Baghdad accused Kuwait Tuesday, September 25, of having intercepted and boarded an Iraqi fishing boat in the Gulf last week, the official INA news agency reported.
"Four armed Kuwaitis from a military patrol boat intercepted an Iraqi fishing boat on September 15 offshore the Iraqi coast before harassing the crew," Foreign Minister Naji Sabri said in a letter to Arab League chief Amr Mussa quoted by INA.
According to Sabri, the incident took place off the island of Bubiyan, midway between Kuwait and Iraq. "The Arab League should assume its responsibilities and intervene with the Kuwaiti government to obtain an end to the provocative actions against Iraqi sailors, who are fishing in Iraqi territorial waters," he added.
Baghdad periodically accuses neighboring Kuwait of "piracy" against its vessels in the Gulf. Kuwait, which was occupied by Iraqi troops August 1990 and liberated by a US-led military coalition the following February, periodically claims to have stopped Iraqi boats transporting goods or crude oil in violation of UN sanctions on Iraq. ― (AFP, Baghdad)
© Agence France Presse 2001
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
