Kuwaiti Parliament chair urges pacification, diplomacy to resolve issues with Iraq

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The speaker of the Kuwaiti Parliament on Wednesday said that his country is keen to resolve all pending issues with Iraq by diplomatic means. “Today, Jassem al-Kharafi received the special representative of the United Nations secretary general for Iraq, Staffan de Mistura, and his companying delegation to Kuwait,” the Kuwaiti news agency (KUNA) said. Kharafi said that he had been informed by the UN official about the situation in neighboring Iraq, warning of a possible escalation of the conflict between the two countries. Kharafi called on Iraqi officials to take a pacifying attitude towards all contentious issues with Kuwait. 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