News-Info-Alerts

Re: Four More Kuwaiti POWs Identified as Martyrs

From: POW-MIA InterNetwork

Date: August 25, 2003

"KUWAIT

Editor-in-Chief: Ahmed Jarallah
DNA finds another 4 martyrs

KUWAIT: Four more Kuwaiti prisoners of war (POWs), who had been arrested by the Iraqi forces during their occupation of Kuwait in 1990-91, were Sunday confirmed to have been martyred. This announcement came after DNA tests, of four remains recovered from a mass grave in southern Samawa, confirmed these belonged to four Kuwaitis who had been taken captive by the Iraqis, says Fayez Al-Enezi - official spokesman of the team which has been tasked with searching for the POWs in Iraq.

The four have been identified as Farhan Harbi Sakit Al-Dhafiri, Ebeid Falah Hsaini Al-Mutairi, Mohammad Ghazzai Saad Ali Al-Mutairi and Abderrahman Saad Marzouq Al-Otaibi. Al-Enezi told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) the Interior Ministry's Forensics Department had confirmed the identities of the four martyrs and he prayed God Almighty will have mercy on their souls and bless their families and loved ones and give them solace.

Martyr Farhan Harbi Sakit Al-Dhafiri was born in 1952 and was a Corporal in the Ministry of Defense. He was captured on Oct 1, 1990. Martyr Ebeid Falah Hsaini Al-Mutairi was a student, born in 1970 and captured on Oct 24, 1990. Martyr Mohammed Ghazzai Saad Ali Al-Mutairi was also a student, born in 1972 and also captured on Oct 24, 1990. Martyr Abderrahman Saad Marzouq Al-Otaibi was a student, born in 1973 and captured on Nov 13, 1990.

This brings the number of Kuwaiti POWs who have been identified among Samawa mass grave martyrs to 17. The search team on June 29 declared Jassem Al-Sammak and Lebanese Daad Al-Hariri among the martyrs. June 8 brought news of the identification of the remains of martyr Saad Meshaal Aswad Al-Enezi. Ahmad Abdullah Abderrasoul Al-Qallaf was listed among the martyrs on June 14 and Saleh Ali Saoud Al-Hayyani was declared martyr on July 1.

Four more POWs were listed as martyrs on July 8 and identified as Nasser Hussein Umran Al-Enezi, Abdellatif Nasser Hussein Al-Wohaib, Mahmoud Sayyid Ridha Sayyid Hasan and Anaam Sayyid Ahmad Sayyid Ismael Al-Eidan. POWs Fayhan Mohammad Layla Al-Mutairi and Nasser Shereef Fahad Al-Khaldi were listed as martyrs on July 26 and on Aug 3 Saffah Ebjad Alloush Al-Mutairi and Lafi Fayhan Mohammad Layla Al-Mutairi were confirmed as martyrs. Over 605 Kuwaitis and third-country nationals were taken prisoner by the forces of Saddam Hussein's regime during the seven-month occupation of Kuwait in 1990-91.

Forensic teams from Kuwait are inspecting the mass graves and tracking down information on the 605 people who Kuwait says disappeared 12 years ago. Apart from Kuwaiti nationals, those missing or taken prisoner include 14 Saudis, five Egyptians, five Iranians, four Syrians, three Lebanese, one Bahraini, a Omani and an Indian, according to Kuwaiti authorities. Saddam's government insisted it lost track of any prisoners from Kuwait during an uprising in southern Iraq that erupted after its ouster from the emirate in the 1991 Gulf War.

Exhumed

More than a 130 samples from the Samawa grave site are being tested to see if they match DNA samples collected from families of the missing. Remains have also been recently exhumed from graves in the Kuwaiti desert where unidentified victims of the Iraqi occupation had been buried. Meanwhile, Abdullah Al-Mutairi, brother of martyr Obaid Falah Al-Mutairi says, "We believe my brother is a martyr because he gave his soul to this country." Fahd, another brother of Obaid, feels, "despite our grief and sorrow, we felt comfortable when we received news of his martyrdom, knowing he is a martyr for Allah."
Mishal Al-Mutairi, the martyr's cousin prayed to Almighty Allah to give Obaid a place in heaven. He also prayed for the safe return home of all POWs who may be still be alive. Mohammed Al-Mutairi, another cousin of the martyr criticized the Kuwaiti government for receiving Al-Samurai as a guest in Kuwait. He said Samurai is the same man who headed the Iraqi intelligence in 1991, and escaped from the Iraqi regime in 1996. Most family members of the martyr had mixed feelings of sorrow and anger due to the long wait - 13 years -as they kept hoping Obaid was still alive, especially after hearing rumours last year Obaid was alive and receiving treatment in one of the hospitals.

Obaid's sister Umm Bader said, "We have been waiting for a long time to see Obaid alive. After all the crimes committed by Iraq against us, we repay them by sending foodstuff and humanitarian aid and sending Iraqi casualties to London to receive treatment, while we the Kuwaiti victims were not comforted by anyone nor provided help. And now we repay Iraqis for killing our sons and brothers by opening our country for them to visit. "Iraqis humiliated us during the occupation. They looted our property and do they deserve our help?" she added. Sixteen-year-old Hmoud, son of martyr Farhan Harbi Al-Dhafiri, feels the absence of his father, and says "My father had joined the Peninsula Shield forces in Saudi Arabia before the invasion, and he was taken prisoner in October 1990 by the Iraqi forces.

Resistance

"My father was part of a group of six Kuwaitis who joined the resistance during the occupation. He was arrested by the Iraqis while trying to enter Kuwait from Saudi Arabia and was imprisoned at the Northern Jahra Police Station. "Then an unidentified caller informed us he had been moved to the Juvenile Prison and that was the last we ever heard about him. Hmoud thanked HH the Amir who, he said, "showered us with his kindness and generosity and provided us with education."

Umm Hmoud said, "the death of my husband is an honour for my family. We will remain proud of him for ever." Farhan's youngest son says he will join the military and follow in the footsteps of his father. He hopes a decision will be soon issued to naturalize families of martyrs. Khalaf Al-Otaibi, brother of martyr Abdulrahman Al-Otaibi said "Abdulrahman was a 17-year-old boy when the Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait. He was a fresh soldier, a sharp shooter and always full of life."

"We decided to leave for Saudi Arabia a week after the invasion which drastically changed his disposition. He turned melancholic, quiet and started keeping aloof." He desperately wanted to go back to Kuwait and resist the Iraqis, Al-Otaibi said. "He entered Kuwait Nov 3, 1990 along with some of his friends." He had told us he was going to Al-Sharqiya but later on we came to know that he left through Hafr Al-Baten to Kuwait, where he was arrested by the Iraqis and jailed in the Juvenile Prison from where he was moved to Basra and finally to Ramadi, said Al-Otaibi.

"We were following up for any information about his whereabouts through the National Committee for Missing and POWs Affairs and through other POWs who were returned to Kuwait," Al-Otaibi said. Al-Otaibi went on to say that in 1992 Omair Al-Ajmi, a POW had written a letter to the Red Cross in which he had described about Abdulrahman. "Later on the committee informed me that around 141 POWs were killed by the regime. But they didn't have any evidence or proof about the fate of Abdulrahman."

"Samples of DNA were collected from our mother and sister and sometime later I was informed that the remains of my brother had been located. I had to work hard to prepare our family members before breaking the sad news to them," he added. The whole world should know about the viscous nature of Saddam, Al-Otaibi said and urged the media to highlight the sufferings of his family through TV, satellite channels and other media to prove the cruelty of Saddam's regime.

By Najeh Bilal, Hanan Abdu Maboud and Agencies

Kuwait News
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