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Kuwait seals $500 million airline settlement with
Iraq
Decree ratifying settlement signed by Kuwait Emir states Baghdad
will pay $200 million in first six months of 2013 while remaining $300 million
will be deposited in special bank account, transferred to state-owned Kuwait
Airways Corp.
Middle East
Online
KUWAIT CITY - Kuwait said on Wednesday that Iraq will complete
payment of a $500 million settlement of an airline dispute between the two
nations by the middle of next year.
A royal decree ratifying the settlement signed by Kuwait Emir
Sheikh
Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah states that Baghdad will pay $200 million in
the first
six months of 2013.
The remaining $300 million will be deposited in a special bank
account and transferred to state-owned Kuwait Airways Corp.
The decree said the deal between the two neighbours' airlines was
signed in Kuwait City in July and officially ends a 22-year old dispute
which
began after Iraqi troops invaded Kuwait in 1990.
The settlement amounts to less than half of the $1.2 billion
Kuwait
Airways had said Iraq's flag carrier owed it. Kuwait says 10 of its
planes as
well as aircraft parts were plundered after its airport was seized
during the
invasion.
The Kuwaiti decree is effective from the day it is published in
the
official gazette, though under the emirate's constitution, the next
parliament,
due to be elected on December 1, has the right to reject it.
An Iraqi foreign ministry statement said on Tuesday that the
decree
"cancels all restrictions and complications in rebuilding Iraqi
Airways, and it
is now free to buy new planes and build a fleet."
Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, after which flights between Iraq and
its
small neighbour to the south were suspended. Authorities earlier this year
gave approval for direct flights between the two countries to
resume.
Several outstanding issues are still to be sorted out between the
two Arab neighbours including the payment by Baghdad of around $20 billion
in
war reparations and about $16 billion in debt.
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Iraq
Decree ratifying settlement signed by Kuwait Emir states Baghdad
will pay $200 million in first six months of 2013 while remaining $300 million
will be deposited in special bank account, transferred to state-owned Kuwait
Airways Corp.
Middle East
Online
KUWAIT CITY - Kuwait said on Wednesday that Iraq will complete
payment of a $500 million settlement of an airline dispute between the two
nations by the middle of next year.
A royal decree ratifying the settlement signed by Kuwait Emir
Sheikh
Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah states that Baghdad will pay $200 million in
the first
six months of 2013.
The remaining $300 million will be deposited in a special bank
account and transferred to state-owned Kuwait Airways Corp.
The decree said the deal between the two neighbours' airlines was
signed in Kuwait City in July and officially ends a 22-year old dispute
which
began after Iraqi troops invaded Kuwait in 1990.
The settlement amounts to less than half of the $1.2 billion
Kuwait
Airways had said Iraq's flag carrier owed it. Kuwait says 10 of its
planes as
well as aircraft parts were plundered after its airport was seized
during the
invasion.
The Kuwaiti decree is effective from the day it is published in
the
official gazette, though under the emirate's constitution, the next
parliament,
due to be elected on December 1, has the right to reject it.
An Iraqi foreign ministry statement said on Tuesday that the
decree
"cancels all restrictions and complications in rebuilding Iraqi
Airways, and it
is now free to buy new planes and build a fleet."
Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, after which flights between Iraq and
its
small neighbour to the south were suspended. Authorities earlier this year
gave approval for direct flights between the two countries to
resume.
Several outstanding issues are still to be sorted out between the
two Arab neighbours including the payment by Baghdad of around $20 billion
in
war reparations and about $16 billion in debt.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
