Iraq ‘determined’ to hand back to Kuwait all looted properties
There are still other ‘unresolved files’: Al-Yousefi
KUWAIT, Aug 29, (KUNA): The visiting Iraqi Foreign Undersecretary, Hazem Al-Yousefi, has anew affirmed his country’s government is exerting relentless efforts to tackle pending files with Kuwait.
Moreover, it is doing its best to bring back “everything that had been looted during the blatant aggression” on the country, he re-affirmedalluding to the aggression, waged against Kuwait by troops of the ousted regime on Aug 2, 1990.
Al-Yousefi, who expressed pleasure for visiting Kuwait, re-noted that the Iraqi authorities had handed over to their Kuwaiti counterparts “documents, Kuwaiti archive (items) and properties” during a visit to Kuwait by President Barham Saleh in November.
These properties had been located in many areas in Iraq “and we had exerted tremendous and relentless efforts to locate them,” he added.
Among the returned objects was a precious painting that was in possession of smugglers. Iraqi intelligence personnel had succeeded in locating them and the missing painting.
Gifted
Furthermore, a sword that had been gifted by the British Queen, in 1984, to the late Amir (of Kuwait), Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, had been also found, the Iraqi foreign undersecretary elaborated.
He explained that that 42,000 books that were handed back to Kuwait, yesterday, had been collected from libraries of Baghdad University, Al-Nahrain University, other universities and Iraqi citizens.
“We still have more than 100,000 books that will be delivered to Kuwait,” Al-Yousefi said. Nevertheless, there are still other “unresolved files” with respect of the missing, other Kuwaiti properties part of the archive, Al-Yousefi said, also vowing to collect and give them back to the Kuwait.
Tackled
As to the issue of Kuwaiti real-estates in Iraq, he described it as a thorny file however “things in this respect are proceeding in a good manner and it will be tackled in the near future.”
Explaining further, he indicated that the competent Kuwaiti and Iraqi authorities were coordinating to resolve it. “I believe it won’t take a long time.”
He re-affirmed Baghdad’s keenness to elevate the level of ties with Kuwait to higher and bolster cooperation in the economic, commercial, construction and business sectors.
Al-Yousefi is currently visiting Kuwait -- with company of other Iraqi officials.
The Iraqi delegation on Wednesday delivered back 42,000 books that had been stolen by personnel of the former regime during the aggression on Kuwait and the occupation period (1990-1991) in a statement to Kuwait News Agency.