Kuwait will attend Mena

Kuwait announced yesterday its participation in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) economic conference in Doha.

Kuwait will be represented by the undersecretary of the finance Ministry, the Kuwait news agency said, quoting the Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs, Abdel-Aziz al-Dukheil. The agency said the decision was taken at yesterday's cabinet meeting.

Dukheil said the government, while deciding to take part, stressed Kuwait's commitment to the necessary conditions for achieving a just and global peace in the Middle East.

Qatar had invited Kuwait and other Arab countries to attend the meeting.

At the same cabinet meeting yesterday that announced Kuwait's attendance at Doha, ministers were told that Qatar's Emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, had accepted an invitation to attend the December GCC summit to be held in the Kuwaiti capital.

The announcement came after US Assistant Secretary of State Martin Indyk met Kuwait's Emir, at the end of a Gulf tour to drum up support for Mena, in which Israel is taking part. Indyk met Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmed Al Sabah as well as Crown Prince and Prime Minister Sheikh Saad Al Abdullah Al Sabah, Kuwait's official news agency Kuna said.

Several Arab states have threatened to boycott the conference because of the deadlock in the peace process, for which they blame Israel.