Kuwait has launched a diplomatic initiative to explain its position on a failed Arab summit proposal calling for the lifting of UN sanctions on Iraq, said reports.
On Sunday, former Oil Minister Sheik Saud Al Sabah started a tour that will take him to Russia and China, Turkey and Iran, reported the official KUNA news agency.
Sheik Saud told the agency that “it was important that these countries understand Kuwait's point of view.”
He said Kuwait also wanted to hear their suggestions about what should be done next to make Iraq comply with international resolutions, according to KUNA.
Sheik Mohammed Al Sabah, minister of state for foreign affairs, leaves Monday for France, Britain and the US on a similar mission, reported The Associated Press.
Kuwait and Iraq blame each other for the failure to reach consensus at the March 27-28 summit in Amman.
On Saturday, Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammed Sahhaf said that Baghdad would cooperate with Jordan's King Abdullah II in his bid to heal the deep breach with Kuwait.
"We are going to treat with our Jordanian brothers objectively and clearly," Sahhaf said on Iraqi television, adding that he expected the Jordanian monarch to start consultations with both Iraq and Kuwait "in a reasonable time."
An Arab summit last month failed to bring Iraq and Kuwait any closer together and King Abdullah was commissioned to undertake further consultations and contacts to improve their execrable relations for the sake of Arab "solidarity.
Kuwait last week welcomed the king's appointment as mediator between the emirate and its former occupier, but warned it was no longer bound to a draft summit resolution on their relations, which it accepted at the time but Baghdad rejected – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
