'Kuwait prepared to help Iraq resolve POWs remains issue' 

(MENAFN - Arab Times) Kuwait is ready to help Iraq address the issue of remains of Kuwaiti prisoners and Kuwaiti properties to quickly close this file, a senior government official said Sunday.

"Kuwait has been flexible in helping Iraq exit from Chapter VII (of the UN Charter) and is ready to offer assistance for the Iraqi side to finalize the issue of remains of Kuwaiti prisoners and Kuwaiti properties to speed up the closure of this file," Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah told reporters on sidelines of a reception by Bahrain Embassy on occasion of the Gulf Kingdom's 41st Independence Day.

Kuwait, he said, had asked the UN to expand the mandate of UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) to include the search for Kuwaiti properties and remains of prisoners.

UNAMI's mandate can be expanded as the term of Gennady Tarasov, UN high-level Coordinator for missing Kuwaiti and third country nationals and of missing Kuwaiti property, expires later this month.

Obligations
Sheikh Sabah said Iraq has honored many international obligations with little remaining to be met.
Kuwait is ready to provide assistance for Iraq to speed up the resolution of the file of remains of Kuwaiti prisoners, Kuwait national archive and properties.

Asked about His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al-Sabah's visit to Iraq, Sheikh Sabah said Kuwait and Iraq were preparing 10 cooperation agreements, and "once these agreements are ready, His Highness the Prime Minister will visit Iraq in return of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki's visit to Kuwait last March."

Sheikh Sabah said members of Kuwait-Iraq joint committee would be meeting during the first quarter next year.