§ Dr. TongeTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Iraqi Government concerning the whereabouts of missing Kuwaiti nationals following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. [133430]
§ Mr. HainThe UK has consistently called on Iraq to end the suffering of the relatives of the 605 Kuwaitis and others missing since the Gulf War. The UK plays an active role in the Tripartite Commission process, chaired by the International Committee of the Red Cross, which seeks to account for the whereabouts of the missing. The process has been hampered, however, by continued Iraqi obstruction and since early 1999 Iraq has refused to attend Commission meetings. At the latest Consultation Meeting in Geneva on 21 June 2000, the UK delegation stress the urgent need for Iraq to return to the process. The UK has also sought to give added impetus to the process through Security Council resolution 1284 which provided for a high-level UN co-ordinator on this issue. I offered our full support to Mr. Yuli Vorontsov, who has taken up this post, which he called on me on 29 June.