KUWAIT, 22 April — The Kingdom and Kuwait yesterday endorsed a list of Saudi nationals eligible for owning residential units at New Khairan in the neutral zone separating the two countries.
The list of 840 Saudis, whose claims to residential plots in the area have previously been established, was prepared by Saudi Ambassador to Kuwait Ahmad ibn Hamad Al-Yahya and Jassem Al-Awn, head of a Kuwaiti technical team tasked with the execution of agreements on the neutral zone.
Al-Yahya said yesterday’s move came as part of implementing terms of an agreement concluded 16 years ago between the Kingdom and Kuwait on the status of the neutral zone.
The ambassador added that the signing of the list was the final step toward granting title deeds of the land to Saudi citizens who had been residents of the neutral zone.
As part of an earlier agreement two residential areas — Al-Wafra and New Khairan — were allotted to rehabilitate these Saudis.
Housing units have been built on 400 plots in Al-Wafra area with loans granted by the Real Estate Development Fund following directives from the Saudi government.
The official endorsement came as a result of constant efforts exerted by the Kuwaiti government and the Saudi Embassy to resolve the issue. The agreement stipulates that the Kuwaiti government will advise the municipal authorities to grant the title deeds of these plots to the claimants. When the title deeds are ready the claimants will be called to the Saudi Embassy for collecting the documents, the ambassador added.
Al-Awn said an amicable settlement was possible thanks to the brotherly spirit among the people of the two countries. He said contacts had begun to settle the issue since the establishment of the neutral zone on July 7, 1965, and they culminated in the Riyadh Agreement of Nov. 7, 1988, which resolved matters concerning ownership of property by Saudi nationals in the Kuwaiti side of the zone. He pointed out that several conditions and principles set by the agreement have already been implemented by a joint inspection and supervision committee.
Al-Awn said the Kuwaiti government had received 1,280 requests by Saudi nationals who were eligible for compensation for property in the area.
