Statement by Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz in Moscow accepting the Soviet Peace Plan on 23 February 1991 ¹

        Ladies and gentleman, good morning. I have a short statement to make this morning. Last evening, the Soviet government declared a proposal about the situation in the Gulf region and in order to achieve a peaceful settlement to that situation in accordance with the UN resolutions.

        You are familiar with the points in that declaration, but anyhow, I am going to reiterate those points in English.

        First, Iraq agrees to comply with resolution 660 and therefore to withdraw immediately and unconditionally all its forces from Kuwait to the positions in which they were located on the first of August 1990.

        Second, the withdrawal of the forces shall begin on the day following the cease-fire and the cessation of all military operations on land, at sea and in the air.

        Third, the withdrawal shall be completed within a period of 21 days, including the withdrawal from the city of Kuwait within the first four days of the said period.

        Four, immediately upon the completion of the withdrawal of the troops from Kuwait, the grounds for which all the other resolutions of the Security Council were adopted will have been removed and thereby, those resolutions will cease to operate.

        Five, all Prisoners of war shall be released and repatriated within three days of the cease-fire and the cessation of all military operations.

        The last point, the sixth, the cease-fire and withdrawal shall be confirmed, verified and supervised by observers and/or a peacekeeping force as determined by the Security Council.

        These are the points of the plan, or the initiative that was declared by the Soviet government last evening. I am here to tell you that the Iraqi government fully endorses this plan and fully supports it.

        Last night the Revolution Command Council issued a statement saying that Iraq supports the Soviet initiative and it appreciates the Soviets' efforts to reach a peaceful settlement to the situation. And we particularly appreciate the efforts of His Excellency President Mikhail Gorbachev and his government in this regard.

1 A. G. Noorani, The Gulf Wars, Documents and Analysis, Konark Publishers PVT LTD, Delhi, 1991, pp. 324-325.

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