nation would be back in international competition.

The Olympic Council of Asia had suggested that the IOC might be the best body to decide on Iraq’s position. But the international panel expressed confidence that the regional body could “take the most approriate measures for the benefit of the Olympic movement and for the success of the Asian Games in Beijing.”

It also praised Sheik Fahad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, an IOC member and Asian council president, who was killed as Iraqi troops stormed the royal palace in Kuwait City.

His 30-year-old son said the tribute meant a great deal and that he was pleased the IOC had supported his nation’s sports efforts even if it stopped short of condemning Iraq.

“Everybody has his own ideas on that. What we have is good for us,” he said.