Sunday, March 27th 2011
Joint committee to discuss issues between Iraq and Kuwait
Erbil, A joint Iraqi-Kuwaiti committee is expected to get to work to find solutions to decades-long issues between the two countries.
The Iraqi-Kuwaiti committee will begin its work in Kuwait Sunday to solve issues lingering between the two countries and also mend damaged relations, according to a statement issued by the Iraqi Foreign Ministry.
Iraq's Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari arrived in Kuwait Saturday at the head of a state delegation which includes the ministries of finance, oil, interior,defense,transportation, and human rights, in addition to the legal adviser to the prime minister Nuri al-Maliki. Relations between Kuwait and Iraq were severed in 1990 after former Iraqi president Sadam Hussein ordered the invasion of Kuwait.
The most notable issues between the two countries include, compensation of Kuwait, border disputes, Kuwait's stand in the release of Iraq from Chapter 7 of the UN resolution 678 of 1993 under which Iraq is considered a threat to regional countries.
In addition to the issue of the remnants of Kuwaiti prisoners in Iraq.
Iraq still pays a portion of its oil revenues to Kuwait as compensation for the damages the Iraqi army caused the tiny nation. Iraq has paid off nearly $30 billion so far but needs to pay another $22 billion dollars.
The two countries have territorial disputes since the 1991 gulf war.
The Iraqi government agreed on Nov. 24, 2010 with Kuwait to establish an isolated zone of 500 meters in width on both sides of the border between them until the issue is resolved.
Another important issues to be tackled by the committee is the stand of Kuwait in Iraq's exemption from the Chapter 7 of UN resolution.
The Chapter 7 terms have restricted Iraq efforts to equip the army to protect its borders and do not allow it to import certain chemicals and other items. Kuwait has repeatedly refused to end Iraq’s Chapter 7 status saying Iraq first needs to pay off its debts fully Moreover, Kuwait demands Iraq to deal more seriously to reveal the remains of 370 Kuwaitis missing since the 1990 war.
The Iraqi government has said it is searching in the places where the remains of missing Kuwaitis might have been buried, including in particular mass graves that were recently found in Iraq.
The majority of the mass graves found, however, belong to the victims of Hussein's 1991 crackdown on uprisings of the Iraqi people,mainly Kurds and Shias,and a series of military campaigns against the Kurds in the 1980s that resulted in the mass killings of about 182,000 ethnic Kurds.
