Kuwaiti minister in Amman to prepare for detente in relations

Kuwait Deputy Premier and Minister of State for Cabinet affairs Abdul Aziz al-Dakhil will arrive in Amman today in preparation for a major detente in relations between the two countries.

Jordanian and Kuwaiti sources said that al-Dakhil will hand over a message from Kuwaiti Premier and Crown Prince Sheikh Saad al-Abdullah al-Sabah to Jordan's Crown Prince Hassan Bin Talal concerning bilateral relations.

Jordanian sources concerned evaluated the visit as an indication of "further improvement of relations between Jordan and Kuwait so as to fully restore diplomatic relations between the two sisterly countries."

However, Kuwait shut down the Jordanian embassy accredited in Kuwait due to the tension in relations following the 1991 Gulf War, whereas the Kuwaiti embassy in Amman was kept open during the past years. Kuwait, on the other hand, praised the position adopted by Crown Prince Hassan at the Arab Parliamentary Union meeting held ten days ago in Amman to address the military operations against Iraq. At the meeting, Crown Prince al-Hassan called upon Baghdad to release its Kuwaiti prisoners and on the Iraqi authorities to abide by human rights principles, a matter which provoked adverse reaction among the Iraqi parliamentarians attending the APU's session.

On Sunday, Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad extended an invitation to his Jordanian counterpart, Abdul Illah al-Khatib, to visit Jordan, noting the "possibility of reopening the shut down Jordanian embassy since the Iraqi invasion in 1990."