AMMAN: HH the Amir Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and Jordanian King Abdullah II reiterated on Wednesday support for regional security and stability, along with dialogue and diplomatic solutions for conflicts. This came in a joint statement issued by both sides following HH the Amir’s two-day state visit to Amman. They also underlined the significance of opening communication channels for building bridges of partnership and cooperation, promoting values of solidarity, tolerance and peaceful coexistence, ensuring sustainable regional growth, stability and peace, and respecting states’ sovereignty.

Both leaders also stressed that it is essential to work to reduce tensions in the Middle East, fend off military escalation and find fair, all-out and lasting peaceful solutions to regional conflicts. They called on the international community, particularly the UN Security Council, to adopt a resolution imposing an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, protecting civilians, delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza, staving off further escalation, and rejecting war spillover, incursions into Rafah and displacement.

The leaders of Kuwait and Jordan further reaffirmed that Palestine is a central cause and that a fair solution would fulfill all legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, based on the two-state approach involving an independent Palestinian state on the June 4, 1967 border with East Jerusalem as its capital, in line with relevant international legitimacy resolutions. In this context, they underlined that the Arab Peace Initiative is the sole way to achieve just, comprehensive and lasting peace in the Middle East region.

Furthermore, both sides called for maintaining the existing historical and legal status of Islamic and Christian holy sites, with HH the Amir emphasizing the role of Jordan in protecting religious sanctuaries and their Islamic and Christian identity. They stressed that regional shipping routes should be protected in line with international law and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to maintain the interests of all world countries and that agreements concluded by the region’s countries be respected.

The Khor Abdullah agreement reached by Kuwait and Iraq on April 29, 2012, which became effective as of Dec 18, 2013, should be observed, calling for protecting Khor Abdullah from any transnational terrorist and criminal activities, according to the joint statement. In this context, both leaders called for commitment to the security exchange protocol, calling on Iraq to reconsider the protocol signed with Kuwait in 2008, which includes a specific revision and cancellation mechanism. The Kuwait-Iraqi sea border demarcation should be completed to be beyond the mark 162 as per relevant UN conventions and treaties, urging the respect of Kuwait’s sea and land sovereignty in line with UNSC Resolution 833/1993.

They also underscored that Durra offshore oilfield falls within the maritime boundaries of Kuwait and that natural resources in the divided zone between Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, including Durra field, only belong to both Kuwait and Saudi Arabia as per international law and bilateral accords. HH the Amir Sheikh Mishal and his accompanying delegation arrived on Tuesday in Jordan on a state visit. HH the Amir was received by Jordanian King Abdullah II and the Crown Prince Al-Hussein bin Abdullah.

At the conclusion of his visit on Wednesday, HH the Amir voiced his deepest gratitude and thanks to the King of Jordan for awarding him the Order of Al-Hussein ibn Ali. HH the Amir expressed his sincere thanks and appreciation to the King of Jordan for the warm welcome and hospitality during the visit. He said that the visit reflected deep and distinguished relations between the two countries and peoples, and aimed to strengthen fruitful and constructive cooperation between the two countries in a way that serves common interests and realizes their peoples’ aspirations. HH the Amir also invited the King of Jordan to visit Kuwait at a date to be determined later through bilateral diplomatic channels. – KUNA