KUWAIT, May 25 (KUNA) -- Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Dr. Mohammad Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah said Sunday that the negotiations between the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the European Union (EU) on the free trade reached a critical stage.
Sheikh Mohammad told reporters, before leaving to Brussels to take part in the GCC-EU 18th coordination meeting that will kick off Monday, that he believes that the Gulf states should be "more frank" with their European "friends" on whether there is a real political desire to create the free trade zone.
He said that his three-day tour will include visiting Austria as response to an invitation by its Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik after her visit to Kuwait.
Meanwhile, the Kuwait Deputy Prime Minister expressed his country's happiness of the resolution of the Lebanese crisis, describing that as a great achievement.
He said the crisis was solved by a Lebanese desire, Qatari wisdom, and Gulf and Arab support.
He said Kuwait's delegation that will attend the Lebanese parliamentary session to elect a president for the country will be the second biggest delegation, after the Qatari delegation.
Sheikh Mohammad is accompanies in his tour by head of his office's department Sheikh Dr. Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah.
He was seen off at Kuwait International Airport by Foreign Undersecretary Khalid Al-Jarallah, head of the protocols department at the Foreign Ministry Thari Al-Ajran, a number of officials, and Austria and Belgium's ambassadors to Kuwait.
Copyright Kuwait News Agency 2008.
