Kuwaiti premier pays first official visit to Baghdad in 20 years

Jan 12, 2011, 12:27 GMT

Cairo - Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al- Ahmad Al-Sabah arrived in Baghdad Wednesday on the first official visit by a Kuwaiti premier to Iraq since the first Gulf War, Kuwait's state news agency reported.

Al-Sabah is heading a delegation which will meet with Iraqi Premier Nouri al-Maliki for talks and congratulate him on forming a new government, KUNA news agency reported.

The visit comes two days after an Iraqi fisherman was killed by a Kuwaiti coast guard in a shootout, which Kuwait said took place after an Iraqi fishing vessel entered Kuwaiti waters and refused requests to leave.

Kuwait says it detained four Iraqi fishermen after the incident.

Al-Sabah and al-Maliki are expected to discuss the incident in addition to the millions of dollars Iraq owes Kuwait in reparations from the first Gulf War, Iraqi government spokesperson Ali al-Dabbagh said on Tuesday.

The relationship between the neighbouring countries has been strained since Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, starting a conflict which ended only after the United States entered the war on behalf of Kuwait.

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