PANEL APPOINTED BY COMPENSATION COMMISSION'S GOVERNING COUNCIL; CONCLUDES FOUR-DAY REVIEW OF CLAIM BY KUWAIT OIL COMPANY

Press Release
SC/6252
IK/201

PANEL APPOINTED BY COMPENSATION COMMISSION'S GOVERNING COUNCIL; CONCLUDES FOUR-DAY REVIEW OF CLAIM BY KUWAIT OIL COMPANY

GENEVA, 2 August (UN Information Service) -- A four-day oral hearing concluded Thursday, 1 August, on a claim filed by the Kuwait Oil Company seeking compensation for the blowout of oil wells in the country by Iraqi troops at the end of the Gulf War. The company is seeking over $950 million from Iraq to cover costs incurred in putting out oil-well fires. The hearing, which took place in closed meetings, was convened by a Panel of Commissioners appointed by the Governing Council of the United Nations Compensation Commission. The Panel is expected to conclude its deliberations and present a report and recommendations by the end of November. The Governing Council is expected to consider them at its initial session in early 1997. Representatives of Iraq participated in the oral proceedings on 29, 30 and 31 July as "observers", after having submitted a request for the Panel to postpone them until the Commission's Governing Council could resolve a separate Iraqi request for the Council to permit Iraq to obtain funds from the Commission's Compensation Fund in order to enable it to hire legal counsel and experts. Iraq's request to the Governing Council, which was received on 27 July, asserts that Iraq is unable to finance proper legal defence due to the embargo in place under Security Council resolution 661 (1990). In its request, Iraq also raises a number of issues relating to the extent and scope of its participation in the proceedings before the Commission. The Governing Council concluded its third session this year on 23 July; its next session is scheduled for October. Representatives of the Government of Iraq presented arguments to the Panel in support of its request on 29 July, and representatives of the Company and the Government of Kuwait responded on 30 July. After deliberating on the matter, the Panel issued a procedural ruling at its morning session of 31 July that concluded that, under the Commission's Rules for Claims Procedure, it currently had no power to grant the request, and that even a short postponement of the oral proceedings would disrupt the Panel's work plan and prevent it from finishing its review of the claim within the applicable time limit. Following the issuance of the procedural ruling, the Iraqi delegation withdrew from the oral proceedings.

* *** *