Kuwaiti - Yemeni meeting to heal relations

The Kuwaiti News Agency KUNA said on Tuesday that a meeting was held in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly between the foreign minister of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, and his Yemeni counterpart, Abdul Qader Bajmal, whose countries' relations have been nearly severed since 1991.

KUNA quoted Bajmal as saying, following the meeting: "I think we are treading the way of eliminating all obstacles that hit our relations. We agreed, in principle, to expand the volume of cooperation and open the horizons for joint work."

In 1991, Kuwait accused Yemen of supporting Iraq's occupation of Kuwait between August 1990 and February 1991. Since then, the two countries have not exchanged any official visits.

Kuwait is represented in Yemen by a charge d'affairs, whereas Yemen has no representative in Kuwait.

Since 1997, Kuwait started to restore normal relations with the Arab states which had taken stances considered as supportive to Iraq during the seven-month occupation period.