Moussa, Sahaf exchange views on Amman summit's agenda

Egypt's Foreign Minister Amr Moussa met in Cairo Tuesday with his Iraqi counterpart Mohammed Saeed EL Sahaf. Speaking to the press after the meeting, Sahaf said they exchanged views on outcome of the ll5th session of the Arab League Council.

The Ministers agreed to maintain consultations to render the incoming Arab summit, slated for March 27 in Amman, successful, he added.

"On his evaluation of decisions taken during this session on lifting the ban imposed on Iraq, Sahaf said what took place Monday and Tuesday was an attempt to hammer out the summit's agenda. participants exchanged views and there was a common Arab desire to make this summit a success," he said.

On differences emerged among the foreign ministers on items of the agenda and whether or not those differences would hinder reaching effective decisions, Iraq's top diplomat denied the existence of such difficulties.

Sahaf termed as "very successful" the recent Cairo Arab summit as its agenda focused mainly on the Palestinian people's suffering.

Asked if Iraq would present an initiative to achieve a comprehensive reconciliation especially with Gulf states, he made it clear that Iraq is not required to do so.

Solving pending problems between Baghdad and both Saudi Arabia and Kuwait hinges on creating an appropriate Arab atmosphere to render any relevant bid successful, he clarified.

"To achieve this goal, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait should not allow their lands to be used in launching daily military operations against Iraq," he said.