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CNN Saturday Morning News
Kuwait Talks With Iran On Iraq
Aired January 11, 2003 - 09:05 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's shift our focus now to the Persian Gulf, the other area of concern to all of us this morning. The Kuwaiti foreign minister is headed to Iran today for talks with his Iranian counterpart, and on the agenda is Iraq.
CNN's Ryan Chilcote joining us from Kuwait City with details on some diplomatic efforts going on behind the scenes a little bit -- Ryan.
RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Miles.
Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Shay Sabak al-Ahmed (ph) has left for Iran. He left about two hours ago. It's the first time that the Kuwaiti foreign minister has visited Iran in the last two years. These visits are very rare.
He's going there to meet with the Iranian foreign minister and also carrying a letter from the emir of Kuwait for the president of Iran. As you said, on the top of the agenda, of course, will be Iraq. The foreign minister, before he left, said that Kuwait would like to see neighboring countries, Iraq's neighboring countries, work to avert a war, any kind of military action in Iraq.
He also said that his country is hoping that there might be some kind of internal change in Iraq, as opposed to change that would come about as a result of some kind of external military action, Miles.
O'BRIEN: Ryan, so what's the theory here? The enemy of your enemy is your friend?
CHILCOTE: Well, the theory is that the countries here need to do everything they can to avert any kind of military action, at least to present that posture, if you will, that they are doing everything they can to prevent military action in Iraq.
Meanwhile, of course, military buildup in this region continues specifically here in Kuwait. Soldiers from the Third Infantry Division have been arriving over the last couple of weeks, thousands of them pouring in.
So really, two different things going on here at the same time. But today the foreign minister leaving, cautioning that his country would like to see military action in Iraq averted, and he would like to see neighboring countries work for some kind of solution to this crisis, Miles.
O'BRIEN: All right. Wonder if there's a solution in Iran. You never know. Ryan Chilcote in Kuwait, thank you very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired January 11, 2003 - 09:05 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's shift our focus now to the Persian Gulf, the other area of concern to all of us this morning. The Kuwaiti foreign minister is headed to Iran today for talks with his Iranian counterpart, and on the agenda is Iraq.
CNN's Ryan Chilcote joining us from Kuwait City with details on some diplomatic efforts going on behind the scenes a little bit -- Ryan.
RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Miles.
Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Shay Sabak al-Ahmed (ph) has left for Iran. He left about two hours ago. It's the first time that the Kuwaiti foreign minister has visited Iran in the last two years. These visits are very rare.
He's going there to meet with the Iranian foreign minister and also carrying a letter from the emir of Kuwait for the president of Iran. As you said, on the top of the agenda, of course, will be Iraq. The foreign minister, before he left, said that Kuwait would like to see neighboring countries, Iraq's neighboring countries, work to avert a war, any kind of military action in Iraq.
He also said that his country is hoping that there might be some kind of internal change in Iraq, as opposed to change that would come about as a result of some kind of external military action, Miles.
O'BRIEN: Ryan, so what's the theory here? The enemy of your enemy is your friend?
CHILCOTE: Well, the theory is that the countries here need to do everything they can to avert any kind of military action, at least to present that posture, if you will, that they are doing everything they can to prevent military action in Iraq.
Meanwhile, of course, military buildup in this region continues specifically here in Kuwait. Soldiers from the Third Infantry Division have been arriving over the last couple of weeks, thousands of them pouring in.
So really, two different things going on here at the same time. But today the foreign minister leaving, cautioning that his country would like to see military action in Iraq averted, and he would like to see neighboring countries work for some kind of solution to this crisis, Miles.
O'BRIEN: All right. Wonder if there's a solution in Iran. You never know. Ryan Chilcote in Kuwait, thank you very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
