Kuwait National Day celebrated on grand scale

The deep-rooted relations between Qatar and Kuwait were highlightedyesterday at an event held in Doha to celebrate the 57th anniversary ofKuwait’s National Day and 27th anniversary of the Liberation Day. Thereception was hosted by the Kuwaiti embassy in Qatar and attended byQatari ministers, dignitaries, senior officials, businesspersons anddiplomats from various missions in the country.The event was attended by HE the Speaker of the Advisory Council Ahmedbin Abdullah bin Zaid al-Mahmoud, HE the Minister of Economy andCommerce Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim bin Mohamed al-Thani, HE the Ministerof Development Planning and Statistics Dr Saleh Mohamed Salem al-Nabit,HE the Minister of Finance Ali Sherif al-Emadi, HE the Minister ofMunicipality and Environment Mohamed bin Abdullah al-Rumaihi, HE theMinister of State for Foreign Affairs Sultan bin Saad al-Muraikhi, HESheikh Faisal bin Qassim al-Thani, HE the Minister of State Dr Hamad binAbdulaziz al-Kuwari, HE the Director-General of Public Security StaffMajor General Saad bin Jassim al-Khulaifi, Ministry of Foreign Affairs’chief of protocol Ibrahim Yousif Abdullah Fakhro and other dignitaries.The celebrations were led by Kuwait’s ambassador, Hafiz Mohamed al-Ajmi.HE al-Muraikhi said the occasion was a special and dear one to theQatari government and people, stressing that participation in the eventwas the least that could be done for the friendly people of Kuwait. Healso said the people of Qatar were happy for Kuwait and considered itsNational Day as their own due to the special relations between the twocountries. Further, he stressed that Qatar has no problem with any GCC, Arab orIslamic country and wished all of them the best and would like to havegood relations with all nations around the world. “We always support Kuwait for the good of the people in Kuwait. We areopen to everybody; if others have a problem with us, it is up to them... but everybody — the Saudis, Emiratis and all Arabs — are welcome inQatar. We only work for the good of all and hope that the futuregenerations enjoy better relations among themselves,” he stressed on thesidelines of the event.Similarly, HE al-Mahmoud praised the humanitarian efforts of the emir ofKuwait, stressing that he was rightly called “the Emir of humanity”. Henoted that the Kuwaiti emir’s efforts to resolve the GCC crisis andother issues are highly appreciated by Qatar. “We came today to say to our people in Kuwait that we are celebratingwith you, we love you and we highly value you. We wish them all thebest,” he said. Ambassador al-Ajmi, along with a good number of senior Kuwaitiofficials, welcomed the guests and praised the “excellent anddeep-rooted” Qatari-Kuwaiti ties.  Many Qatari guests performed thesword dance on the occasion, which was marked by a joyous atmosphere. There was also an exhibition of periodicals, magazines and booksregularly published in Kuwait as part of its efforts to promote Arabicculture. The exhibition was launched by the Kuwaiti ambassador alongsidesenior Qatari dignitaries, and guests were able to pick up their freecopies.    Ahead of the event, the Kuwaiti ambassador spoke to the local media andstressed that Qatar and Kuwait have enjoyed deep relations for long,even before the establishment of official diplomatic ties in the ’70s.He said that the two countries have joint families, traditions and ahistory that goes beyond geographical borders. Regarding the currentGulf crisis, he reiterated the words of the emir of Kuwait warningagainst the collapse of the GCC due to such a crisis, and noted thatserious work should be done to protect the council as a stronghold ofthe Arab world. Al-Ajmi also said Qatar and Kuwait enjoy significant militaryco-operation as 31 Kuwaiti officers and warrant officers have gottraining in Qatar and there are 85 student officers at the Mohamed binAhmed Military College. Also, joint military exercises between theforces of the two countries are held. Regarding joint Qatari-Kuwaiti investments, he said these exceeded $7bnin both the public and the private sectors. In addition, there are anincreasing number of exchange of visits between the business communitiesof the two friendly countries.