KUWAIT, July 17 (KUNA) -- Kuwait's First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Dr. Mohammad Sabah al Salem al Sabah said on Thursday that an Amiri decree is expected to be issued soon naming Rtr.Lieut.Gen Ali Al Mu'min as Ambassador to Iraq.
Speaking to reporters prior to his departure to Cairo to attend meetings of the joint Kuwait-Egyptian Committee, Sheikh Mohammad said a recommendation on the nomination of Al Mu'min has been raised to His Highness the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah al Ahmad al Jaber al Sabah to appoint the diplomat.
   In response to a question on the time when Mu'min would assume his duties, Sheikh Mohammad said there are "long diplomatic arrangements to be taken."

-- Commenting on what was raised on the sale of the Kuwaiti Consulate in Basra and the seizure of the embassy building in Baghdad, Sheikh Mohammad revealed the truth and the details of this issue, which happened in 1993. He said a boat smuggling Iraqi oil had violated the sovereignty of the Kuwaiti territorial waters and have been confiscated by Kuwaiti authorities in exercise of their right of sovereignty. The boat was detained because it violated Security Council resolutions No. 661 and 665.
He added that the action was a crime represented in the violation of the sovereignty of Kuwaiti territorial waters as well as Security Council resolutions on sanctions against Iraq at the time.
He continued, therefore, the attempt to blackmail or pressure Kuwait to engage in negotiations and as if it is responsible for the damage that happened to an Iraqi citizen as result of the Security Council resolutions. This is unacceptable and Kuwait can never recognize the principle of being responsible for damage caused to Iraq as a result of these sanctions. The person responsible is Saddam Hussein and his regime which harmed its people. He is the one to blame and condemned, Sheikh Mohammad recalled.
He stressed that Kuwait had not violated international laws, rathe applied the rule of the international community when it exercised sovereignty over its territorial waters in 1993 and the cargo of the ship that had been confiscated has been transferred in time to the United Nations Commission / UNIKOM /.
Sheikh Mohammad said accusations on this subject is an internal Iraqi-Iraqi affair. The building the Kuwaiti embassy in Baghdad and the Kuwaiti Consulate building in Basra enjoy diplomatic immunity in accordance with the Vienna Convention and registered at the Iraqi government and their locations are known.
He said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iraq supports Kuwait and Iraq is now within a system of civilized nations and then the Vienna Conventions gives full immunity of diplomatic sites.
In response to a question whether envoy of the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and Deputy Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Redh Sheikh Attar made during his visit to Kuwait last Monday assurances that Kuwait would not be exposed to danger in the event that Israel and the United States launched a war against Iran, Sheikh Mohammad Sabah that "everyone now speaks about the use of diplomatic means in solving this problem and we do not speak about a war.

 On his visit to Cairo, Sheikh Mohammad said he would be attending meetings of the joint committee. In comparison to committees between Kuwait and other countries, Sheikh Mohamad said the Kuwait-Egyptian committee is highly "disciplined and regulated".
A number of agreements, including a deal between the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development and Egypt dealing with a project of distribution of gas in Cairo, is expected to be signed during the visit, Sheikh Mohammad said.
On Saturday, Sheikh Mohammd said he would attend an emergency meeting of the Arab foreign ministers to look into the request by the International Court of Justice to issue an arrest warrant against Sudanese President Omer Bashir.
He described the request as "strange", expressing hope for a clear Arab stance vis-a-vis the issue.
He warned that the issue would not lead to peace in Sudan rather would complicate the situation. "This is a harmful interference in the internal affairs of an Arab country", Sheikh Mohammad said.
Kuwait would back up the Arab trend to convince the international court not to endorse the request, Sheikh Mohammad said.
In response to a question regarding an Arab conciliation effort following the meeting between Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Syrian President Bashar al Assad during the Medditerranean Union conference in France last week, Sheikh Mohammad said positive climates were prevailing in the Arab world, hoping this atmosphere would continue, especially after the formation of the new Lebanese government.
In this regard, Sheikh Mohammad congratulated Lebanon for the return for their prisoners and remains of their martyrs.
"I was shocked for t.v. images on the return of the remains, because I am awaiting the day for the return of the remains of all Kuwaitis apprehended during the occupation of the regime of Saddam Hussein of Kuwait in 1990", Sheikh Mohammad said. "Kuwait still and would continue demands to collect remains of its prisoners in Iraq", he stressed. (no pick up) jy.bz.
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