Kuwaiti Official Calls For Efforts to Guarantee Regional SecurityA senior Kuwaiti official insisted Tuesday night on the need to work out a plan that will guarantee the security and stability in the Gulf region.Addressing a forum organized by the Kuwait Journalist Association, Minister of State For Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammad Sabah al-Salem al-Sabah said there is still "need to work out guarantees for a non-reoccurrence of what happened in 1990, when Iraqi troops invaded Kuwait." Sheikh Mohammad said Kuwait wishes for security and stability for the Iraqi people, adding that his country was not collaborating with other nations to bring harm to Iraqi civilians. He blamed the Iraqi government for "the United Nations sanctions on Iraq by rejecting all Arab and international efforts to lift them." In another statement to the newly-issued Saudi Al-Wasat magazine, Sheikh Mohammad accused Iraq of "threatening the security of Kuwait." Kuwait will not "accept reconciliation with Iraq as long as Baghdad denies Kuwait's sovereignty through Iraqi official media and rejects to present any guarantees." "Reconciliation between any two parties can be reached when there is a trust protected by guarantees but the Iraqi regime is refusing to provide any guarantees," he said. Sheikh Mohammad's remarks came on the eve of the 11th anniversary of Iraq's invasion of Kuwait on August 2, 1990. Kuwaiti officials and parliament leaders have recently made similar statements to criticize Iraq, marking the disaster 11 years ago. On Monday, Kuwait's Information Ministry organized a two-day seminar titled "Disaster and Aftermath", during which participants discussed the impacts on human health and environment by the 1991 Gulf War, sparked by Iraq's invasion and occupation of the Gulf emirate. Scientists and experts agreed that the "war has caused both health and environmental problems, of which some are short-term and others will last long." |
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