Iraq Vows to Return Items to Kuwait

BAGHDAD — Iraq, which has been trying to improve ties with its Persian Gulf War foe Kuwait, promised Saturday to return another batch of Kuwaiti property missing since the conflict more than a decade ago.

A Foreign Ministry statement said Iraq would hand back the property today at the headquarters of the U.N. Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission in Umm al Qasr.

The mission observes the cease-fire that ended the 1991 Gulf War, in which a U.S.-led coalition expelled Iraqi forces from Kuwait after Baghdad invaded its neighbor.

The ministry said Iraqi customs authorities had recently seized the property, including four paintings and seven gifts from foreign dignitaries to the Kuwaiti ruling family, along with museum items.

It did not say where the items had been found.

Iraq has previously returned some property it took from Kuwait during its 1990-91 occupation, including gold, museum pieces, military equipment and civil and military aircraft, as required by the cease-fire terms.