LOC18:45
15:45 GMT
Foreign Ministry
KUWAIT, Feb 1 (KUNA) -- Kuwait can't confirm immediately that the recently exhumed human remains in Iraq belong to Kuwaiti prisoners of war (POWs) or missing persons, a senior foreign ministry official has stated.
In a press statement on Saturday, Assistant Foreign Minister for International Organizations Nasser Al-Hain stated that it is not possible to identify these human remains - photos of which were circulated on social media outlets - unless they are sent to Kuwait and DNA tests are conducted.
The General Department of Criminal Evidence of the Kuwaiti Ministry of Interior is the sole body responsible for conducting DNA tests on the exhumed bodies and comparing the results with the genetic profiles of families of Kuwaiti POWS and missing persons, he explained.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)-spearheaded Tripartite Commission, which was formed to ascertain the fate of persons who went missing during the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait in 1990 and 1991, issued a statement on January 30 about the discovery of this burial site.
There are specific work rules and a protocol, signed by members of Tripartite Commission, for searching for graves and handling the recovered remains, Al-Hain stated.
He pointed out that there was information about the new burial site, along with two others which were previously excavated, where human remains were recovered.
The excavation of the new site was on the agenda of the Tripartite Commission's technical subcommittee which carried out the mission as per the agreed upon rules and protocol and transferred the recovered human remains to Iraq's Medico-Legal Directorate (MLD) for DNA analyses, he clarified.
Al-Hain affirmed that initial indications show that these remains belong to Kuwaitis, then they will be transferred to Kuwait under the supervision of the International Committee of the Red Cross for further DNA tests and subsequent comparison with the genetic profiles of families of missing people.
Al-Hain asserted that the Foreign Ministry will contact families of the POWs and missing persons to update them about final results.
Al-Hain commended the tripartite commission, head of the tripartite commission and its sub-committee as well as the Iraqi technical team for their efforts to exhume the remains from the burial site.
He expressed hopes Kuwait's efforts, through the commission and the subcommittee, would led to identifying the fate of all Kuwaiti POWs and missing persons.
The Tripartite Commission and its technical sub-committee were set up in 1991 and 1994 respectively to help ascertain the fate of people missing in connection with the 1990-1991 Gulf War.
They are chaired by the ICRC, and composed of representatives of the Republic of Iraq, the State of Kuwait, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United States of America, the United Kingdom and the Republic of France. The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) joined later, in 2013, as an observer. (end)
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