Palestine and Kuwait sign cooperation agreement

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Maliki and his Kuwaiti counterpart Sabah Khalid Sabah yesterday signed two cooperation agreements during the latter’s visit to the West Bank city of Ramallah.

One of the agreements is related to the formation of a ministerial committee on relations between Palestine and Kuwait, and the second on the formation of a committee for talks between the two foreign ministries.

In a press conference, Sabah said that his country heads the Arab League and the committee for the follow up of the Arab Peace Initiative. “Therefore, we are interested in discussing issues and cooperating with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas regarding future steps,” Sabah said.

The visit comes at a time when the Palestinian Authority is mobilising Arabic support for Abbas’ plan, which he plans to propose for the UN General Assembly and includes putting a timetable for ending the Israeli occupation of the 1967 lands.

Sabah passed a written and signed letter from the Kuwaiti Emir about improving relations with Palestine and exchanging opinions on developments in the region.

This visit followed the inauguration of a Palestinian embassy in Kuwait in April 2013, 22 years after the office of the PLO in Kuwait was shut down.

Meanwhile, Al-Maliki affirmed that the visit aimed at improving bilateral relations.

The visit is considered that first for a high ranking official to Palestine since 1967.