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I forgot to include the following Home Office press release in my news digest. Please include links to the reports that you provide. Thanks. Subject: RUSSIAN YURI VORONTSOV MEETS BRITISH MINISTER FCO PETER HAIN > 29 June 2000 > > Middle East Foreign Office Minister, Peter Hain [from Wales, UK where H.E.L.P. > was initiated 1997], at the British Foreign Office on 29th met 10am with > Russian, > Yuli Vorontsov, the UN Secretary-General's High-Level Coordinator on Kuwaiti > detainees still held in Iraq since 1990-1991 and stolen property retained in > Iraq. > > Following the meeting, Peter Hain said that he was very pleased to have the > opportunity this morning to discuss with Yuli Vorontsov the question of the > 605 > Kuwaitis and others awaited since the Gulf War, and stolen Kuwaiti property. > > The UK continues to play a leading role in the Tripartite Commission process > which strives to account for the whereabouts of the Kuwaitis and > third-nationals. > > Iraq currently refuses to cooperate with the process. It is appalling that so > many years > after the Gulf War, the relatives of the missing, some of whom are here in > the UK, > still have no news of whether their loved ones are alive or dead. > > There are few families in Kuwait untouched by this tragic situation. > He urged Mr Vorontsov to do what he could to bring international pressure to > bear on > this issue, for the sake of those families, in the hope that Iraq will > re-engage with the > process and allow the truth to be known. > > He also welcomed Mr Vorontsov's recent Report to the UN Security Council which > shed light on the considerable amounts of property stolen by Iraq during its > illegal > invasion of Kuwait and which have yet to be returned. He assured him that he > would > have the UK's full support in these difficult tasks. > > During the evening Minister Peter Hain attended dinner with the resident > Ambassador in London from The State of Kuwait. > > Notes to Editors > > 1. This is the first visit to UK by Mr Yuli Vorontsov in his present capacity. > > 2. The Tripartite Commission is comprised of the [1] UK, USA, France, Saudi > Arabia, > [2] Iraq and [3] Kuwait. The Commission meets in Geneva under the Chairmanship > of the International Committee of the Red Cross/Crescent. [Riyahd Agreement > 1991] > > 3. Since January 1999 Iraq has refused to attend meetings. The most recent > meeting > was on 21 June 2000 when other members of the Commission met in Geneva to > discuss outstanding cases. > > 4. To put the number of detainees held by Iraq in relation to the whole > population in perspective, > the equivalent number taken from Kuwait, in terms of the UK population would > be 60,000. > > ====================================================================== > > Hostages' Envoys for Liberty of Prisoners in Iraq > <A HREF="http://www.angelfire.com/journal/kuwaiti605">http://www.angelfire.com > /journal/kuwaiti605</A> > > WALES, UK > -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This is a discussion list run by the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq For removal from list, email soc-casi-discuss-request@lists.cam.ac.uk Full details of CASI's various lists can be found on the CASI website: http://welcome.to/casi