UNITED NATIONS, April 15 (UPI) -- U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on Iraq and Kuwait to take steps to uncover remains of Kuwaiti and foreign nationals missing since the Gulf War.
"I again stress the need to translate political statements of good will into concrete actions to speed up progress on the ground," the secretary-general wrote.
There are as many as 369 Kuwaiti and other foreign nationals thought to be killed by Iraqi military forces under the Saddam Hussein regime whose remains have not been identified, the U.N. news service reports.
Most are believed to be buried somewhere in Iraq in mass graves, potentially with other victims of the former dictator.
"The closure of the files ends years of anguish and uncertainty for the families of the identified victims," Ban said.
Iraqi relations with Kuwait suffered under Saddam, though both countries have made efforts in the wake of the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 to restore their ties.
The International Committee of the Red Cross, meanwhile, reported Tuesday that family members of Iraqis under detention in Kuwait paid a visit to their relatives for the first time since the Gulf War.
