LOC17:50
14:50 GMT
By Jamal Yali (with photos)
KUWAIT, Jan 16 (KUNA) -- Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister and
Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Sabah
announced Monday that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki will visit Kuwait
soon upon an invitation from His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber
Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah.
"We hope the visit would achieve the desired outcome and build on what was
achieved in last year's visit," Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled said in a seminar on
the sideline of the first Kuwaiti-Iraqi Media Forum held here and attended by
Information Minister Sheikh Hamad Jaber Al-Ali Al-Sabah.
He called for the continuation of the joint Kuwaiti-Iraqi meetings to
strengthen cooperation between the two countries in various fields.
"Kuwaiti-Iraqi relations witnessed great positive developments in 2011,
including reciprocal visits at the highest levels. These visits and meetings
resulted in several agreements on bilateral cooperation," Sheikh Sabah
Al-Khaled said.
The country's top diplomat underlined that the Kuwaiti leadership is eager
to set a roadmap to help Iraq fulfill the UN Security Council resolutions
related to Saddam Hussein regime's occupation of Kuwait.
With regard to maintenance of border markers between the two countries,
Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled said Iraq had "done a lot of work to repair border
markers and we are ready to help it complete this mission."
He also unveiled that there is a Kuwaiti proposal for Iraq to invest
compensations to Kuwait in projects in Iraq.
Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled added that Kuwait would provide Iraq with modern
equipment to help search for human remains of missing Kuwaitis in a number of
Iraqi areas, starting in 2012, noting that since 2004, the remains of 236 of
Kuwaiti war prisoners were discovered.
He pointed out that Iraq has formed a committee to tackle the issue of the
Kuwaiti archives stolen during Saddam Hussein's regime occupation of Kuwait in
1990.
For his part, Information Minister Sheikh Hamad Jaber Al-Ali said media
shoulders great responsibility for promoting rapprochement and cooperation
between nations.
He warned against "ill-intentioned" media outlets who try to stir up
discord between countries.
Sheikh Hamad, in this regard, proposed a code of honor to be adopted by
Kuwaiti and Iraqi media.
He also stressed the importance of exchanging visits to bridge the gap in
viewpoints between the two sides.
Sheikh Hamad called for the organization of cultural and artistic weeks in
both nations to improve relations between the two peoples.
The First Kuwaiti-Iraqi Media Forum, organized by the Arab Media Forum,
kicked off here Sunday.
The event is attended by Kuwaiti Ambassador to Iraq Ali Al-Momen and Iraqi
Ambassador to Kuwait Mohammad Bahr Al-Uloom and a galaxy of Kuwaiti and Iraqi
media people, including newspaper editors and managers of satellite channels,
writers, journalists, poets and intellectuals. (end)
jy.tb.ibi
KUNA 161750 Jan 12NNNN