- BAGHDAD: Iraqi officials sought Wednesday to assure Kuwait's prime minister on his first visit that the country is nothing like it was under Saddam Hussein, who invaded the small, neighboring emirate two decades ago.
Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Sabah arrived in Baghdad Wednesday on the first visit by a Kuwaiti prime minister since the 1990 Gulf War.
It is a boon for Iraq as it tries to repair relations with its neighbors. But an unusual deadly skirmish between Iraqi fishermen and the Kuwait coast guard earlier this week has marred the talks.
Al-Sabah arrived with a delegation that included his foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammad Al-Sabah, who met with his Iraqi counterpart, Hoshyar Zebari.
In a news conference following their meeting, Zebari sought to allay any lingering Kuwaiti suspicions about their Iraqi neighbor. "The Iraqi side assured the Kuwaiti delegation that Iraq today is not the Iraq of Saddam," Zebari said.
The talks are expected to focus on the $24 billion debt Iraq owes Kuwait as reparations for the Gulf War as well as the clash between Iraqi fishermen and the Kuwaiti coast guard on Monday in the waters separating the countries. One Kuwaiti coast guard official was killed in the shootout.
"We discussed also the tragic incident in the regional waters," said Zebari, who vowed that it would not affect relations between the two countries.