By Noura Wazani
Albawaba.com - Amman
Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammed Saeed Al Sahhaf said that the Kuwait delegation was the party which refused a formula amended by eight Arab leaders to find consensus on the conflict between the two countries.
He said that Iraq disagreed on a paragraph in the final communiqué that the Arab summit emphasizes the importance of to respect Kuwait’s sovereignty and ask Iraq not to interfere with its internal affairs.
“We voiced our rejection of this formula to the leaders who met with [Iraq’s number two]
Izzat Ibrahim,” Sahhaf said, noting that “this formula has future indications, but Iraq already respects Kuwait’s sovereignty.”
However, he said that Iraq’s sovereignty is not being respected as its people are killed by the US and British air attacks, launched from neighboring countries.
The Arab leaders reached a more suitable formula as far as his country is concerned, he added.
“The amended one was as follows: reaffirming what has been agreed on in the previous summits regarding the respect of Kuwait’s sovereignty.”
But to our surprise, the Kuwait delegation refused balanced consensus that also calls for lifting the Iraqi sanctions.”
“The consensus fulfilled Kuwait’s demands without hurting Iraq,” he commented.
“I think that King Abdullah’s efforts on continuing talks between the two sides is a positive sign, and we will cooperate to reach a final solution and leave behind this issue for good.”
Sahhaf, meanwhile, said that Palestinian President Yasser Arafat is always welcome to visit Iraq “without an official invitation.”
“We back the Palestinians, and Iraq is Arafat’s second country.”
Sahhaf said that the one billion euro pledged by Iraq to the Palestinians, to be taken out from the revenues of the UN-sponsored oil deals were blocked by a UN Security Council’s committee dominated by the US and the UK.
