The Kuwait Airways Corporation (KAC) has turned down an out-of-court offer by Iraqi Airways to settle an $890 million reparation lawsuit. The airline offered to pay KAC $150 million in invasion-related compensation.
"The ministry of finance has asked that the case should continue and as a result we ceased contacts with the Iraqi side regarding the settlement," said Chairman of KAC, Ahmad Al-Zaben in a KUNA report.
KAC is determined to move forward with the lawsuit, which was first filed in 1991 following the liberation of the Emirate from Iraqi occupation. The legal action calls for $890 million in compensation for damages to the airlines’ facilities and 15 aircraft.
Last year, KAC was awarded $56.1 million in partial returns by the United Nation’s Compensation Commission (UNCC), set up by the Security Council after the 1991 Gulf War. The UNCC fund is financed by 30 percent of Iraq's oil export revenues under a UN mechanism. The rest of the revenues are used to buy food, medicine and essential goods for the Iraqi people.
In March, the UNCC announced that the Kuwaiti government will receive $738 million in reparation funds for the 1990 Iraqi invasion. The money will come from an $863.7 million financing plan released by the Commission to 27 governments and two international organizations. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
