Can’t confirm Iraq remains belong to missing Kuwaitis

DNA tests required

KUWAIT CITY, Feb 1, (KUNA): Kuwait can’t confirm immediately that the recently exhumed human remains in Iraq belong to Kuwaiti prisoners of war (POWs) or missing persons, a senior foreign ministry official has stated.

In a press statement on Saturday, Assistant Foreign Minister for International Organizations Nasser Al-Hain stated that it is not possible to identify these human remains – photos of which were circulated on social media outlets – unless they are sent to Kuwait and DNA tests are conducted.

The General Department of Criminal Evidence of the Kuwaiti Ministry of Interior is the sole body responsible for conducting DNA tests on the exhumed bodies and comparing the results with the genetic profiles of families of Kuwaiti POWS and missing persons, he explained.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)-spearheaded Tripartite

Commission, which was formed to ascertain the fate of persons who went missing during the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait in 1990 and 1991, issued a statement on Jan 30 about the discovery of this burial site.

There are specific work rules and a protocol, signed by members of Tripartite Commission, for searching for graves and handling the recovered remains, Al-Hain stated.

He pointed out that there was information about the new burial site, along with two others which were previously excavated, where human remains were recovered.

The excavation of the new site was on the agenda of the Tripartite Commission’s technical subcommittee which carried out the mission as per the agreed upon rules and protocol and transferred the recovered human remains to Iraq’s Medico-Legal Directorate (MLD) for DNA analyses, he clarified.