Re: Kuwaiti POW Remains Identified

Date: January 03, 2004

"Kuwaiti POW remains in Iraq identified

Saturday 03 January 2004, 23:07 Makka Time, 20:07 GMT
Kuwaiti funeral for POWs whose remains have been identified

The remains of eight more Kuwaiti prisoners found in a mass grave in Iraq have been identified.

Kuwait's official KUNA news agency reported on Saturday that the remains were identified through DNA testing. It said the eight men had been taken prisoner during Iraq's 1990-91 occupation of Kuwait.

The announcement means that 53 POWs, including two Lebanese, a Saudi and an Egyptian whose remains were found in mass graves in Iraq following the US-led overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime in April, have now been identified.

Kuwait says thousands of its citizens and other nationals were taken prisoner after Saddam's forces invaded in August 1990 and occupied the Gulf state for seven months, but 605 of them remained unaccounted for following the 1991 Gulf war.

Apart from Kuwaiti nationals, these included 14 Saudis, five Egyptians, five Iranians, four Syrians, three Lebanese, one Bahraini, one Omani and one Indian, according to the Kuwaiti authorities.

Saddam's government always insisted it lost track of any prisoners from Kuwait during an uprising in southern Iraq that erupted after its troops were evicted from the emirate.

© 2003 Aljazeera"