Kuwaiti FM Visits.(foreign minister Shaikh Muhammad al-Sabah)(Brief article)

Visiting Baghdad, Kuwaiti Foreign Minister and Deputy PM Shaikh Muhammad al-Sabah on Feb. 26 had talks with PM Nuri al-Maleki and other leaders. This was the highest-level Kuwaiti visit since Saddam's Aug. 2, 1990, invasion of the Sunni Arab emirate which is part of the Saudi-led camp. Maleki told Shaikh Muhammad that post-Saddam Iraq sought "security, stability, construction, not weaponry and dictatorship" - a total change of direction from the former regime.

Maleki said: "There is no way to return to the policy of war and adventures. The problems we face are a left-over from the former regime. Some Arabs look at Iraq as if it was still in Saddam's time, and we say to them Iraq today is based on a constitution and democracy. Iraq has changed. The bad image is over, no more terrorism, no more al-Qaeda. Our country is an important partner in the region". Kuwait on Feb. 25 marked its Feb. 26, 1991, liberation from Iraqi occupation at a party in Baghdad for the first time.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari has said the two sides have a list of thorny issues to discuss, such as joint oilfields, demarcation of maritime borders and billions of dollars in war reparation claims. (Kuwait had troubled ties with Iraq for decades, culminating in Saddam's invasion until his forces were expelled by a US-led coalition in the 1991 Gulf War). Zebari has said: "We are still paying 5% of oil sales in compensation to Kuwait. But we have come a long, long way with them" and the two states have set up a joint ministerial commission. Kuwait posted 'Ali al-Mu'men as ambassador to Iraq last October, and Iraq's Kurdish President Jalal Talabani visited the emirate for an Arab economic summit on Jan. 19-20. Kuwait on Feb. 23 said it had received $13.3 bn in compensation from Iraq for its invasion and seven-month occupation. It is still seeking tens of billions more.

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