Moussa denies from Doha Qatari mediation between him and Kuwait

The Secretary General of the Arab League (AL) Amr Moussa on Monday denied the existence of any Qatari mediation between him and Kuwait, considering that the Arab League was standing with Iraq, not with the former Iraqi regime.

Moussa said replying to a question before leaving Qatar in conclusion of a visit that lasted for several hours that he had met with the Ami of Qatar and the foreign minister and that the meeting "was very positive during which we did not talk about the issue of mediation."

Replying to another question, Moussa explained the AL position concerning recent developments in Iraq which resulted in creating differences between him and the Kuwaiti officials that the "AL was siding with Iraq, rather than the Iraqi regime," adding "the AL stances aimed at averting Iraq the consequences of the war," calling for "Making a distinction between dealing with Iraq and dealing with the Iraqi regime."

Relations deteriorated between Moussa and the Kuwaiti officials who accuse the AL secretary general of taking stances against Kuwait and of supporting the former Iraqi regime during the war against Iraq.

On previous statements attributed to him in which he threatened to quit his post, Moussa said that the AL chief "has obligations and his post makes it imperative to lead reforms assigned to him and that the Arab states have to support him in these tremendous responsibilities so as to be able to continue." However, several Kuwaiti officials had called on Moussa to resign because of his recent stances concerning the war against Iraq. Moussa explained he will leave Qatar in a tour on several Arab Maghreb states.