Iraq Agrees to Exchange Wounded POWs With Iran

GENEVA —  Iraqi Foreign Minister Tarik Aziz said Tuesday that his country is willing to begin repatriating sick and wounded prisoners from its eight-year-old war with Iran, apparently clearing the way for such an exchange.

Iran’s chief negotiator on prisoners of war, Ataollah Mohajerani, confirmed that the exchange can go ahead. “It now depends on the Red Cross to arrange the timing,” he told the Iranian news agency IRNA in Geneva.

Aziz, speaking to reporters after meeting with officials of the International Committee of the Red Cross, said the repatriation will apply to 411 Iranians and 1,115 Iraqis who have been identified by the Red Cross as sick and wounded prisoners.

‘As Soon as Possible’

He said he relayed Iraq’s decision to Red Cross President Cornelio Sommaruga, who “told me that he will do his best so that this operation will take place as soon as possible.”

After their Aug. 20 cease-fire, Iran and Iraq were obliged, as parties to the 1949 Geneva War Conventions, to immediately return all wounded POWs, regardless of any talks on a long-term peace settlement. The Red Cross has repeatedly urged them to do so.

A Red Cross spokeswoman, Francoise Derron, confirmed that 1,526 sick and wounded have been registered but added: “Since we have not been able to visit all POWs, we may assume there are more” ill and injured prisoners.

A complete exchange of POWs, estimated at more than 100,000, remains stymied by disagreements between the two Persian Gulf nations. They have been negotiating in Geneva and New York, through U.N. mediation, for more than two months to consolidate the cease-fire.

Disagree on Terms

Iraq has called for an immediate exchange of all prisoners independent of the peace talks.

However, Iran has linked a full-scale exchange to agreement on withdrawal of troops. In an interview Monday with IRNA, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati claimed that Iraqi forces are still occupying more than 386 square miles of Iranian territory.

He said there are no Iranian troops left in Iraq.

The Red Cross has registered a total of 50,182 Iraqi prisoners in Iran and 19,284 Iranians in Iraq. However, it has estimated the number of additional, unregistered prisoners at 20,000 to 30,000 on each side.