Iraq resumes Gulf War missing talks

US soldiers are back in Kuwait training for war

Iraqi and Kuwaiti officials have begun their first meeting in four years to discuss the fate of those who went missing during the 1991 Gulf War.

Kuwait wants to know what happened to more than 600 people it says disappeared after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990.

The fact that this meeting is taking place is very encouraging

Moin Qassis,
ICRC spokesman

Iraq says more than 1,000 of its own citizens have also been missing since the Gulf conflict.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which is chairing the meeting in Amman, Jordan, said it could not confirm the figures on either side.

Withdrawal

Neither the Iraqis nor the Kuwaitis made public comments before the closed-door meeting began on Wednesday morning, but an ICRC spokesman expressed optimism.

"The fact that this meeting is taking place is very encouraging," the spokesman, Moin Qassis said.

The issue has been an open sore in Kuwait

Iraq broke off the talks in January 1999, objecting to the presence of United States envoys and saying not enough pressure was being put on Kuwait to account for missing Iraqis.

Kuwait rejected that claim and says it cannot be held responsible for disappearances during Iraq's 1990-91 occupation.

Iraq agreed to restart talks in December - one in a series of steps Baghdad has taken in recent months to try to patch up relations with Kuwait.

As the prospect of another war looms, Iraq is keen to try to show it is co-operating with the will of the international community, the BBC's Caroline Hawley in Amman says.

UN envoy

An international commission was established nearly 12 years ago to try to resolve the issue of missing Kuwaiti people and property.

The Iraqi authorities have invited to Baghdad the UN official in charge of accounting for people and property that went missing during the invasion of Kuwait.

The envoy, Yuli Vorontsov, is due to visit Baghdad on 17 January - the first visit he has been allowed to make since he was appointed almost three years ago.

Mr Vorontsov is due to meet Iraqi officials on 18-19 January before travelling to Kuwait and other cities in the region, a UN spokeswoman said.