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The Kuwaiti delegation participating in the Arab Parliamentary Union Conference, which concluded its work in Arbil last Friday, said it had an idea of dropping his country's debt on Iraq in return for providing it with Shatt al-Arab water surplus.
An eminent member of the Kuwaiti delegation, Waleed Al-Tabatabai, hoped stability for Iraq whose people have suffered a lot during the past decades, stressing that this would bring stability to the whole region, particularly Iraq's neighbors, including Kuwait.
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He added, "We are happy to visit Iraq again after what happened in the past, which the two peoples have nothing to do with, and hoped that things will return the way they were before, stabilized and the secure, and that Iraq's economy will recover again very soon." Chairman of Parliament, Mahmoud Mashhadani, and President of the Kuwaiti National Assembly, Jassim Al-Khorafi, affirmed in a press conference that the two countries have folded the past, and began a new phase of relations in accordance with the principle of good neighborliness.
Member of the Kuwaiti delegation said, "we are not asking Iraq to pay back its debt now, and we have come up with a project include that Iraq provide Kuwait with Shatt al-Arab water surplus in return for writing off its debt." The debt of Kuwait on Iraq is about $14 billion, excluding reparations approved by the United Nations due to the invasion by the former regime, which hit $37 billion, of which Iraq paid more than 12 billion by deducting 5% of Iraq oil imports; Kuwait has pledged at Madrid conference to grant Iraq a billion and a half billion for the reconstruction of the country. Al-Tabatabai noted, "in future we could replace things not used by the Iraqi people for the money it owes us; however this is just an idea and we do not want to crush Iraqis with the debt now.
There could also be economic exchanges and investments that work for the interest of both sides." Member of the Kuwaiti delegation pointed out that his country strongly supports Iraq in the political area, stressing that" Jasim Al-Kharafi President of the National Assembly stressed the importance of holding the conference in Iraq, because the success of the conference there would be reflected on the reputation of Iraq, improve investment opportunities and give hope for serious progress.
Source: Iraq Directory
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