Kuwait plans investing in Iraq war reparations
Friday, September 25, 2009
KUWAIT: Kuwait said it is looking into a UN-backed proposal to invest Baghdad’s 1990 invasion reparations in Iraq to settle the lingering issue.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in July he backed the idea of alternative solutions to reduce Iraq’s war reparations to Kuwait, including Baghdad’s idea of converting the outstanding payments into investments.
“This is what we are thinking about,” state news agency KUNA yesterday quoted Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammad Al Sabah as saying, when asked about Ban’s proposal to resolve the war reparations issue.
“We want to strengthen relations (with Iraq) by ... strategic involvement in infrastructure, tourism, trade and investment. This is the partnership we hope to achieve with our brothers in Iraq.”
After the 1991 Gulf war, the UN Security Council ordered Iraq to compensate countries that suffered as a result of its 1990-1991 occupation of neighbouring Kuwait. Baghdad must set aside 5 percent of its oil revenues for reparations payments, most of which go to Kuwait. Iraq has said it still owes $25.5bn in reparations, $24bn to Kuwait alone.
Iraq wants the council to cancel its obligation to pay reparations to Kuwait, saying the reparations are an unfair burden, or reduce the percentage so it has more money for reconstruction and development projects. It has called for the annulment of Security Council decisions requiring the reparation payments under Chapter 7 of the UN charter.
Sheikh Mohammad’s comments in New York come after a meeting between Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al Mohammad Al Sabah.
The two sides discussed Iraq’s attempts to exit Chapter 7, Sheikh Mohammad said, adding that Kuwait would help Iraq end its Chapter 7 status but that it has to abide by the U N resolutions. “We do not want to complicate matters, and we want to speed up Iraq’s exit of those obligations through easing their implementation,” he said.
Kuwait had opposed ending Iraq’s Chapter 7 status and has so far successfully lobbied the Security Council to support it. But council diplomats say they may vote to lift the restrictions at the end of this year, which would enable Iraq to renegotiate the amount of reparations it pays to Kuwait.
Relations between Iraq and Kuwait have become tense this year, with politicians in both countries trading accusations over the reparations.
