Visit by Douglas Hurd, Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, to Kuwait, Iraq and Lebanon, March 1983

This file contains arrangements, briefs, and records of the visit by the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Douglas Hurd to the Middle East in March 1983, covering Kuwait, Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan, and including meetings with the President of Iraq Saddam Hussein and the Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Kuwait Sheikh Sa’ad Al Abdulla Al Sabah. Issues covered during the meetings include defence sales, oil prices, the Iran-Iraq War, the conflict in Lebanon, Iraq’s relations with the Gulf States and the reconciliation between Oman and the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY). It also covers:

• The possible security threat to Hurd from the Abu Nidal Organisation
• Criticism of Hurd’s visit to Iraq in the Iranian media.