Diplomatic push for 308 missing Kuwaitis

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NEW YORK, May 18 : The State of Kuwait Permanent Delegate at the United Nations Ambassador Tareq Al- Bannai has reaffirmed the necessity of pursuing special operations to locate the remains of the 308 missing Kuwaitis and the prisoners. Ambassador Al-Bannai, addressing a Security Council session late on Thursday, called on the international community to adopt a renewable mechanism to “move this file forward.” This multi-party operation has so far failed to identify the carcasses of half of the prisoners and the missing persons, he said, stressing that the operation must continue.

Ambassador Al-Bannai stressed on the necessity that the Security Council work out a mechanism to accelerate the search, proposing the assignment of a senior-level coordinator for this file, as the 1284 UNSG Security Council Resolution of 1999 stipulates. He lauded intensive efforts that had been exerted to collect information and evidence for preparing the 40th report on the issue to the UN Secretary-General, who is concerned with the file of the missing Kuwaitis, third-country citizens and Kuwaiti properties including the national archive, in line with the 4th article f the Resolution 2107 of 2013. He acclaimed the performance of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), and affirmed Kuwait’s support for completing its tasks of thrashing out pending matters, namely the file of the prisoners and the missing during its work period that expires in December 2025.

Al-Bannai expressed hope that all sticking files with Iraq be worked out during the mission’s set action period and appealed to the concerned authorities in Iraq to continue efforts at this level. Moreover, the Kuwaiti delegate indicated that in the event all these files have not been tackled for good, “we all ought to look together for other options.” He reiterated Kuwait’s affirmation with respect of the necessity that Iraq’s sovereignty and decisions be respected concerning the UNAMI presence in the country. Kuwait for its turn reserves the utter right regarding the file of the prisoners, the missing, and the properties, he stressed.

Kuwait during its non-permanent membership in the UNSG (2018-2019) pushed for adopting the Resolution 2474, with participation of 68 states, he said, noting that this resolution affirms the necessity that states need not deviate attention from prisoners’ issues in armed strifes. He finally underscored the necessity to maintain the UN follow-up on the events in this vein through the daily regular reports, filed to the UN Secretary General, until locating the last bones. The Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in Iraq called on Baghdad to double its efforts to speed up settling of the missing Kuwaiti and third-country nationals, and the missing Kuwaiti property, including the national archives, dossiers.

“As I said last time, swifter progress is needed,” Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, also head of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq, said in a briefing to a special UN Security Council session on Iraq Thursday. “And this must involve the overcoming of bureaucratic hurdles and immediate follow-up on outstanding issues,” She added. Hennis-Plasschaert stressed the urgent need for an uptick in activities to identify and further excavate burial sites. The UN official called for the reactivation of the joint committee on missing Kuwaiti property and described the pace of the current efforts to resolve these issues as too slow. “It is quite simple: the pace of the search and return of property, including the national archives, is currently too slow,” she said. (KUNA)

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