Iraq wants peace talks
2000-12-28 12:29
Baghdad - Iraq's ruling Baath party called for dialogue with Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, aimed at a reconciliation with its neighbours after a decade of enmity. The call came on Thursday, ahead of a Gulf summit set for the weekend.
The Muslim and Christian holidays "could be an opportunity for ... a constructive dialogue to forget the pains of the past and reach a reconciliation ending division and humiliation", said the party's mouthpiece, Ath-Thawra.
In reference to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, which were not named,
Ath-Thawra said its invitation was addressed to "those whom Satan
has deviated from the path of jihad", or holy war.
The two neighbours had "allied themselves with the US-Zionist enemy in thinking that they could thus break the determination of the Arab world to struggle for its rights", said Ath-Thawra.
It urged Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, which provide air bases for US
and British warplanes to overfly Iraq, to revise their policies.
"This call does not mean that Iraq is in a position of weakness or that it needs anyone's help. On the contrary, it is filled with confidence and feels it has left the crisis behind," Ath-Thawra said.
The Gulf Arab monarchies are to hold their end-of-year summit in
Bahrain on Saturday and Sunday.
Baghdad's ties with the region have vastly improved this year, but Iraq remains at odds with Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, the emirate that Iraqi forces occupied between August 1990 and February 1991. - Sapa-AFP
- SAPA