Kuwait's Parliament speaker lauds bilateral ties with Iraq

Speaker of Kuwait's National Assembly Jassem Al-Kharafi on Wednesday called on leaders in Kuwait and Iraq to refrain from making negative statements affirming that controversial issues must be thrashed out within the framework of the joint commission. Al-Kharafi, in a statement after meeting Chairman of Iraq''s Supreme Islamic Council Ammar Al-Hakim, indicated at an agreement between leaders of the two countries to abstain from such irresponsible rhetoric, and the necessity that issues of disenssion be tackled by the joint committee, headed by the foreign ministers of the two countries. He said Al-Hakim expressed keenness on maintaining the bilateral relations between the two countries, and expressed hope for broader cooperation between the two countries at the political, commercial and investment levels, according to Kuwait news agency (KUNA). Asked to react to recent remarks by some Iraqi legislators against Kuwait, the speaker played down prospected impact of such remarks on the bilateral ties, saying, "We object to any intervention in the internal policies of Kuwait. "We are also keen that Iraq be spared any harm, because such harm also affects Kuwait." On exchange of visits by Kuwaiti and Iraqi lawmakers with the aim of thawing the ice in the relations, the speaker said, "There is no ice that needs to be broken, for there is a distinctive relationship bounding the Iraqi and Kuwaiti parliaments."