Kuwaiti Premier in Historical Visit to Iraq
Kuwait's Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser al-Ahmed al-Sabah arrived yesterday in Baghdad on a historical visit to meet with Iraqi leaders on bilateral issues, particularly to discuss those issues still pending in the wake of the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq in 1990.
Among the outstanding issues are those concerning international sanctions on Iraq under Article 7 of the UN Charter of which Kuwait refuses to support their termination until Iraq has lived up to its obligations with regard to reparations, the drawing of borders (also involving joint oil fields), the missing Kuwaitis arrested by the Saddam regime and the looting of Kuwaiti properties, including its government archives. From the Iraqi standpoint, the primary issue is obtaining broader access to the Persian Gulf to facilitate the export of growing volume of Iraqi crude.
The two sides have decided to appoint a joint committee to consider these issues as rapidly as possible with an attempt to normalize the relations between the two countries.