Iraq, which has been trying to improve ties with its Gulf War foe Kuwait, promised today to return another batch of Kuwaiti property.
A Foreign Ministry statement said Iraq would hand back the property tomorrow at the headquarters of the UN Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission (UNIKOM) in Um Qasr.
UNIKOM observes the ceasefire that ended the 1991 Gulf War in which a US-led coalition drove Iraqi forces from Kuwait. The Foreign Ministry statement said Iraqi customs authorities had recently seized the property, comprising four paintings and seven gifts from foreign dignitaries to the Kuwaiti ruling family, along with museum items.
It did not say where the items had been found.
Iraq has previously returned much of the property it took from Kuwait during its 1990-91 occupation, including gold, museum pieces, military equipment and civil and military aircraft, as required by the Gulf War ceasefire terms.
In a separate statement, the Foreign Ministry said Iraq had complained to the United Nations about what it said was the seizure of an Iraqi tugboat and its four-man crew in Iraqi territorial waters by Kuwait earlier this month.
Kuwait said at the time that an Iraqi vessel had fired on two of its coastguard boats in Kuwaiti waters on December 3rd.
Kuwait hosts US troops which have been carrying out exercises ahead of a possible US-led attack on Iraq.