Press syndicate calls to ease tensions with Kuwait

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The Iraqi press syndicate on Saturday called to allow diplomatic channels to play a major role in resolving pending issues with neighboring Kuwait. “The press syndicate shares calls with the Association of Kuwaiti Journalists, urging officials in both countries to ease the tension, take a pacifying attitude, and allow political negotiations to take place,” the syndicate said in a statement received by IraqiNews.com news agency. On 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 June 1, Iraqi lawmakers 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) 1