Kuwait on Wednesday returned to Iraq 44 fishermen and six vessels seized for crossing into its territorial waters, the interior ministry said.

After the emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, pardoned the men and ordered their repatriation, the fishermen and vessels were handed over to Iraqi authorities, it said in a statement, without stating when they were detained.

Sheikh Sabah is due to travel to Baghdad on Thursday to attend the Arab summit, in the first visit by a Kuwaiti ruler since Iraqi forces invaded the emirate in August 1990.

Seizing Iraqi fishing boats and arresting fishermen for crossing into Kuwaiti waters has become commonplace in past few months.

Iraqi fishermen have repeatedly complained of harassment by Kuwaiti and Iranian coast guards, but Kuwait maintains they are detained only when they enter its territorial waters.

A Kuwaiti coast guard was killed in January 2011 in a shootout with Iraqi sailors inside territorial waters. Iraqi authorities said three fishermen were wounded and four others went missing.

UN chief hails Kuwait emir visit to Baghdad
Kuwait City (AFP) March 28, 2012 –

UN chief Ban Ki-moon said Wednesday that Kuwait's emir will attend the Arab summit in Iraq, hailing progress in ties and urging Baghdad to fulfill obligations for its 1990 invasion of the emirate.

Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah is to attend the summit on Thursday in Baghdad, in the first visit by a Kuwaiti head of state since Saddam Hussein's invasion of August 1990, Ban said following talks in Kuwait City.

There was no immediate confirmation from the Kuwaiti side.

"I urge Iraq to fulfill its longstanding obligations to Kuwait … especially in regards with the missing people, Kuwaiti property, compensation" and maintenance of border marks between the two nations, Ban said.

The UN chief welcomed the "progress in the normalisation of relations between Iraq and Kuwait," adding that the visit of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to Kuwait earlier this month was a positive step.

Earlier, Ban and Sheikh Sabah held talks on the crisis in Syria, relations with Iraq and the Arab summit, the UN chief told a press conference in the Kuwaiti capital on his way to also attending the summit.