Sovereignty Restored: Al-Maliki

KUWAIT CITY, June 30, (KUNA): His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah sent Sunday a cable to Iraqi President Jalal Talabani congratulating him, his government, and the Iraqi people on Iraq’s removal from Chapter VII of the UN Charter.
His Highness the Amir also expressed best wishes that such a step would contribute to rebuilding trust between the two nations and boost bilateral relations in various fields to best serve the interests of both nations.

His Highness the Amir sent a similar cable to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki applauding the ending of Iraq’s Chapter VII status, as he expected, would have great positive impacts on Iraqi-Kuwaiti relations as well as on Iraq’s restoration of its normal relations and status in the regional and international arenas.
The Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki has expressed gratitude for the State of Kuwait’s supportive stance which led to Iraq’s removal from Chapter VII of the UN Charter.
In a speech at a ceremony held to celebrate Iraq’s exit from Chapter VII, Maliki said that the Iraqi people will stand with the countries that stood with Iraq in its effort to close this page of its history.

He also thanked the Secretary General of the UN Ban Ki-moon, who recommended the removal of Iraq from Chapter VII and UN Security Council members who voted for the relevant resolution.

“After more than two decades of loss of sovereignty, we stand today to celebrate the end of the nightmare of Chapter VII. Now it can be said that Iraq has restored its sovereignty and full control of its relations with all world countries,” he said.

Al-Maliki underlined that the new Iraq foreign policy will be based on mutual respect with all countries and non-interference in their affairs.
He stressed the need to establish strong relations with neighboring countries on the basis of mutual interests.

The Iraqi Premier vowed to steer his country assiduously towards building a strong economy and to end all tra
ces of dictatorship and oppression which were imposed on the nation in the past.

He called for reconciliation among Iraqis of all political and sectarian hues as well as to adopt dialogue to iron out differences among them.
Al-Maliki has said recently that Iraq and Kuwait will be well-equipped to rebuild bridges of trust between them from now on.

On June 27, The UN Security Council voted unanimously to get Iraq partially out of Chapter VII of the UN Charter, transfer the files of the missing Kuwaitis and property under the responsibility of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), and put an end to the 1999 post of the High-Level Coordinator for those files.
The Council transferred these two humanitarian issues, under Chapter VI, to UNAMI’s attention, taking into consideration the Kuwaiti conditions aimed at having the files constantly under Council review.

https://www.arabtimesonline.com/NewsD...t/Default.aspx