NATO TRAINING SITE ALLOCATION PART OF ISTANBUL INITIATIVE - KUWAITI FM
Kuwaiti Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid Al-Hamad Al-Sabah has said that Kuwait's allocation of a training site for NATO is part of the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative, which was launched by the alliance in 2004.Speaking at a joint news conference with visiting Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Didier Reynders here on Wednesday, the Kuwaiti minister said Kuwait's NATO training site allocation shows its continuing interest in international missions.He said Kuwait was the first country to welcome the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative, which is related to regional security and stability.The initiative was launched at the alliance's summit in the Turkish city in June 2004 with the aim of contributing to long-term global and regional security by offering countries of the broader Middle East region practical bilateral security cooperation with NATO. "We are interested in regional security and stability, and we want to be partners with everyone having interest to achieve that," he said..On threats by the UN envoy in Yemen to impose sanctions on its opposition groups if they fail to join the national dialogue, Sheikh Sabah said: "We gave much attention to this matter during today's talks. The GCC member states attach a special significance to Yemen." Regarding the redeployment of US and British forces in Kuwait, he said the matter has to do with the bilateral defence agreements among the nations concerned as well as their common interests."The state of Kuwait is committed to cooperation with the US and Britain in such areas as military training and experience sharing," Sheikh Sabah pointed out.