Kuwaiti government insists to build Mubarak Port “till the end”

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The Kuwaiti government has announced on Wednesday its intention to build the Mubarak Port “till the end,” whilst Kuwaiti diplomatic sources said that the port’s project had been settled politically and won’t be discussed with the Iraqi side in the next meeting of the High Kuwaiti-Iraqi Committee, scheduled to convene in Baghdad after the month of Ramadan, according to the Kuwaiti al-Siyasa newspaper.   Al-Siyasa, in its Wednesday issue, has quoted the Official Spokesman for the Kuwaiti government and the State Minister for the Kuwaiti Council of Ministers, Ali Al-Rashid, as saying that “the Kuwaiti government is marching forward, without stop, to build the Mubarak Port’s project ‘till the end,’ denying that explosions have taken place close to the Port 10 days ago.   On the other hand, the Kuwaiti newspaper quoted high-level Kuwaiti diplomatic sources in the Foreign Ministry as saying that “the Grand Mubarak Port has   been settled politically and won’t be discussed by the Iraqi side, during the next meeting of the High Kuwaiti-Iraqi Committee, scheduled to be held in Baghdad after the month of Ramadan.”   It pointed out that “the schedule of the Committee’s works shall include dossiers that were not settled till now, including the maintenance of the border signs, the restoration of the remains of the prisoners-of-war (POWs) and the issue of the compensations.”   The same sources pointed out that “the Iraqi delegation that shall visit Kuwait soon, according to an announcement by Iraq’s Foreign Minister, Hoshiar Zibary, shall discuss some technical matters, related to the Port, without discussing Kuwait’s right in building a port on its territories and within its territorial waters.”   As regards to the UN Security Council’s Resolution 833, the said sources stressed that the “Resolution confirms cooperation between Kuwait and Iraq, regarding the safe passage through Khor-Abdullah and the sea navigation freedom, on basis of which the Iraqi Delegation for Cooperation & Coordination would be received, and not to discuss Kuwait’s constant right in the construction of the Port, works for which are continuing well.”   Kuwait had announced on April 6 th last the beginning of works to construct the Mubarak Port after one year of Iraq’s announcement of its intention to build its Grand Faw Port, whilst the Kuwaiti Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and the Development Minister, Ahmed al-Fahad, had stated that the project, construction of which was agreed upon with the South-Korean Hondai Company, would be “friendly to environment.”   The Kuwaiti Ministry also confirmed that the project “includes major goals to achieve hopes and ambitions of the Kuwaiti people, who have always wished to build a port in the said strategic and active location, in order to make Kuwait a financial and trade center on both Regional and International levels.”   Noteworthy is that Iraq’s Transport Ministry had laid down the foundation stone for the Grand Faw Port’s project, designs of which point out to its compromise of a containers terminal stretching to 39 km and a pavement extending to 2,000 km , as well as a square container with an area of more than one million square meters, along with a field of multi-purpose area of 600,000 square meters , with a capacity of 99 million tons annually.   The Ministry had estimated the total cost for the construction of the said Port would reach 4 billions (b) and 400 million Euros, with the hope that the connection of the port, through the railways would link the Gulf area through the ports of Iraq and the ports of turkey in northern Europe .   SKH (FT) BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The Kuwaiti government has announced on Wednesday its intention to build the Mubarak Port “till the end,” whilst Kuwaiti diplomatic sources said that the port’s project had been settled politically and won’t be discussed with the I