Kuwait/Iraq : UN approves Kuwaiti compensation claims

Published: 30 July 2009 11:03 GMT

The UN’s Compensation Commission (UNCC) has approved and awarded 10 Kuwaiti claims for damages against Iraq worth a total $430m.

The claims are for damages and losses suffered during Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

« This latest round of payments brings the overall amount of compensation made available to date by the commission to nearly $28bn, » the UNCC said in a statement on 30 July.

Kuwait’s compensation claims have become a subject of much debate in recent weeks, as Iraq is seeking to either slow or halt entirely the reparations it pays to its neighbours, of which the oil-rich emirate is the main recipient.

Following the 1990 invasion and subsequent liberation of Kuwait by a coalition of countries led by the US, the UN decided that Iraq should pay $50bn in reparation for the damage caused to its infrastructure and economy.

Baghdad had been making payments by passing on 30 per cent of the country’s oil revenues. However, was cut to 5 per cent after the US-led invasion deposed Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki says the country should not be punished for a war propagated by the deposed dictator, and that the country needs retain its oil revenues to rebuild its shattered infrastructure. Kuwait, however, opposes the proposal.

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