KUWAIT CITY, Oct 1: US Ambassador to Kuwait Richard Jones has dismissed a controversial suggestion made by the US chief civil administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, that Kuwait should forgive Iraq’s remaining debt of billions of dollars for 1991 Gulf war reparations, press reports said on Wednesday.
At a national day celebration at the Qatari embassy late on Tuesday, Jones clarified that Washington had not changed its policy of supporting Iraq’s commitment to pay 1991 Gulf war reparations.
Bremer’s proposal was made at a Pentagon press briefing last week and has since drawn harsh criticism from Kuwaiti officials and parliamentarians.
He suggested that both Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, owed some 98 billion dollars in war reparations from the 1990-91 Iraqi occupation of Kuwait, could forgive that debt since their gross domestic products were considerably higher than Iraq’s.
Bremer said that the issue would be raised trough diplomatic channels by the Iraqi government, and that the United States “would certainly encourage that.”
Post-Gulf war United Nations Resolution 1483 mandates that Iraq pay more than 40 nations for damages incurred from its occupation of Kuwait that led to the 1991 Gulf war.
Iraq has been paying off that debt through a UN fund using money it has earned from oil sales.
“The United States supports the Security Council resolution 1483 and I have no idea about what was stated by the civil administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer. What Bremer stated might have been a personal opinion,” said Ambassador Jones as quoted by al-Anbaa newspaper.
Jones confirmed that the US State Department had not changed its policy on Iraq continuing to pay 1991 Gulf war compensation guided by UN mandates, al-Watan newspaper added.
Although no official statement was issued by the Kuwaiti government, officials and MPs were quick to informally criticize Bremer’s suggestion at gatherings and through the media.
Kuwaiti Foreign Affairs minister Mohammed al-Sabah, who also attended the Qatari celebration, said UN Resolution 1483 could not be forgotten, newspapers reported.
“Kuwait will not give up its claim for any damages caused by the (1990) Iraqi invasion,” said minister for state and cabinet affairs Mohammed Dhaifallah al-Sharah at a diwaniyya (men’s gathering) earlier in the week.
A number of Kuwait MPs warned the government that it would face angry citizens if it bowed to any US pressure to drop the compensation.—dpa