Kuwaiti lawmakers urge recall of ambassador from Iraq

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Kuwaiti lawmakers on Tuesday urged the government to recall the ambassador from Baghdad in protest of “attacks” by Iraqi MPs and demands to halt the payment of reparations. “If this is how Iraqi MPs deal with their neighbor Kuwait , I think we should recall the Kuwaiti ambassador from Baghdad ,” independent Islamist MP Falah al-Sawwagh told AFP. Kuwait posted an ambassador to Baghdad last October for the first time since 1990. The head of parliament’s foreign relations committee, MP Marzouk al-Ghanem, told reporters that the panel has decided to hold a meeting on Sunday with the foreign minister to discuss the issue. Ghanem appealed to Kuwaiti MPs to be cautious over statements until the panel holds its meeting, to which all lawmakers are invited. The emirate insists that if Iraq wants to exit from UN sanctions, it must fully comply with obligations like payments of war reparations, settling its debt and the demarcation of land and maritime borders. It also wants the return of Kuwaiti property stolen during the occupation and also remains of Kuwaiti POWs believed to have been killed under Saddam. Five percent of Iraqi oil revenues are transferred into a special UN fund for compensation. Kuwait has received about 13 billion dollars from Iraq but another 25.5 billion dollars remains unpaid. Iraqi MPs on Monday urged a halt to reparation payments to Kuwait for Saddam Hussein’s 1990 invasion , with some wanting the emirate to compensate Iraq for its role in the US-led 2003 invasion. SH (S)/SR 1