November 4, 2009　Ambassador to Japan says honoring DM in Japan is tribute to homeland

The First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense arrived here Wednesday and is to receive the state's highest honor, "which is testimony to relations with Kuwait and cause of pride for the homeland," said Ambassador to Japan Abdulrahman Al-Otaibi.
Emperor Akihito will bestow the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun, Japan's highest-ranked decoration conferred on foreigners, to the minister "in appreciation to his great efforts in strengthening ties and in gratitude for the logistic support Kuwait offered Japan's Air Self-Defense Force from 2004 to 2008 as it served in Iraq," the diplomat said.
The ambassador added the minister is also being lauded for his great role in the field of environment protection and preservation.
Al-Otaibi said that Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak was informed of the decision of the Japanese government to grant him this honor in a letter delivered through the Japanese Prime Minister, Yukio Hatoyama.
This is an honoring of the people of Kuwait, and it would certainly boost the bilateral relations between the two friendly nations, the diplomat concluded.