Jordan Times
Thursday, January 15, 2004
Jordan, Kuwait decry Iraq violence
KUWAIT CITY (AFP) — Jordan and Kuwait on Wednesday condemned attacks targeting civilians and humanitarian organisations in Iraq and called for speeding up the transfer of power to Iraqis.The two Arab nations, in a joint statement after the first meeting of their joint higher committee formed last year, also called for a bigger UN role in Iraq and condemned the killing of Kuwaiti PoWs under the ousted regime of Saddam Hussein.
The joint statement made no reference to the issue of renewing an oil grant from Kuwait to Amman, but it said the two countries agreed to boost cooperation in the oil and energy field.
The two sides blasted Israel for building the separation barrier “which aims at seizing more territory and aborting the roadmap peace plan.”
They also condemned “international terrorism” targeting innocent civilians in Iraq, and stressed that “terror attacks contradict human values and Islamic teachings.”
The two-day meetings of the committee, formed in October 2002 following improvement of relations strained over Iraq's 1990 invasion, were headed by Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher and his counterpart Sheikh Mohammad Al Sabah.
The two ministers, saying their countries' relations are stronger than ever, signed several cooperation accords in the economy, training and tourism sectors, and to promote investments, in addition to two protocols on free trade zones and social development.
Amman has asked to renew the oil grant of 25,000 barrels per day provided by Kuwait since the halt in Iraqi oil supplies to Jordan following the US-led invasion of Iraq launched in March 2003. The grant is supposed to end next March.