KUWAIT CITY, 22 August 2005 — A reported dispute between former foes Iraq and Kuwait over their common border has been resolved, Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah was quoted as saying yesterday.
“There is no border dispute between the two countries. The question of where the Kuwaiti-Iraqi frontier lies is considered definitively resolved, in conformity with (UN) Security Council resolutions,” the Kuna agency quoted Sabah as saying.
“We support the political process in Iraq and hope that this brotherly country can enjoy security, stability and prosperity.”
There have been a number of incidents on the border since late July, mainly around the southern Iraqi town of Umm Qasr, including a mortar attack and the tearing up of a Kuwaiti-built barrier allegedly set up on Iraqi territory.
Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990 and occupied the country four seven months until it was evicted by a US-led coalition.
A 1993 UN Security Council resolution marked the land and sea border between Iraq and Kuwait, granting Kuwait part of Umm Qasr. The resolution was accepted by Iraq in 1994.
Late July, several hundred Iraqis tore down a barrier put up by Kuwaiti authorities along the border near Umm Qasr, saying the fence had been erected inside Iraqi territory.
A Kuwaiti official said at the time that the fence was being installed inside Kuwaiti territory as part of a barrier being built along the 200-km border between the two countries.
Two days after Iraqis tore down the metal barrier, Kuwaiti soldiers fired into the air during a second border protest.
Kuwait began the construction of the barrier several months ago to replace a three-meter-high (10 feet) sand mound that had been in place for a decade.
Angry Iraqi MPs, speaking on the 15th anniversary of their country’s invasion of Kuwait, charged that their southern neighbor had repeatedly violated the border.
An Iraqi delegation visited Kuwait late July to discuss the incidents, with an Iraqi official saying he was satisfied that Kuwaiti authorities had not infringed upon Iraqi territory.
