New York

12 June 2013

Readout of UN Secretary-General's joint meeting with Permanent Representatives of the State of Kuwait and Iraq to the UN

Ban Ki-Moon, Former Secretary-General

The Secretary-General welcomed the growing momentum for the full normalization of bilateral relations between Iraq and Kuwait. During a joint meeting with Mr. Mansour al-Otaibi, Permanent Representative of the State of Kuwait to the UN, and Mr. Mohamed al-Hakim, Permanent Representative of Iraq to the UN, the Secretary-General praised Iraq’s commitment to fulfilling its Chapter VII obligations and commended Kuwait for the flexibility it extended. The Secretary-General had been pleased to inform the Security Council about the establishment of the Kuwait-Iraq bilateral boundary arrangement, which signalled the full implementation of Security Council resolution 833.  He offered strong encouragement for this welcome process.  He informed the two Permanent Representatives that prior to the meeting with them he had spoken by telephone to both the Emir of Kuwait and the Prime Minister of Iraq, and had conveyed similar messages.