PM meets Ban Ki-moon
Published Date: September 23, 2009
NEW YORK: HH the Prime Minister of Kuwait Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah met late Monday UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in the Secretary General's office at the UN. Following the meeting, which was attended by the official accompanying delegation, Kuwait's Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Sheikh Dr Mohammed Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah told KUNA and Kuwait Television that several issues were discussed, among them the various roles of the UN in the region in general.
He shed light on those roles, such as the "security role in preserving security and stability through the implementation of the UN Security Council resolutions and especially issues related to the peace in the Middle East." He added that among the issues discussed was the "relations between Iraq and Kuwait and the necessity of implementing the resolutions especially 833 and 773.
He affirmed that "we showed that matters are good and what is required is the completion of the implementation of the resolutions." He stressed that Ban Ki-moon had "promised" to maintain the demarcation of the borders between Kuwait and Iraq before the end of this year and that he will work on completing this UN resolution which was "welcomed and appreciated." "We also discussed the UN role in humanitarian help, the helping of the poor and fighting poverty," he noted.
Sheikh Mohammed affirmed that Sheikh Nasser "explained Kuwait's active role in international aid, where Kuwait was generous even more than developed countries, was praised by the Secretary General, therefore a regional headquarters of the UN was chosen to be in Kuwait," known as the United Nations House, which was donated by the Kuwaiti Government.
He added that the meeting also focused on the funds established by Kuwait to help underdeveloped countries and to fight poverty and hunger in Africa "where it was an opportunity to highlight the major developmental role which Kuwait plays." As for peace in the Middle East, the Kuwaiti foreign minister said that "we shed light on the Arab peace initiative which Kuwait is adherent to and that the burden now is on the Israeli government" to take its responsibility towards these UN resolutions and the "looting of lands it is committing under different justifications" which is considered "a crime being committed daily.
Meanwhile, the office of the UN Secretary General said that during the meeting, Ban Ki-moon introduced his Special Representative in Iraq, Ad Melkert. The Secretary-General also noted that he had "submitted his report to the Security Council on outstanding Chapter 7 mandates.
Separately, Sheikh Nasser also received late Monday at the Kuwait Mission the Special Envoy for Guantanamo's Closure Daniel Fried. Following the meeting, Sheikh Mohammed said that the talks were "important." He indicated that the premier showed that HH the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah "personally in all his meetings" with the US President brings up this topic and that Kuwait "does not accept that this issue is dealt with in a manner that brings injustice" to the Kuwaiti prisoners.
We either want them to be released or prosecuted but that them being detained without being prosecuted is something we cannot accept," Sheikh Mohamed stressed. He affirmed that there was a lengthy talk over this matter and "we agreed that two of the four remaining Kuwaiti prisoners to be handed over, where after their long imprisonment they need rehabilitation," saying that Kuwait has built a rehabilitation center under the supervision of the Health Ministry.
Sheikh Mohammed noted that they also agreed on having a "specific cooperation protocol under which two of the Kuwaiti prisoners will be handed over and then after a short while the other two will be handed over and then completely close this file." US District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ordered last week the release of Kuwaiti prisoner Fuad Al-Rabiah, who had been held for seven years on charges of conspiracy and providing material support to the Taleban and Al-Qaeda.
Also, a US federal judge ordered in late July that another Kuwaiti, Khaled Al-Mutairi, be released from Guantanamo. Last month, a third Kuwaiti detainee, Fawzi Al-Odah, had his petition to be freed from the detention camp denied, where he and Fayiz Al-Kandari are the only two remaining Kuwaiti detainees held at Guantanamo. With US President Barack Obama's pledge to close the detention camp by January 2010, some of the detainees are being released and others expected to be tried in US courts or in military commissions. Up to 226 detainees are still being held at the camp.
Also, Iraq's president said yesterday he will press his government's case before the United Nations this week to have the country's remaining multibillion dollar Saddam Hussein-era debts dropped. President Jalal Talabani said he will make the appeal at the General Assembly meeting in New York, which starts today. With its economy hit hard by falling oil prices, Iraq has been seeking the cancellation of some $25 billion in UN-mandated reparations for Saddam's 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
The government has also asked other Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, to cancel other remaining debts. "We will demand an end to the unjust compensation imposed on Iraq," Talabani told reporters before leaving for New York. In July, Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki urged the Security Council's most powerful members to cancel all sanctions and more than 70 resolutions adopted after the Kuwait invasion.
At the time, Al-Maliki said Iraq is now a democracy that poses no threat to international peace and security. Ban Ki-moon responded by suggesting that Kuwait and Iraq discuss alternatives, including the possibility of converting outstanding war reparations into investments to help Iraq's reconstruction. Kuwait has so far resisted the idea. Talabani will also ask the UN to help Iraq in prosecuting those accused of bombings and other attacks inside the country.
I will ask the UN to consider terrorism as a crime against humanity and demand that the world body help us," Talabani said. Al-Maliki has been calling for the UN to investigate last month's bombings at government ministries in Baghdad and set up a tribunal to prosecute the suspects. Al-Maliki says the attacks, which killed around 100 people, were planned and financed by Saddam loyalists living in Syria. The accusation has sparked a serious diplomatic dispute with Syria, which is refusing to hand over the suspects and says Iraq has not provided proof of their involvement. While in the United States, Talabani will also have surgery on his left knee at the Mayo Clinic, according to a statement from his political party. It did not give any other details on his health.
