News-Info-Alerts

Re: Kuwaiti POW Files To Be Kept Open

From: POW-MIA InterNetwork

Date: June 19, 2003

"Kuwait to keep POWs file open - Vorontsov briefs NCMPA chief

JEDDAH, June 17, (KUNA): The file of Kuwaiti POWs issue will remain open, and will only be closed until the fate of each and every Kuwaiti POW, is known, Sheikh Dr Mohammad Al-Sabah, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and acting Finance and Planning Minister told KUNA here Monday.

Sheikh Mohammad called on the Iraqi people, all government and non-government agencies to resume search for Kuwaiti POWs, and cooperate to resolve this humanitarian cause. Sheikh Mohammad made the statement following the wrap up of the 87th meeting of the GCC foreign ministers, held in Jeddah. He added search and investigations for Kuwait's POWs were still in progress, and the issue will remain on top of Kuwait's priorities.

Finding the remains of some of the 605 POWs held in Iraq prior to the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime will not mean the issue, has ended, he asserted.

Commenting on the recommendations issued by the GCC ministerial council, he said they go in harmony with the peace-loving nature of the Gulf peoples. But he highlighted the council had denounced terrorism and had strongly condemned the terrorist bombings in Saudi Arabia and Morocco.

The council, Sheikh Mohammad added, has called for holding an international conference on combating terrorism soon, so as to root out this phenomenon. He conveyed the council's condemnation of the crimes committed by the ex-Iraqi regime shown to the world with the discovery of mass graves in Iraq. "Such crimes were against international norms and Islamic values," he noted.

The Kuwaiti official informed newsmen that the council debated several issues important to the region, including terrorism, practices of repressive regimes, the situation in Iraq and the Palestinian cause. Sheikh Mohammad wished stability would be restored soon to Iraq, and a national government would be formed there to preserve the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity. The Kuwaiti official voiced GCC countries' support for the outcome of the Sharm El-Sheikh summit, and the 'roadmap to peace' between Palestinians and the Israelis.

The efforts of GCC countries to fight terrorism were on the right path, but needed more coordination between GCC countries' securities agencies, he noted.

He also highlighted the importance of boosting international cooperation to combat all forms of international terrorism. Meanwhile, the head of the Kuwaiti National Commitee for Missing and POWs Affairs (NCMPA) Sheikh Salem Al-Sabah met with UN high-level coordinator for the Kuwaiti POWs and property Yuli Vorontsov where they discussed Monday's Security Council meeting that touched on the issues of Kuwaiti POWs and stolen property.

Sheikh Salem in statements to KUNA said the meeting covered Vorontsov's report on the POWs to be submitted to the Security Council on Aug 27. He said coordination is ongoing with the investigative committee headed by Kuwaiti Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Mohammed Al-Khaled Al-Sabah especially on discovering the identity of the remains of POWs believed to have been killed and buried in the mass graves found in Iraq. The committee has ensured the presence of International Committee of the Red Cross during the digging out of remains to make certain that the operation is documented and conducted professionally.


Kuwait News
Tel: + 4813566/4849144, Fax:+ 4818267
Email: info@arabtimesonline.com"