Edition: U.S. / Global

Mideast Turmoil: Baghdad; Baghdad-Kuwait Accord -- Support Is Rebuff to Bush's Efforts

Published: March 29, 2002
(Page 2 of 2)

Iraq and Kuwait agreed to respect the independence and territorial integrity of the other, something Iraq has always refused to do in the past, viewing Kuwait as a lost province chopped off by colonial powers.

The decision by Kuwait to sign the agreement raised the question of whether it could honor its new commitment to respect Iraqi territorial integrity and still allow American forces to operate from its bases. It currently maintains that only air patrols are flown from Kuwait, not attack aircraft.

While the Iraq-Kuwait agreement called on Iraq to fulfill all its obligations under the United Nations sanctions, it also called for lifting those sanctions, something Iraq had sought. Mr. Sahhaf declared that Iraq was not troubled by the provision calling for it to work with the United Nations because it believed it already had fulfilled its obligations.

''It is balanced, very clear, it doesn't say Iraq should comply, the jargon you hear from American officials,'' the minister said. ''Here they are saying that they call for completing the implementation, if there is anything not implemented, O.K., Iraq is going to complete it.''

He noted that there had been some discussion around this particular point with the other Arab states and so the declaration welcomed the resumption of dialogue between Iraq and the United Nations. The two sides also agreed to help search for missing prisoners of war. Kuwait says it has 600 missing; Iraq a few years ago suddenly made claims that over 1,000 Iraqis were missing.

In setting the tone for the reconciliation, the head of the Iraqi delegation, Izzat Ibrahim, a senior member of the Iraqi Revolutionary Command Council, wore a gold-embroidered robe of black wool of the kind favored by the Gulf Arabs. Usually the Iraqis wear green khaki uniforms or somber business suits. All the delegates at the convention burst into applause when Mr. Ibrahim and Prince Abdullah embraced.

The mood was such that even the head of the Kuwaiti delegation, Sheik Sabah al-Ahmed, declared that he had shaken hands with Mr. Ibrahim as well. Sheik Sabah virtually runs Kuwait due to the ill health of both the ruling emir and the crown prince.

If anyone was sent reeling by all these gestures, it was the Kuwaiti people. ''There can be no rapprochement with Iraq as long as our sons and our prisoners of war are there,'' said Nasser al-Sanaa, a member of the Kuwaiti Parliament, speaking on Al Jazeera television.

''Are we just supposed to forget the past?'' he said. ''We don't have a problem if we saw that Iraq was rational and repented for the oppression and aggression. But we haven't seen this. There are just words and promises.''

Photos: Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, left, embraced Izzat Ibrahim, a senior Iraqi official, in an image taken from television yesterday. (APIN) (pg. A1); Sheik Sabah al-Ahmed of Kuwait at the closing session of the Arab League meeting where a pact was struck between Kuwait and Iraq. (Agence France-Presse) (pg. A14)