KUWAIT CITY, 6 May 2003 — Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri arrived here today on a two-day visit aimed at repairing relations strained by the US-led war on Iraq. It was Hariri’s first trip to Kuwait since the conflict which Beirut condemned and Kuwait backed by serving as the main staging ground for US troops.
The state KUNA news agency quoted sources as saying Hariri’s talks here would focus on “developments in the Middle East and the strengthening of bilateral ties.” Kuwait’s Cabinet said in a statement on Sunday that Hariri’s visit “comes in the framework of strengthening ties between the two countries and their two brotherly peoples.” Hours earlier, opposition lawmakers had said Hariri was not welcome in Kuwait as they condemned the Lebanese government for taking what they perceived as a pro-Iraq stance in the buildup to the US-led war on Iraq.
In February, Kuwaiti MPs called on their government to freeze aid to Lebanon and withdraw its ambassador from Beirut in what was then a spiralling row over Iraq policy at an Arab foreign minister’s meeting. Beirut was accused of taking an “unfair” stand.
