Security Council Press Statement on Iraq/Kuwait

 

The following Security Council press statement was issued on 15 December by Council President Vitaly Churkin (Russian Federation):

The members of the Security Council received a briefing from Ambassador Gennady Tarasov, the Secretary-General’s High-Level Coordinator, on the thirty-second report of the Secretary-General, in accordance with paragraph 14 of Security Council resolution 1284 (1999).

The members of the Security Council appreciated the efforts of Ambassador Tarasov and the important work of the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Tripartite Commission and its Technical Subcommittee during the reporting period.

The members of the Security Council welcomed the continued cooperation by the Governments of Iraq and Kuwait, and their high-level commitments to full implementation of all Iraqi obligations to Kuwait under the relevant resolutions.  Nevertheless, the members of the Security Council stressed the need for Iraq to build on the steps already taken to fully meet these commitments, specifically finding Kuwaiti or third-country nationals, property and archives.  The members of the Security Council once again expressed their deepest sympathy and condolences to the families of those involved.

The members of the Security Council welcomed the active participation by the Governments of Iraq and Kuwait in the efforts undertaken in the framework of the Technical Subcommittee, including the joint exploratory missions in Iraq.  The members of the Security Council noted the potential for these missions to become an effective functional mechanism to fully probe the fate of missing persons and urged continued cooperation to translate efforts into tangible results.

The members of the Security Council welcomed the Government of Iraq’s approval for an inter-ministerial committee to lead and coordinate efforts with regard to the Kuwaiti national archives.  The members of the Security Council noted the Secretary-General’s concern that no substantial progress had been made on clarifying the fate of the Kuwaiti national archives and noted that their previous calls for greater efforts with regard to the Kuwaiti national archives and other properties had so far yielded limited results.  The members of the Security Council therefore repeated their call for an intensification of efforts to clarify the whereabouts of the archives through the inter-ministerial committee and report its results to the United Nations.

The members of the Security Council called for Iraq and Kuwait to continue to act in the spirit of the confidence- and cooperation-building process, which should contribute to the further strengthening of their good neighbourly relations and enhancing of regional stability.

The members of the Security Council supported the Secretary-General’s recommendation to extend the financing of the activities of the High-level Coordinator for a further period of six months in order to continue to build upon the existing momentum towards the full implementation of paragraph 14 of Security Council resolution 1284 (1999).

The members of the Security Council expressed their willingness to consider this matter in the context of their review of the report by the Secretary-General, pursuant to paragraph 5 of resolution 1859 (2008).

* *** *

For information media • not an official record