KUWAITI AIRWAYS SEEKS ACCESS TO SEARCH FOR

UNCLAS KUWAIT 002335 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL EAIR KCRM US IZ KU SUBJECT: KUWAITI AIRWAYS SEEKS ACCESS TO SEARCH FOR STOLEN SPARE PARTS ¶1. MFA U/S Khalid al-Jarallah called the Ambassador the afternoon of May 26. Al-Jarallah explained that he had recently received a request from Kuwait Airways. According to al-Jarallah, Kuwait Airways believed that spare parts stolen from its warehouses after the 1990 invasion of Kuwait had been housed at Baghdad International Airport. They had asked him to seek permission from the Coalition Provisional Authority to send some personnel to Baghdad to search BIAP warehouses and record the serial numbers of any spare parts found there. ¶2. Al-Jarallah explained that Kuwait knows that mechanisms for the return of stolen goods have not yet been established and would in any event probably require international supervision. However, Kuwait Airways was very anxious to know if any of its parts were at BIAP so that it could begin preparing a request for their eventual return. Kuwait would greatly appreciate any help the US could provide in this manner. ¶3. Action Request: The return of stolen Kuwaiti property is mandated by several UNSC resolutions, including most recently UNSCR 1483. Please advise how we should respond to this request. JONES