Posted on 12/22/2002 5:28:59 AM PST by kattracks
Dec. 22— By Andrew Marshall
KUWAIT (Reuters) - Iraq, which has been trying to improve relations with Gulf War foe Kuwait, returned a batch of its stolen property on Sunday, the United Nations said.
The U.N. Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission (UNIKOM) said the items, including four paintings and seven gifts from foreign dignitaries to the Kuwaiti royal family, had been handed over on Sunday morning in a large van in an Iraqi border port.
"We have the items and the handover went smoothly," a spokesman for the mission told Reuters. Carpets, hunting rifles and other "ancient pieces" were among the load.
Iraq's foreign ministry said on Saturday it would return the stolen property, which it said had been seized recently by Iraqi customs authorities. It did not say where the items had found.
UNIKOM monitors the cease-fire that ended the 1991 Gulf War in which a U.S.-led coalition drove Iraqi forces from Kuwait.
Iraq has already returned much of the property it took from Kuwait during its 1990-91 occupation, including gold, museum pieces and planes, as required by the Gulf War cease-fire terms.
It has now agreed to renew talks next month, after a four-year gap, on the fate of hundreds of people who went missing during its occupation of Kuwait.
This month, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein apologized for the invasion of Kuwait in a letter read out on Iraqi television.
He directed his apology to Kuwait's people, rather than government, and urged them to struggle against foreign armies -- seen as a reference to thousands of U.S. soldiers training in Kuwait.
Kuwait's government and parliament rejected the apology, saying it was a bid to fracture national unity and incite terrorism in Kuwait.
Kuwait is a key ally of Washington in the Gulf region and seen as a major launching pad for any attack on Iraq.
The United States has said Iraq is in "material breach" of a U.N. resolution ordering it to declare its weapons of mass destruction, and says it will take military action unless Iraq disarms.
Analysts say Saddam has been trying to garner support among the Kuwaiti people and mobilize anti-U.S. sentiment. Although most Kuwaitis are staunchly pro-American, concerns are growing about mounting anti-U.S. sentiment in the country.
Last month a Kuwaiti policeman shot and wounded two U.S. soldiers on a highway south of Kuwait City, and in October a U.S. Marine was killed in an attack on a Kuwaiti island. (Additional reporting by Hassan Hafidh in Baghdad)
Copyright 2002 Reuters News Service. All rights reserved.
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