BAGHDAD, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- An Iraqi lawmaker said Kuwait is "draining" Iraq's budget because of reparations payments stemming from Iraq's 1990 invasion.
"Kuwait is still draining Iraq's potentials, through scoring billions of U.S. dollars, due to its invasion by the former Iraqi regime, being a total punishment for the Iraqi people, who had no guilt due to the policies of the former regime," Aliya Nusief of the Iraqi Parliament said in a statement, Aswat al-Iraq news agency reported.
Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990 during the regime of Saddam Hussein.
Nusief said Iraq has paid more than $27.6 billion to Kuwait since 1994.
"We don't know if Kuwait would be satisfied with this continuous drainage of the Iraqi people's potentials," Nusief said.
"This Kuwaiti persistence to punish the Iraqi people may cause seeds of hatred and harm relations between both countries to an extent that won't be settled."
