Kuwaiti Leaders Meet Cohen on Regional SituationKuwaiti Emir Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah met here Sunday with visiting US Defense Secretary William Cohen on regional situation.Kuwait News Agency reported that the meeting covered the latest developments in the Gulf and the Middle East region, as well as bilateral relations. Following the meeting, Kuwaiti Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Sheikh Salem Al-Sabah also held talks with his US counterpart on a host of regional and international issues of mutual concern. Cohen arrived in Kuwaiti City earlier Sunday from Qatar for a short visit. He is currently on a nine-nation Gulf and Mideast tour which has already taken him to Bahrain, Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. He will also visit Saud Arabia, Israel, Jordan and Egypt. The US defense chief has come to the region at a time when US forces are on heightened alert following the attack last month on the USS Cole destroyer while it was refuelling in the Yemeni port of Aden. Cohen asserted in Qatar on Saturday that the US forces in the region will be more alert in the upcoming period. Citing intelligence reports indicating that there are individuals and groups that will carry out terrorist acts, he said protecting the US forces will be one of the priorities of the US policy. On the Iraqi issue, Cohen insisted that economic sanctions will remain before Baghdad implements all U.N. resolutions related to its invasion and occupation of Kuwait in 1990-1991. |
| People's Daily Online --- http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/ |