Associated Press, THE JERUSALEM POST
Authorities said Sunday they have identified the remains of 12 Kuwaitis who were among hundreds missing since the Iraqi invasion of the country 14 years ago and the Gulf War that ended it seven months later.
The remains were found in mass graves in neighboring Iraq after the war that toppled Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein over a year ago. The search for 438 others, including non-Kuwaiti residents, continues.
A team that has been searching Iraq for the missing since the fall of Saddam said in a statement the 12 men were identified when samples from their remains matched those taken from family members.
The men included students, civil servants, policemen and a National Guard serviceman. During the occupation, Iraqi forces seized members of the resistance, Kuwaitis who carried their flag or portraits of the emir Sheik Jaber Al Ahmed Al Sabah and students who sprayed anti-Saddam graffiti on walls.
Relatives had held some hope their loved ones could be found in Iraqi jails after the fall of Baghdad. However, searches came up empty and none of them has been found alive.
Until the end of the Baathist regime, Saddam's officials refused to fully cooperate with United nations efforts to account for the missing. They maintained all Gulf War prisoners had been released or were lost during the 1991 Gulf War and its aftermath.
Ties between Kuwait and Iraq have resumed since the fall of Saddam.
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