Almost 25 years ago, in 1991, US-led Operation Desert Storm freed Kuwait from occupation by Saddam Hussein’s forces. Since then, the country has lived in peace and tops the list of the world’s wealthiest nations. At first sight, with its luxury hotels and boutiques, Kuwait has moved on, but its inhabitants have not forgotten the past. Our reporters went to meet them.
Oil wells that burned for several months, cities wrapped in thick black clouds… These are the symbolic images of the Gulf War in Kuwait, which devastated the country.
Nearly 25 years later, what has become of these burning oil wells and the firefighters who fought for nearly a year to put them out? How do Kuwaitis live today, the majority of whom are under 25 and did not live through the war?
Kuwait is one of the world's largest oil producers, which allows authorities to pamper the population with free education, high salaries and various bonuses for housing.
In a country which is sometimes held up as model in the region for its relative religious and political tolerance, a wind of freedom is blowing for young people, who are sometimes rich and idle and like to let their hair down by joyriding, the other national sport, along with camel racing.
While neighbouring Iraq is plunged into civil war and terrorism, Kuwait has finally reverted to what it had always been: a rich and discreet small state.
But not all the wounds of war have healed. Some families are still demanding the bodies of soldiers or relatives who were kidnapped, killed or went missing in Iraq during the war.