Asia

Asia

Kuwaiti PM on first visit to Iraq since Gulf War

12 January 2011 21:40 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. Iraqi officials sought Wednesday to assure Kuwait’s prime minister on his first visit that the country is nothing like it was under Saddam Hussein, who invaded the small, neighboring kingdom two decades ago, APA reports quoting â€œAssociated Pressâ€.
Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheik Nasser Al Mohammed Al Sabah arrived in Baghdad Wednesday on the first visit by a Kuwaiti prime minister since the 1990 Gulf War. It is a boon for Shiite-dominated Iraq as it tries to repair relations with its Sunni Arab neighbors.
But an unusual deadly skirmish between Iraqi fishermen and the Kuwait coast guard earlier this week has marred the talks.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki sought to downplay the incident during a meeting with the Kuwaiti leader, saying that it should not be blown out of proportion. The Iraqi prime minister stressed that Iraq wants to solve the problems left over from Saddam’s regime including mending relations with its neighbors.
"We are neighbors and brothers, and we should solve all sticking points," al-Maliki said, according to a statement put out by his office.
Iraq has seen a steady stream of visitors from the region ever since the Cabinet was formed after months of negotiations ending in December, including delegations from Egypt, Jordan and Iran.
Iraq’s mainly Sunni neighbors are racing to try to gain more influence in Iraq, partly to counter Iran’s rising power.
For its part, Iraq appears to welcome the opportunity to build ties with countries, such as Kuwait, that largely shunned Iraq during al-Maliki’s first term. Iraq’s foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari sought during a press conference with his counterpart, Sheik Mohammed Al Sabah, to allay any lingering Kuwaiti suspicions.
"The Iraqi side assured the Kuwaiti delegation that Iraq today is not the Iraq of Saddam," Zebari said.
Also on the agenda was the $24 billion debt Iraq owes Kuwait as reparations for the Gulf War as well as the deadly clash between Iraqi fishermen and the Kuwaiti coast guard on Monday in the waters separating the two countries. One Kuwaiti coast guard official was killed in the shootout.
Local officials in the town of Faw in southern Iraq said Kuwaiti forces opened fire on the Iraqi fishermen near an Iraqi oil platform near in the Persian Gulf, sinking the boat.
Kuwait’s government said an Iraqi fishing vessel strayed into Kuwaiti waters, the fishermen ignored requests to leave and then opened fire on the coast guard, killing one person.
The area where the incident is believed to have happened has been disputed since the Gulf War.
"We discussed also the tragic incident in the regional waters," said Zebari, who vowed that it would not affect relations between the two countries.
Before the deadly incident, relations between Iraq and Kuwait had shown signs of improvement after years of animosity that even the overthrow of Saddam did not alleviate.
Kuwait, like many Sunni Arab countries, has viewed the rise of a Shiite-dominated government in Baghdad after the 2003 invasion with suspicion as they fear Iraq will act as a surrogate for neighboring Iran.