The Hindu : They are PoWs

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Mar 11, 2002

Opinion

Opinion - Letters to the Editor

They are PoWs

Sir, — This is with reference to the letter from the Embassy of Iraq `Iraq and PoWs' (March 6) which was a response to Kesava Menon's news report `Kuwait still waiting for PoWs'.

In the letter, Salah Al-Mukhtar denies the presence of prisoners of war belonging to Kuwait and other countries in Iraqi jails.

In fact, the U.N. Security Council confirms the presence of these PoWs and has demanded their release and the return of looted property. There are still thousands of Iranian PoWs in Iraqi jails.

The tripartite commission in charge of tackling the issue of Kuwaiti and third country prisoners held in Iraq is yet to meet.

The other members, besides Kuwait and Iraq, are the International Committee of the Red Cross, Saudi Arabia, the United States, the United Kingdom and France.

The Iraqi side has stopped attending the meetings since 1998, hindering the release of more than 600 Kuwaiti and others held since 1990. The Iraqi regime refuses to coordinate with Yuli Vorontsov, international coordinator in charge of the issue.

Mr. Mukhtar is denying the presence of any PoWs in Iraqi jails and accusing Kuwait of distortion of facts.

That means he is also faulting the International Committee of the Red Cross and the U.N. and the tripartite committee which are working zealously to solve this humanitarian issue.

Mubarak O. Al-Ajmi,

Kuwaiti Embassy,
New Delhi

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