Kuwaiti minister visits Temple Mount, Ramallah
Gulf country official also attends opening of Palestinian book fair, praises Kuwaiti-Palestinian ties
Kuwait’s minister of information, Sheikh Salman a-Sabah visited the Temple Mount on Saturday to pray at the al-Aqsa Mosque, later meeting with Palestinian Authority officials in Ramallah
Sabah arrived with a delegation from the Gulf country, Channel 10 reported Saturday.
The minister attended the opening of the 10th annual Palestine International Book Fair in Ramallah.
Al-Sabah stressed Kuwait’s commitment to the Palestinian cause and its support of the Palestinian in remarks at the opening, according to the Kuwait News Agency.
“We are here to show the depth of the Kuwaiti-Palestinian ties in the political and cultural domains,” the Kuwaiti minister said.
Two years ago, Kuwait’s Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Sabah al-Khaled al-Sabah visited Ramallah to meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and other Palestinian officials, in the first by a high-ranking Kuwaiti official to the West Bank since 1967.
Saturday’s visit signaled “the long-standing commitment of Kuwait’s leadership and people towards supporting the Palestinian people in their legitimate struggle for restoring their rights on the Arab and international levels,” according to the official Kuwait News Agency.
Kuwait steadfast in supporting Palestine question since 1963 – Sheikh Salman https://t.co/O4dd41jg3H pic.twitter.com/ZFwKaDF4Hv
— Kuwait News Agency – English Feed (@kuna_en) May 7, 2016
Palestinian Authority officials hailed the visit, with PA spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh saying it comes at a critical juncture for the Palestinian cause, and noting that “Kuwaiti-Palestinian relations have a long history as Kuwait has been supporting the Palestinian Authority and its people at all levels.”
Previously, Kuwaiti-Palestinian relations were strained from the Gulf War until 2004 because then PA chairman Yasser Arafat was aligned with Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein before his invasion of Kuwait. However, in December 2004 Abbas made the first visit to Kuwait by a senior PA official since the Gulf War and apologized for his predecessor’s policy.
The Times of Israel Community.