As Tarasov leaves office, Ban opts for UNAMI to take over Iraq-Kuwait issues

15 December, 2012


UNITED NATIONS, Dec 15 (KUNA) ­­ As Gennady Tarasov, the UN high­level Coordinator for missing Kuwaiti and third country nationals and of missing Kuwaiti property, is expected to leave his post later this month, Secretary ­General Ban Ki­ moon late Friday said he is exploring options for the UN to take over those issues during the next few months and could not find better than the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) to do it.

“I am still exploring the best approach for the next period for the work of the United Nations in this field,” he said in a report to the Security Council. “There are several options I am considering. These include asking the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) to fulfill this role, an approach both parties noted was acceptable to them.” He said this is his favorite too.

“Based on my consultations with the two Governments, I believe that intensified UN activities on the ground in assisting the Government of Iraq could yield concrete results on the issue of Kuwaitis missing persons and property. UNAMI could be particularly well suited for this task and would continue to allow me to report to the Council on the implementation and progress made on both issues,” he suggested.

He said he shared with both Governments “my view that UNAMI, with its large human rights presence and its offices in Iraq and Kuwait, and ability to engage with relevant authorities in Iraq and Kuwait, could be well positioned to address these issues on a continuous basis inside Iraq.” Both parties, he noted, welcomed a continued United Nations role and were amenable to folding these activities into UNAMI’s mandate, but under certain conditions for Kuwait, most notably the fulfilment by Iraq of its border related obligations.

He said Kuwait had expressed hope that the Council would establish a new mechanism under Chapter VI of the UN Charter either through i) the appointment of a new High­Level Coordinator; ii) the appointment of a new Special Representative; or iii) the expansion of the UNAMI mandate to include the issues of missing Kuwaiti and third country nationals and that of missing Kuwaiti property after Iraq’s fulfilment of its other outstanding obligations, specifically those related to the border.

Ban said although Iraq would prefer to terminate Tarasov’s mandate and address this issue bilaterally with Kuwait, but it would not object to folding this file into UNAMI’s mandate.

Other options, Ban suggested to the Council to choose from, are “appointing an interim Coordinator under the existing financial arrangements; replacing the current Coordinator upon his retirement with another one; or asking someone from United Nations headquarters to assume this mandate.”

The Council is scheduled to examine the report on Monday when Tarasov briefs the members for the last time before he leaves office.

Ban said the next few months represent a “crucial confidence­building period” for Kuwait and Iraq to resolve their differences, and said that a “historic opportunity was at hand to put the past behind them and usher in a new era of cooperation,” emphasizing the imperative for Iraq to move quickly in fulfilling all its obligations under relevant Security Council resolutions.

“I view the next few months as a crucial confidence­building period between Iraq and Kuwait that will hopefully lead to the expeditious resolution of outstanding multilateral and bilateral issues between them,” he said in the report released late Friday.

During the next six months, he said, the two parties “can count on the full support of the United Nations to facilitate the normalization of their relations.” He reiterated his “commitment to resolve the issues of missing Kuwaiti and third country nationals and that of missing Kuwaiti property, including its national archives, as soon as possible” with the cooperation of the two parties.

Ban visited Kuwait and Iraq December 5 and 6 to consult with both Governments on the UN role in facilitating Iraq’s implementation of its obligations towards Kuwait.

“During my recent visit to the two countries and my meetings, in particular with (His Highness) the Amir of Kuwait and the Prime Minister of Iraq, I witnessed a positive disposition on the part of both parties to move forward and address outstanding issues, which, I trust, will be conducive to further progress on the issues of missing Kuwaiti persons and property,” he noted.

He stated in the report that Iraq continues to make “steady progress toward regaining its rightful place in the region, the Arab world and the broader international community,” however, he added, “while I believe that Iraq has demonstrated goodwill on the issue of missing persons, it can do more on this, and even more so on the issue of missing property, including the archives.” “I fully recognize the importance of the issues of missing

On the issue of missing Kuwaitis, Ban said that since his last report to the Council last June, more than 10,000 trenches have been dug in the search of missing remains. “However, these efforts remain hampered by the lack of precise information and have not yet yielded results.” He added that Iraq even sent staff for training in Australia, indicated its intention to purchase new equipment for the localization and the exhumation of remains, and interviewed in prison some 50 officials of the former Iraqi regime who denied any knowledge of possiblegrave­sites where the remains of missing Kuwaitis might be buried.

He said Tarasov met last month with the Kuwaiti Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Sabah Khalid Al­Hamad Al­Sabah, who “did not expect the mandate to continue until all the remaining missing were found, however, additional progress was expected in the search for missing Kuwaitis.”

On the return of the Kuwaiti property, Ban said that although a number of items were found in Iraq and returned to Kuwait during the reporting period, “no significant progress has been made in the search for Kuwait’s national archive, nor has credible information about its fate or whereabouts emerged.”

“While the fate of the Kuwaiti national archive has yet to be discovered, Iraq has demonstrated, by finding other missing Kuwaiti properties, that its credible and sustained efforts on this file were bearing results,” he said.


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