Security Council concerned over inactivity on issues pending since 1990 Gulf war

The Security Council today urged all parties to make concerted efforts in determining the fate of Kuwaitis and other nationals missing since Iraq’s 1990 invasion, and expressed concern over the lack of progress in finding the Kuwaiti national archive.

Gennady Tarasov, the High-level Coordinator for the issue of missing Kuwaiti and third country nationals and the repatriation of Kuwaiti property, briefed the Council on the latest report of the Secretary-General concerning the matter, which noted that the remains of only 236 of the 605 missing persons had been identified.

The Council said that it regretted the stalling of exhumation activities carried out by the Iraqi Ministry of Human Rights, noting that only one additional case had been identified since the previous report.

“Council members again expressed their deepest condolences and sympathy to the families of those involved,” the 15-member body said in a statement read out by the President of the Security Council and Deputy Permanent Representative of Croatia, Ranko Vilovic.

“The Members of the Security Council expressed their concern at the absence of progress on clarifying the fate of the Kuwaiti national archives,” he added.

Mr. Vilovic, who holds the rotating presidency for this month, noted the intentions of both Governments to co-operate on this issue and hoped that further progress would be made during the coming months.