Kuwait to Host Talks on Gulf Environment Clean-Up
Date: 07-Dec-05
Country: SWITZERLAND
Author: Stephanie Nebehay
Khaled Ahmad Al-Mudaf, chairman of Kuwait's authority for assessing compensation for damages from Iraq's August 1990 invasion and seven-month occupation, made the announcement at the UN Compensation Commission (UNCC).
The UNCC, which finished examining claims from Iraq's neighbours in June, approved clean-up projects worth $252 million - rejecting most of the $50 billion compensation sought for pollution from oil dumped or set on fire by Iraqi troops.
The meeting, from December 17-18, will follow talks between officials from five countries (Kuwait, Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Jordan) in Geneva last month, according to Al-Mudaf.
"In response to the desire by claimant countries and Iraq to enhance regional cooperation, we have agreed to meet...to address a number of issues concerning regional cooperation, such as the establishment of a regional environmental rehabilitation advisory group...," Al-Mudaf told the UNCC's Governing Council, in a speech obtained by Reuters.
The aim was to define the advisory group's objectives and scope, and "establish the programme for regional cooperation", he told the start of a closed-door, three-day meeting.
He hoped UNCC funds used for clean-up projects would encourage long-term cooperation in dealing with environmental damage, including that suffered by Iraq.
Iraq is not eligible to receive clean-up funds from the UNCC, whose income derives from five percent of Iraqi oil sales.
However, Kuwait has suggested that World Bank grants could be a possible source of environmental funding for its former foe, according to UNCC sources.
The UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) has been assessing environmental damage in Iraq, including its ancient marshlands drained by Saddam Hussein as punishment in the early 1990s.
Last month the Nairobi-based agency called for a clean-up of contaminated industrial and military sites left over from wars in Iraq, saying $40 million was needed for the next stage.
