Kuwait City, Sept 21: Iraq fully recognises the un-demarcated international border with Kuwait and seeks good ties with its southern neighbour, Iraqi governing council chairman Ahmad Chalabi said today. "Iraq clearly recognises the international borders which were drawn up under UN Security Council resolution 833," said Chalabi, who was en route from Baghdad to New York for the UN General Assembly which opens next Tuesday.

Chalabi told the official Kuwaiti news agency Kuna that the new Iraqi authorities "fully recognise the state of Kuwait," and want to enjoy "good neighbourly relations." "The peoples of both countries share a common cause as victims of injustice and (policy of) destruction followed by the ousted regime" of Saddam Hussein, Chalabi said.

Under resolution 833 passed in 1993, the Security Council set the 200-kilometre-long (120-mile) land border as well as the maritime border between the two neighbours. The regime in Baghdad recognised the resolution in 1994, but senior government officials regularly suggested Kuwait was part of Iraq adding to tension and instability in the region.

Saddam sent his army into Kuwait in August 1990 and annexed the Emirate before being pushed out by a US-led coalition in February 1991.

Bureau Report