Constructive meeting on the missing between Kuwait and Iraq
Kuwait-Iraq, Politics, 1/10/2003

Representatives from Kuwait, Iraq and Saudi Arabia held talks described as "very positive and constructive" face to face in Amman for the first time since 4 years during which they discussed the fate of hundreds of missing in the Gulf war, under the patronage of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) which announced that a new meeting will be held on January 22nd.

The ICRC press officer Mu'in Qassis told reporters that the talks which were held at the committee's headquarters, west Amman, and lasted for five hours were "very positive and constructive," adding that the representatives agreed to meet again in Amman on January 22nd.

He added that the "meeting marked the beginning of a dialogue and the three sides ( Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia ) met and listened to each other and dialogued in a good and constructive way." He confined to asserting "they had discussed all details," refusing to disclose more under the pretext that this will be not in the interests of the negotiations.

Replying to a question on the positives, Qassis said "Lasting for five hours is in itself a positive result." Qassis also refused any political link between the meeting and the accelerated political developments in the region. The name of the chairman of the Iraqi delegation to the meeting was not known, while the deputy chairman of the "the national committee for the prisoners and missing affairs" in Kuwait Ibrahim Majid al-Shahin presided over his country's delegation.

The Saudi ambassador to Jordan, Abdul Rahman Bin Nasser al-Awali, presided over his country's delegation, while the ICRC delegation was headed by George Komnino, the chairman of the ME and North Africa operations at the ICRC headquarters in Geneva.

The representatives of Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia came out from three meetings they had held with pleasant faces. al-Shahin said the meetings discussed only procedural issues, noting that Kuwait had debated a proposal calling for convening seven meetings with the first of which will be held on January 22nd and will be allotted to discuss fundamental files and issues.

Kuwait aserts that 605 persons of the Kuwaitis are still missing since the invasion of the Iraqi forces Kuwait in August 1990. While the Iraqi authorities say that some 1,000 Iraqis are also missing. This meeting is the first since Iraq had boycotted the talks following the American and British raids in December 1998.

Previous Stories:
  Iraq returns back art works for Kuwait   (12/23/2002)
  Iraq will resume negotiations on the fate of the missing   (12/19/2002)
  Al-Seyash: An Iraqi document admits Kuwaiti prisoners   (9/16/2002)

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