Prisoner talks between Iraq and Iran

Iraq has stressed that the failure of the recent talks with Iran on the question of prisoners and war missing does not mean halting negotiations between the two countries.

In a press conference he held in Baghdad on Monday, the chairman of the Iraqi side in the Iraqi-Iranian committee on the prisoners and the missing, Fahmi al-Qeisi, said, "There are higher levels and higher channels open to revive the talks."

Al-Qeisi once again held Iran responsible for the failure of negotiations that were held in Baghdad at the end of July and the beginning of this month. He added that the Iranian side views this matter as a commercial matter or a bid for tender, at a time when the ceiling to work on the question of prisoners and the missing is not supposed to exceed six months.

He said achievements in this area reached only 5%, stressing that Iran is still holding 11,000 Iraqis, according to the International Red Cross, noting that that Iraq has evidence that there are still another 15,000 Iraqi prisoners.

Al-Qeisi asserted that Iraq released some 39,131 Iranian prisoners directly following the end of war between the two countries in August 1988, while Iran released 50,098 Iraqi prisoners.

For its part, Iran estimates the number of its soldiers who are still held in Iraq at 2,806 and accuses Iraq of foiling the negotiations by refusing to sign the minutes of the talks, a matter which was denied by Iraq.

The question of war prisoners and the missing constitutes the main obstacle between the two countries 11 years after the end of the war, besides their political disputes on returning back Iraqi planes that were sent to Iran before the end of the Gulf War as well as the backing given by each country to the opposition in the other one.