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| Axis of Evil |
| Iraq ready to cooperate on Gulf War missing |
| 2002-06-17 |
| Iraq said it was ready to cooperate with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Kuwait to resolve the issue of persons missing since the 1991 Gulf War. But Iraq "will not take part in the meetings of the tripartite committee because of the presence of states that are not concerned by the issue," the foreign ministry added. Iraq has boycotted meetings on Kuwaiti POWs since December 1998, demanding the withdrawal of US, British and French representatives. It has however proposed the formation of an Arab League committee on the issue. The Kuwaiti government has rejected the Iraqi proposal. The Arab League wasn't happy that Iraq dismantled Kuwait, but it didn't think it was actually important enough to do something about. Kuwait maintains that 605 Kuwaiti and other nationals disappeared during the Iraqi occupation of the emirate from August 1990 to February 1991. Iraqi officials have admitted that their country took prisoners, but said they lost track of them during an uprising by Shiite Muslims in southern Iraq following the ouster from Kuwait. Iraq also says 1,142 of its nationals have been missing since the 1991 conflict. I'm surprised the number's that low, given the number who tried to get the hell out of Iraq when given the opportunity. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |