Kuwait suspends economic cooperation with Sudan amid strained relations
By: Wasil Ali
July 10, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — Kuwait has suspended economic cooperation with five nations including Sudan in retaliation to political stances of these countries the daily Al-Watan newspaper reported.
The Deputy Prime Minister of Kuwait Prince Mohamed al Sabah told the parliament last week that the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development has suspended loans and funding of projects in Yemen, Tunisia, Jordan, Libya and Sudan.
Unidentified official sources told Al-Watan that Kuwait is “displeased with the policies of Yemen, Tunisia, Jordan, Libya and Sudan”.
He added that Kuwait has made its position clear to these countries and as such has decided to freeze economic cooperation “as a form of protest and to give them the opportunity to revise their policies”.
The official revealed that Khartoum have accused Kuwait of supporting the US stance on the Darfur crisis. He stressed that Sudan has overlooked “Kuwait’s keen interest in Sudan as an Arab country and preserving its territorial integrity”.
However a senior Sudanese official speaking to the daily Al-Sahafa expressed surprise over the report and noted that relations with Kuwait is currently “at its best”.
Kuwait has provided more than $300 million dollars to Sudan over the last forty years to fund agricultural, transportation and energy projects.
Kuwait has informally severed its relations with Khartoum in 1991 after it accused the latter of supporting the Iraqi invasion. Diplomatic representation in their respective capitals was kept at a minimum until 1999 when both countries decided to fully restore their diplomatic relations.
The Kuwaiti official blasted the Sudanese government saying that they “have not tried to change the positions they had during the Iraqi invasion [of Kuwait]”.
The rare disclosure by the Kuwaiti official is the first indication of “behind the scene” diplomatic initiatives taken by Arab Gulf countries regarding the Darfur crisis.
US officials have consistently said that Arab Gulf countries shared the same views with them on the Darfur crisis. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice discussed the issue with foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) last October in the Egyptian town resort of Sharm El-Sheikh.
At least 200,000 people have died in the western region and more than two million more fled their homes since ethnic minority rebels rose up three years ago drawing a scorched earth response from the military and allied militias
(ST)