Manama: Iraq's human rights ministry has asked the Kuwaiti authorities to provide answers about the fate of 2,000 Iraqis who have gone missing since the 1991 Gulf War.
They include both civilians and military staff, Kamel Amin, the head of rights protection at the ministry, told Iraqi daily Al Sabah.
His statement has prompted angry reactions from Kuwaitis, who have had a bitter relationship with their neighbouring country since Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1991, despite the fact that the Iraqi occupiers were expelled by a US-led international coalition in February 1992.
"It’s the other way round. They occupied our country and killed our people. We want them to tell us about our brave people who have been missing for two decades," Kuwaiti, blogger Ahmad wrote.
He believes the Iraqis cannot be blamed for their missing people. "What is bizarre is that they’ve just woken up to the idea that they have missing people," he wrote.
Several bloggers said that the Iraqis should instead focus on their missing compatriots in the 1980-1988 Iraq-Iran war, during which chemical weapons were used.
However, a few bloggers have said that Iraq was right to seek answers and that it was a good move that showed that they cared and wanted to know about their fate.
"They have the right to ask and Kuwait has to show enough compassion to give answers, if possible, at least for the sake of their relatives," blogger Ali said.
Warqah said the request was a humanitarian issue and should not be used to fuel tension between the two countries.
In his statement on Wednesday, Kamel said that the ministry has been working to determine the status of approximately one million people who are "victims of the old regime."
"We have so far this year found 200 corpses of Kuwaiti and other nationals. We want more assistance from international government and non-government agencies and organisations, to find out about the fate of all those who have gone missing," he said.
