UNSC President disagrees with Zebari on Iraq honouring all Chapter VII obligations

UNSC President disagrees with Zebari on Iraq honouring all Chapter VII obligations

6.30.13
UNITED NATIONS: UN Security Council President Mark Lyall Grant of the UK on Thursday disagreed with Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zibari who told the Council earlier in the day that Iraq has honored “all” its obligations under Chapter VII and that those are now “part of the past.”

“There are, of course, some remaining issues for Iraq. As Mr. Zebari said, there are still compensation payments to be made; My understanding is that there are about USD 11 billion dollars still to be paid, but that will be completed by 2015 or so,” he told a press conference reflecting on the Council’s work during this month, in answer to a question by KUNA.

“But,” he added, “there are also some Chapter VII obligations on Iraq, not connected with Kuwait: around the export of conventional weapons, the freeze and return of Saddam era assets, and the prohibition on the trade in stolen Iraqi cultural property” which need to be met.

“So there are some issues unconnected with Kuwait, where there are still some Chapter VII obligations, and the Council will need to be sort of working its way through those over the next few years,” he stressed.

The Council voted unanimously earlier today to partially exit Iraq from Chapter VII by transferring the mandate formerly assigned to the High-Level Coordinator for Iraq-Kuwait Missing Persons and Property to the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI).

In his address to the Council following the vote, Zebari thanked Kuwait for its support and assistance to Iraq to enable it to get out of Chapter VII.

He said today’s resolution marked a turning point in Iraq’s relationship with the international community and a significant step in Iraqi and Kuwaiti joint efforts to mend bilateral ties. Further, it illustrated that Iraq “had fulfilled all its obligations under Chapter VII of the Charter” and that those became “part of history.”

“All the negative aspects of the relationship between the two countries have become part of the past. We will focus on the present and the future, and what the brotherly relations can achieve to consolidate peace, security and stability in the region,” he added.
kuna.net