Baghdad - Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Mohamed Sabah al-Salem al-Sabah arrived in Iraq on Thursday, the first visit by a Kuwaiti official to Iraq in 19 years, local media reported.

Iraq, under former-president Saddam Hussein, invaded the neighbouring Gulf state of Kuwait on August 2, 1990, a move which triggered the first Gulf War in 1991. Relations between the neighbouring states have been icy since.

Speaking at a celebration at the Kuwaiti embassy in Baghdad Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said, "relations between Iraq and Kuwait are witnessing positive developments in all fields and there is vast cooperation between the two countries."

The Kuwaiti minister said that the two delegations discussed a joint Iraqi-Kuwaiti committee, which would meet for the first time in Baghdad.

"We congratulated the Iraqi government on its provincial elections that put Iraq on the map of independent countries," said al-Sabah. "This is the Iraq that we all bet upon. We give it our blessing as it is moving toward democracy," he added.

Zebari, in statements to the Kuwaiti State news agency, KUNA, stressed the importance of the visit, saying that it comes a day after the Kuwaiti embassy in Baghdad celebrated its 48th National Day.

The minister is scheduled to meet Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and other government officials. (dpa)