950830

Kuwait FM to

discuss Iraq

with Arab states

KUWAIT: Kuwait's Foreign Minister arrived in Jeddah at the start of a tour of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Syria for talks on regional developments following the defection of senior aides to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

The official Kuwait News Agency said the minister, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, arrived in the Red Sea port late on Tuesday carrying a message for King Fahd from the Kuwaiti Emir, Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah.

Sheikh Sabah will also deliver messages from the emir to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Syrian President Hafez al-Assad "related to the latest developments in the region".

The agency said the Saudi visit was part of continuous Saudi-Kuwaiti consultations following the August 8 defection to Jordan of two senior Iraqi officials.

The two, who include Hussein Kamel Hassan, the former mastermind behind Iraq's secret weapons programmes, have denounced Iraq's 1990-91 invasion and occupation of Kuwait and called for Saddam's overthrow.

The agency said the talks in Saudi Arabia would also cover what it called Jordan's shift in position regarding Iraq's 1990-91 occupation, a reference to a speech strongly critical of Saddam's rule made by King Hussein following the defections.

Jordan antagonised Gulf states and their Western allies by allying itself to Iraq during its occupation of Kuwait.

Kuwait's al-Watan newspaper said Sheikh Sabah would brief Mubarak on security measures being taken by Gulf states and the United States as a precaution against any new flare-up with Iraq.

Mubarak would brief Sheikh Sabah on an offer of political asylum to Saddam which the Egyptian leader announced on August 25. The United States has stepped up military and diplomatic pressure to tighten the isolation of Saddam's government since the defections.-Reuter