ICJ VP lauds Kuwait role to promote global peace

Kuwait's Minister of Justice Dr. Faleh Al-Azab met Vice-President of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) Abdulqawi Yusuf Thursday evening and exchanged views on issues of international peace and justice. "I was very happy to welcome to the international court of justice at The Hague His Excellency Faleh Al-Azab, the minister of justice of Kuwait," Judge Yusuf told KUNA and Kuwait TV after the meeting.

"We are here always delighted to exchange views with the ministers of justice from all over the world because our work is about peace and justice," he said.
"And since Kuwait has also been playing an extremely important role in the promotion of peace it is in the great interest for us to discuss with Kuwaiti authorities about its effort to promote peace in the world and to support also whatever effort Kuwait is undertaking," he added.

On his part, Minister Al-Azab said he was honored to visit the ICJ and meet with its Vice-President. He said they praised the humanitarian role played by His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah as well as the role of the State of Kuwait through international mediation and peace efforts whether in the Gulf or in the world.

"Today, from this international reference point of the ICJ, we have been honored to hear this" praise, he added. After the meeting, the Kuwaiti delegation made a tour of the ICJ.

Observers in the Hague note that Justice Yusuf, who hails from Somalia is a favorite candidate to become the next ICJ president when elections are held for the post in February. Earlier in the day minister Al-Azab visited the embassy of the state of Kuwait in The Hague to meet with the diplomatic staff.

He was accompanied to the ICJ by Kuwait Ambassador to the Netherlands Shamlan Al-Roumi and Yousef Al-Shumaimery, chairman of the financial committee of the PCA and observer administrative council at the PCA.

The ICJ, established in 1945 under the UN Charter, began work in 1946; it is composed of fifteen judges elected to nine-year terms by the UN General Assembly and the UN Security Council

Source: KUNA