Kuwait commends al-Assad's rightful vision on the region; al-Assad: we support a President agreed upon by the Lebanese
The Syrian President Bashar al-Assad yesterday in Kuwait stressed that Damascus " will support any President agreed upon by the Lebanese and will not bring in any Preisdent" noting that extension for the Lebanese President is " A Lebanese decision and not the decision of the Syrian President " and is taken " according to just Lebanese considerations," though he said that Damascus is " effective " in the Lebanese conditions.
Al-Assad paid a visit to Kuwait yesterday, his first visit since toppling the former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and the second since he assumed power in Syria in 2000.
Syria and Kuwait have eliminated their differences which emerged during the American invasion of Iraq, which was strongly opposed by Damascus, while the Kuwaiti territories were the place for stationing the invading forces.
The Syrian official news agency SANA said that the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah held a lunch banquet at Dasman palace in honor of the Syrian President.
The Kuwaiti Cabinet welcomed the visit. It stressed in its weekly session held yesterday under the chairmanship of its President Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah " the deep fraternal relations linking the two leaderships and peoples of the two sisterly countries.." The Kuwaiti foreign minister Sheikh Muhammad al-Sabah said that the visit of President al-Assad comes in the course of " continued consultations betwen the leadersgips of the two sisterly countries," stressing that the Syrian President " has a rightful vision of conditions in the region." Al-Sabah renewed Kuwait's position and that of the Gulf Co-operation Council GCC in support of Syria and in rejection of the American sanctions imposed on it.
The President received at his residence at Bayan palace the speaker of the Kuwaiti nation council Jasem al-Khurafi. He also received chairman and members of " Kuwait's chamber of commerce and industry." Al-Assad left Kuwait yesterday evening back to Damascus.
