Kuwait has invited the Jordanian foreign minister for a visit in a move that would officially end an eight-year freeze in relations between the two countries.

The Kuwaiti foreign minister, Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah, told reporters that he had extended the invitation to his Jordanian counterpart, Abdul-Illah Khatib.

There has been no comment from Jordan.

Ties between Kuwait and Jordan have been strained since the Gulf crisis of l990-91 when Amman was seen by Kuwait to lend support to Iraq which invaded and occupied Kuwait for seven months before its troops were evicted by a U.S.-led coalition.