Foreign Minister hosts ghabqa for diplomatic missions in Kuwait

KUWAIT: Kuwait is confident that wisdom, reasoning and a state of calm will prevail in the region without the need for clashes, Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Al-Jarallah said on Friday. This confidence stems from statements made by US and Iranian officials over their reluctance to go to war, he told reporters. "We, being within this circle, believe that there is cause for hope and optimism, that there will be control that does not present any danger or threat to the region's security," he added. Kuwait stands ready and is poised to carry out efforts aimed at calming and stabilizing the situation and avoiding confrontation, he said, reiterating the "sensitivity and extremely dangerous" nature of the "fast-paced developments."

The deputy minister expressed hope that the three GCC, Arab and Islamic summits called for by Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud would resolve or contribute to calming the situation. Asked if negotiations similar to North Korea were on the table, he responded, "it seems that negotiations between both sides have begun, as moves and calls are already being made," he said, in relation to Omani foreign affairs-tasked minister Yousif bin Alawi's recent visit to Tehran.

In regards to Kuwait's bilateral relations with neighboring Iraq after Prime Minister Adel Abdulmehdi's visit, he said both sides recently signed five documents representing the path for future relations. About oil matters, he said that a memorandum of understanding on the joint oilfields in the north of Kuwait has been signed and is in effect. Jarallah's comments were made following a Ramadan ghabqa held for diplomatic missions in Kuwait and came a day after the Iraqi prime minister's visit to Kuwait accompanied by several high-level officials, including the oil minister.

His Highness Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah had attended the ghabqa hosted by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah in honor of the diplomatic missions based in Kuwait. Besides heads of the diplomatic missions, the event gathered large number of sheikhs, cabinet members, senior officials of the Foreign Ministry, academics, public figures and media celebrities. - KUNA