Kuwait’s state minister for foreign affairs Sheikh Mohammad Sabah al-Salem al-Sabah will visit Syria and Lebanon beginning next Tuesday.
The minister told the Kuwaiti official news agency (KUNA) that the visit to the two Arab states comes "to show Kuwait’s support for them in the face of the ever widening circle of violence perpetrated by Israel against the Palestinian people." Meanwhile, he denied that his visit to Iran, which ended Sunday, was made to preempt having the Iraqi foreign minister visit first.
"My visit here came in response to an Iranian invitation," and has nothing to do with any Iraqi official's itinerary, he affirmed. In response to a question about reports in the press regarding a potential military strike against Iraq, he told the agency that he did not discuss this matter with his Iranian hosts.
However, he emphasized that he discussed with them the latest events in the Palestinian territories and “Israel’s vicious campaign against the Palestinian people.”
“The GCC (meeting) in Muscat made it clear, he said, that international peace-keeping monitors should be dispatched expeditiously to the Palestinian territories to protect innocent civilians there.
Responding to Iraq’s call to Kuwait to start direct negotiations over the plight of Kuwaiti POWs, Sheikh Mohammad noted that the only way to resolve this issue! would be for Iraq "to follow the dictates of the UN Security Council resolutions."
On Kuwait’s participation in the reconstruction of post-war Afghanistan, he said "we in Kuwait are committed to helping the Afghani people through the conference for donor states to be held in Tokyo." (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
