Iraq Seeks to Delay Kuwait Reparations

By John Lee.

Iraq's Finance Minister, Hoshyar Zebari (pictured), has told Reuters that he is trying to postpone the final $4.6 billion installment of reparations for its 1990-91 occupation of Kuwait.

To fund its reparations commitments, Iraq pays 5 percent of its crude oil exports to the U.N. Compensation Commission (UNCC).

So far, nearly all of the $52.4 billion (61 trillion Iraqi dinars) due has been transferred, and more than a million claimants have been paid.

The Minister has cited falling oil prices and the cost of the war against the Islamic State (IS, ISIS, ISIL) as reasons for a deferral of the last payment.

(Source: Al Arabiya)