Iraqi Star Sings for Charity Ball

DUBAI (AFP) -- Iraqi singer Kazem Al-Saher, a sensation in the Arab

World, joined forces with European royalty in Dubai on Wednesday for a 

glitzy charity ball aimed at raising millions of dollars for a "Flying 

Hospital."

With Britain's Prince Michael of Kent, Prince Albert of Monaco and 

Prince Charles Antoine de Ligne of Belgium among the VIPs, a vintage 

Rolls-Royce and a "millennium diamond" from De Beers were up for 

auction at the ball in the Gulf emirate of Dubai.

The crown prince of Dubai, Shaikh Mohammed ibn Rashid Al-Maktoum, was

Patron of the 275 dollars a ticket event at which Kazem Al-Saher, 

whose normal fee runs into tens of thousands of dollars a show, was to

 sing for free.

The crooner said he would offer his services at any time for charity 

and prided himself on a 1997 fund-raising concert he gave before 

Princess Anne at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

"But please don't forget the children of Iraq and the suffering they 

are going through," he appealed.

The 40-year-old star is a source of pride for Iraqis both inside and

Outside the country, despite Baghdad's isolation since its August 1990 

invasion of Kuwait.

"Lots of people tell me you are our ambassador. Through you, we feel

Iraq again," he told AFP.

"Most of my songs are pan-Arab, not only Iraqi," he said, explaining 

his appeal throughout the Arab world. In Iraq itself, he normally 

plays at the annual Babylon festival but his last performance was two 

years ago.

Kazem Al-Saher, well-groomed in a dark suit like an Italian football

Star off the field, said his next album, "My Love and The Rain," would 

be released in April.

"I don't like music videos. I have stopped such videos. In the last

year, I have been turning to classical Arabic songs, with big 

orchestras," said the Paris-based star.

He is separated from his wife, who lives with their children in 

Jordan, and travels back to Iraq to see his parents. "I am a friend of 

every Iraqi," said the soft-spoken star, vowing to preserve his links 

to his homeland.

The Flying Hospital, a US- and British-based charity, is to send the

Giant Lockheed L1011-50 aircraft on a two-week mission to the Gaza 

Strip in April and later to sanctions-hit Iraq.

Surgery carried out on the converted aircraft includes eye, bone,

Appendix and hernia operations. The Flying Hospital, with an 

international array of doctors, can even cope with heart surgery.

To overcome any objections from Iraq because of its US aircrew, 

however, the organizers have offered to bring in Arab pilots.

But a mission to Iraq planned for earlier this year has been postponed 

because of the US and British air strikes that have taken place on an 

almost daily basis since December.

"We have the 'no-fly' zone problem now. We are waiting for the

appropriate time," said Rowland Taylor, a Briton in charge of 

marketing for the Flying Hospital.

On the medical side, "We have been told by the Iraqis that we can send 

as many American and British doctors as we want," he said.