Iraq offers reward for information about missing Kuwaitis, archive

Some 2,056 illegal residents issued driving licences in 2016

BAGHDAD, March 11, (Agencies): Iraq’s Defense Ministry announced high rewards for persons with credible information about whereabouts of remains of Kuwaiti missing persons, and national archive looted during Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait.

“Citizens who have any information about remains of Iraqis or Kuwaitis or Iranians lost during the Iran-Iraq war of the Gulf war, or regarding the Kuwaiti Amiri Archive and Kuwaiti properties, should come forward and provide us with them,” the ministry said in a statement Friday.

The ministry said it allocated high rewards for any person providing credible information.

The Iraqi government transferred the file of Kuwaiti missing persons from the Ministry of Human Rights to the Ministry of Defense.

Kuwait’s Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Al-Jarallah, in a statement last December, said he was confident that Iraq was “paying a great attention to close this painful humanitarian file.” Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990 and occupied the country for seven months, during which Iraqi forces killed hundreds of Kuwaiti and kidnapped many others. The Iraqi troops and looted government and private properties.

Meanwhile, an official from the central apparatus for adjusting the situation of Illegal Residents said 2,056 illegal residents were able to get driving licenses last year thanks to cooperation with the traffic department of the Interior Ministry.

Al-Jahra Governorate accounted for the biggest number of such documents with 1,183 followed by Al-Farwaniya — 316, Al-Ahmadi — 248, the Capital City — 227, Hawally — 60 and Mubarak Al-Kabeer — 22 licenses, said Abdullah AlFarhan, director of the information dept. of the system, in a statement to KUNA Saturday.

“The Ministerial Act No. 409 for 2011, regulating the issuance of driving licenses for such segment of people, exempted these people from the requirements applicable for others; they are treated in this regard as Gulf nationals,” he explained.

“An illegal resident who holds a valid ID is eligible for a driving license and can enjoy the facilitation offered by the law,” Al-Farhan pointed out. He added that the year 2011 saw the issuance of 2,617 licenses for illegal residents, compared with 2,251 in 2012, 2,531 in 2013, 2,328 in 2014 and 2,403 in 2015.

Global Center at the College of Business Studies in Kuwait University in collaboration with the US-based Booth School of Business in the University of Chicago is organizing a seminar on public administration for the executive directors of leading private companies in Kuwait.

Executive Director of the Global Center Dr Redha Behbehani disclosed the ongoing seminar sponsored by Kuwait & Gulf Link Transport Company (KGL), a leading logistic company in Kuwait and the Middle East, is scheduled to continue for one week each in February, March and April respectively. KUWAIT CITY, March 11: Amec Foster Wheeler announced the award of a contract by Petrochemical Industries Company K.S.C., a subsidiary of the Kuwait Petroleum Company, for the integration project between its Olefins III, Aromatics II and ZOR Refinery in the State of Kuwait. The contract covers Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) leading to Project Management Consultancy (PMC) for the project, reports Hydrocarbon Processing Company.

The new petrochemical facility will be integrated with the new Al-Zour 615,000-bpd refinery, which will be one of the largest refineries in the region.

“This award reflects our expertise, as well as our successful track record in large, complex FEEDs, and project management, said John Pearson, Amec Foster Wheeler’s President, Oil, Gas & Chemicals. It is directly aligned to our strategy of extending from FEED into later phase scopes in downstream, and to building on our existing strength in chemicals. I’m also delighted that this adds to our existing portfolio of work we are delivering for KPC’s group of companies, with multiple PMC contracts underway.”