Iraq Urges UN to Narrow Demilitarized Zone with KuwaitIraq Wednesday urged the United Nations to cut its side of the Iraq-Kuwait demilitarized zone from 15 kilometers to just five, to match that on the Kuwaiti side.The Ath-Thawra newspaper, mouthpiece of Iraq's ruling Arab Baath Socialist Party, said in an editorial that the demilitarized zone currently stretches 15 kilometers into Iraqi territory, but just five kilometers into neighboring Kuwait. The Kuwaiti side and others have made use of this and engaged in "devious and aggressive activities" against Iraq, the editorial said. The demilitarized zone between Iraq and Kuwait was established in the wake of the 1991 Gulf War when the United States-led multinational forces evicted Iraqi troops out of Kuwait after a seven-month occupation. The editorial also slammed the U.N. Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission (UNIKOM) for keeping silent over the almost daily airspace violations by the U.S. and British warplanes. Iraq has regularly urged UNIKOM to perform its duties and report to the U.N. Security Council about the U.S. and British armed patrols over southern and northern Iraq. U.S. and British planes, taking off from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, have been patrolling the two no-fly zones in northern and southern Iraq with the claimed aim of protecting the Kurds in the north and Shiite Muslims in the south from possible attacks by Baghdad. Iraq never recognizes the air exclusion zones for lack of clear U.N. authorization and has repeatedly criticized UNIKOM's silence over the issue. UNIKOM, who has been monitoring the demilitarized zone between Iraq and Kuwait since 1991, is charged with reporting any infringement of either nation's territory to the U.N. Security Council. |
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