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Iraq, Kuwait hammer out key border deal

Tue Nov 21, 9:30 AM ET

Iraq and Kuwait have hammered out a key deal that would allow Kuwait to complete the building of a border fence and pay compensation to Iraqi farmers, officials said.

"We have signed a deal ... after which Kuwait will be able to complete the construction of the security fence," Kuwait's foreign ministry undersecretary Khaled al-Jarallah told reporters after talks with his Iraqi counterpart on Tuesday.

The deal calls for compensating Iraqi farmers on the border, said Jarallah, adding that the money "had been deposited with the United Nations."

"We have completed the practical requirements for the demarcation of borders," based on UN Security Council Resolution 833 issued in 1993, Iraq's foreign ministry undersecretary Mohammad al-Haj said.

The resolution demarcated the land border between the two nations and granted Kuwait some territory that had previously been held by Iraq.

The deal also calls for creating a no-man zone on both sides of the border from which people would be banned and no activity allowed, the two officials said. The size of the zone will be determined later.

This would mean that Iraqi farmers living in the border zone would have to evacuate.

"We have agreed on a suitable formula that satisfies those (border) people and resolves the entire problem," Haj said.

Iraq's then dictator, Saddam Hussein, invaded Kuwait in August 1990. After a seven-month occupation his troops were ejected by a US-led coalition in the 1991 Gulf war.

Kuwait began the construction of a 200-kilometer (125-mile) metal barrier along its border with Iraq in early 2005, but Iraqi protestors near the town of Umm Qasr tore down parts of it saying it was being erected on their land.

The two officials also discussed demarcation of maritime borders and production of oil from border oilfields.

"We have agreed to form a technical committee that will discuss in detail the oil issue between the two countries," Jarallah said.

Haj said technicians from the two countries will "create the right mechanism for the protection of the (oil) interests of both nations."

A number of major oilfields in both countries are located near the common borders, and the Iraqi government under Saddam had accused Kuwait of exploiting Iraqi oil, an accusation Kuwait had denied.

The two countries also agreed to start the maintenance work of the border marks at a cost of three million dollars to be shared equally between them.

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