KUWAIT CITY, 3 August 2003 — UN special representative in Iraq Sergio Vieira de Mello met Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah yesterday as part of a tour of states neighboring Iraq, the official KUNA news agency reported.
KUNA said earlier that during his two-day stay, Vieira de Mello would meet senior Kuwaiti officials about the situation in Iraq.
Vieira de Mello last month visited several of Iraq’s neighbors, including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, ahead of the formation of the 25-member Governing Council in Baghdad.
Kuwait yesterday marked the 13th anniversary of the Iraqi invasion when then President Saddam Hussein sent thousands of troops across the border. A US-led international coalition liberated the emirate seven months later.
KUNA said Sheikh Sabah also met Yuli Vorontsov, the UN official in charge of overseeing the return of Kuwaiti prisoners and property seized by Iraq.
Meanwhile an opinion poll said, about half of Kuwaitis still fear Iraq even after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. Fifty percent of those polled by Al-Watan newspaper on the 13th anniversary of the Iraqi invasion gave a positive answer when asked if they were still afraid of Iraq.
Forty percent said they were not afraid while the remaining 10 percent gave no answer, the daily said. In the same poll, 48 percent opposed the reopening of the Iraqi Embassy in Kuwait while 26 percent agreed. Those who opposed said Iraq could not be trusted not to repeat the invasion.
In another poll of 500 Kuwaitis conducted by Al-Anbaa, 51 percent gave a conditional yes for restoring diplomatic ties with Iraq, while 49 percent opposed. The overwhelming majority of Kuwaitis, 79.6 percent, however agreed that Kuwait should send assistance to Iraq.
