KUWAIT: PRISONERS OF WAR RELEASED BY IRAQ FLY HOME/BANKS CROWDED AS THEY OPEN FOR FIRST TIME SINCE END OF IRAQI OCCUPATION

Record ID: 899059

  • Title: KUWAIT: PRISONERS OF WAR RELEASED BY IRAQ FLY HOME/BANKS CROWDED AS THEY OPEN FOR FIRST TIME SINCE END OF IRAQI OCCUPATION
  • Date: 24th March 1991
  • Summary: RETURNEES HUGGING RELATIVES KUWAIT CITY (VISNEWS) EXTERIOR BANK OF KUWAIT AND MIDDLE EAST KUWAITIS AT BANK COUNTER EXTERIOR OF KUWAIT FINANCE HOUSE PEOPLE CHECKING EXCHANGE RATES ON BOARD OUTSIDE FINANCE HOUSE
  • Embargoed: 6th July 2005 15:13
  • Keywords:
  • Location: KUWAIT CITY, KUWAIT / IRAQ-KUWAIT BORDER
  • City:
  • Country: Iraq Kuwait
  • Topics: Conflict,General
  • Reuters ID: LVACNF0CFW8UFYFK5AB4UVTF2EFJ
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: About 450 Kuwaiti prisoners of war (POWs), released by Iraq as part of an exchange negotiated by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), flew home on Sunday (March 24).

    The group were among POWs who had been detained by the Iraqis in the early days of the occupation of Kuwait and transferred to the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.

    The returning prisoners said they had faced a psychological war, were beaten, tortured and given little food and water.

    Some of the prisoners faced long delays and questioning as their identification was checked. A Kuwaiti soldier said the problem was caused because there were also returning non-Kuwaitis who had been living in the emirate and held Kuwaiti identification papers.

    Iraq had agreed to free a total of 5,040 Kuwaitis this week after talks between Iraqi and allied military officials in the Saudi Arabian capital, Riyadh. The release of prisoners was a major condition for achieving a permanent ceasefire in the Gulf.

    As the POWs returned, thousands of Kuwaitis crowded the country's banks which opened on Sunday for the first time since the end of Iraqi occupation.

    Customers were allowed to withdraw up to 4,000 dinars (about 14,000 United States (US) dollars at pre-invasion exchange rates) and swap their "old" currency for a new one. The new dinar was issued to replace more than a billion US dollars worth of dinars stolen by the Iraqis and now declared worthless.

    The banks ignored the seven months of Iraqi occupation and accounts were credited with the amount they held on August 1.

    The new money was exchanged for old at a one-to-one rate but the dinar was expected to be worth slightly less than its pre-invasion value of 3.5 US dollars.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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