KUWAIT CITY, 8 October 2006 — Kuwait has received $11.2 billion in war reparations from Iraq for Baghdad’s 1990-1991 invasion and occupation of the emirate, an official report said yesterday.
The report by Kuwait’s compensation authority, published in Al-Qabas daily, said the UN Compensation Commission had so far approved $41.3 billion in war reparations for Kuwait.
The emirate has filed compensation claims worth $178 billion to the UNCC, set up by the UN Security Council after Saddam Hussein’s forces occupied Kuwait in 1990 before being ousted seven months later by a US-led coalition.
A majority of the claims were filed for damages in the oil sector, the lifeline of the state, and the environment, the report said.
Kuwaiti lawmakers have warned their government against giving in to “external pressures” to forgive part of the unpaid compensation, with some threatening to hold the government accountable.
The emirate, however, agreed in 2004 to an American request to substantially cut the estimated $16-billion debt owed to it by Iraq.
