Talabani urges calm in Iraq-Kuwait war reparations row
(AFP)
8 June 2009
BAGHDAD - Iraqi President Jalal Talabani on Monday called for an end to a row with Kuwait over two-decade-old UN sanctions under which Baghdad must make multi-billion-dollar payments to its Arab neighbour.
Talabani, in a statement on his website, rejected what he described as "attempts to disrupt relations between Iraq and Kuwait," alluding to the dispute stemming from Saddam Hussein's 1990 invasion of the oil-rich emirate.
The two countries should "address any issues in a way that serves both their interests," the president added.
Iraqi MPs have called for reparations to Kuwait to be halted, arguing that the country should not be held responsible for the actions of now executed dictator Saddam, ousted from power in a US-led invasion six years ago.
But Kuwait has insisted on full payment and said that all United Nations Security Council resolutions related to the 1991 Gulf War which liberated the emirate must be fully complied with.
The resolutions require Iraq to satisfy Kuwaiti demands on reparations and the return of property, as well as demarcation of their shared border and the repatriation of the remains of prisoners of war.
Iraq currently pays five percent of its oil revenues into a special UN fund.
Kuwait has received about 13 billion dollars from Iraq but a further 25.5 billion dollars remains unpaid.
Kuwaiti MPs last week urged the government to recall its ambassador, who only took up post last October as the emirate's first envoy in Baghdad since the August 1990 invasion.
Apart from war reparations, most UN sanctions on Iraq were lifted after Saddam's overthrow aside from some financial restrictions and controls on the supply of heavy weaponry.
Separately in the statement, Talabani said he held talks on Monday with the recently appointed US Ambassador to Baghdad Christopher Hill at which they discussed bilateral relations.
The Iraqi president hailed US counterpart Barack Obama's speech to the Muslim world in Cairo last week as "good and balanced," in the statement.
The website did not, however, indicate whether they discussed the case of five American contractors arrested in Baghdad on Friday over an attack in which another US national was killed.
(AFP)
8 June 2009
BAGHDAD - Iraqi President Jalal Talabani on Monday called for an end to a row with Kuwait over two-decade-old UN sanctions under which Baghdad must make multi-billion-dollar payments to its Arab neighbour.
Talabani, in a statement on his website, rejected what he described as "attempts to disrupt relations between Iraq and Kuwait," alluding to the dispute stemming from Saddam Hussein's 1990 invasion of the oil-rich emirate.
The two countries should "address any issues in a way that serves both their interests," the president added.
Iraqi MPs have called for reparations to Kuwait to be halted, arguing that the country should not be held responsible for the actions of now executed dictator Saddam, ousted from power in a US-led invasion six years ago.
But Kuwait has insisted on full payment and said that all United Nations Security Council resolutions related to the 1991 Gulf War which liberated the emirate must be fully complied with.
The resolutions require Iraq to satisfy Kuwaiti demands on reparations and the return of property, as well as demarcation of their shared border and the repatriation of the remains of prisoners of war.
Iraq currently pays five percent of its oil revenues into a special UN fund.
Kuwait has received about 13 billion dollars from Iraq but a further 25.5 billion dollars remains unpaid.
Kuwaiti MPs last week urged the government to recall its ambassador, who only took up post last October as the emirate's first envoy in Baghdad since the August 1990 invasion.
Apart from war reparations, most UN sanctions on Iraq were lifted after Saddam's overthrow aside from some financial restrictions and controls on the supply of heavy weaponry.
Separately in the statement, Talabani said he held talks on Monday with the recently appointed US Ambassador to Baghdad Christopher Hill at which they discussed bilateral relations.
The Iraqi president hailed US counterpart Barack Obama's speech to the Muslim world in Cairo last week as "good and balanced," in the statement.
The website did not, however, indicate whether they discussed the case of five American contractors arrested in Baghdad on Friday over an attack in which another US national was killed.