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Iraq should have access to Gulf: UAE

KUWAIT: Kuwait should allow its former occupier Iraq access to the Gulf waterway to achieve regional stability after two major wars, the United Arab Emirates has suggested.

"We need a strategy to follow," said UAE Defence Minister Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid al-Maktoum in remarks published on Monday. "If the issue is that Iraq needs an outlet to the water what is the problem if Kuwait offers that, if it is a guarantee for stability?"

The view is shared by Sheikh Mohammad, who is also Dubai crown prince.

"This is how I think...and I do not think there is an objection if one of your brothers has different views as long as the aim we are all aspiring to is the same," he was quoted as saying by Kuwait's al-Watan newspaper.

The UAE was among regional allies which joined the U.S.-led Gulf War that ended Iraq's seven-month occupation of Kuwait nine years ago this month. Kuwait, like most Arab states, stood firmly by Iraq in its 1980-88 war against non-Arab Iran.

Analysts say that Iraq's aims from the two wars included gaining direct and full access to the strategic Gulf waterway whose only entrance in the south is controlled by Iran and Oman.

"What is needed is a guarantee for continued stability," added Sheikh Mohammad whose suggestion is expected to fall on deaf ears in Kuwait.

Kuwait refuses any direct dealings with Iraq and repeatedly warns that President Saddam Hussein continues to pose a threat to regional security.-Reuters