Maliki suggests dialogue to solve pending issues with Kuwait

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Wednesday called to enable dialogue to take place with neighboring Kuwait to resolve all contentious issues between the two countries. During his reception of the Kuwaiti ambassador in Baghdad, Ali al-Momen, the premier called to “solve pending issues between the two neighboring countries by means of dialogue, which guarantees the rights of both parties,” according to a statement released by Maliki’s office and received by IraqiNews.com news agency. On Tuesday (June 2), a number of Kuwaiti parliamentarians urged their government to recall its envoy from Baghdad in protest of “attacks” by Iraqi MPs and demands to halt the payment of reparations. Last October, Kuwait posted an ambassador to Baghdad for the first time since 1990. 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 $31 billion U.S. dollars from Iraq but another $22 billion remains unpaid. On Monday (June 1), Iraqi lawmaker 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 2003 US-led invasion. SS (S)/SR 1