KUWAIT: His Highness the Crown Prince of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, received on Tuesday the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Iraq and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), Ambassador Dr Mohammad Al-Hassan. The meeting marked the end of his tenure and the mission’s mandate, which expires on December 31, 2025. UNAMI, established in 2003, supported Iraq’s political transition following the US-led invasion.
Since 2013, it has focused on resolving humanitarian issues linked to Kuwait’s 1990 invasion, including the fate of missing Kuwaiti and third-country nationals and the return of stolen Kuwaiti property. The mission has recovered hundreds of thousands of cultural items and identified 59 missing individuals, but 315 people remain unaccounted for, and large portions of Kuwait’s archives are still missing.
Kuwait has called for continued UN oversight after UNAMI’s closure, urging the appointment of a High-Level Coordinator to ensure accountability and transparency. Iraq, however, has favored handling these matters bilaterally. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres marked the mission’s closure on December 13 in Baghdad. “UNAMI was honored and humbled to walk side-by-side with the Iraqi people,” he said. “While a mission may conclude, the United Nations will always walk alongside the people of Iraq on the path toward peace, sustainable development and human rights.” — KUNA
