A note verbale from the Kuwaiti Mission to the UN circulated Thursday officially stated that Kuwait "reaffirms its unwavering commitment to implementing Security Council resolutions" as enshrined in the UN Charter. "Kuwait is committed to the provisions of the Charter, as well as to respecting the resolutions of the Security Council, since it is the excecutive organ of the United Nations".
A letter, annexed to the note verbale, from General Ghazi Abdul Rahman Al-Omar, Acting Under-Secretary at the Ministry of the Interior addressed to Mansour Ayyad Al-Otaibi, Under-Secretary at the Department of International Organisations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, listed the measures that the Kuwaiti Ministry of Interior is taking to implement the various provisions contained in resolution 1803.
That Resolution called on states to take necessary measures to prevent the entry into or transit through their territories of certain individuals, freeze their funds or financial assets and economic resources which are on their territory and inspect the cargoes to and from Iran at their airports and seaports.
The letter also admitted that some Kuwaiti laws and regulations may not be "comprehensive," especially when dealing with "highly political questions" like these.
On the issue of entry into Kuwait or transit, the letter said that Kuwait is committed to "effectively implementing" all the provisions of that resolution, and already has national laws regulating the entry, residence and exit of foreigners in Kuwait as per an Amiri decree in 1959 later amended by a Ministerial decision in 1987.
Regarding the search of vessels, It added that Kuwaiti laws permit law enforcement agencies to stop and search ships and vessels suspected of illegal activitities in Kuwaiti territorieal waters, or aircrafts and vessels that violate relevant international agreements.
"Anything beyond that," it added, "is the responsibility of the General Administration of Customs or the General Administration of Civil Aviation, as appropriate," stressing that any prohibited goods will be seized and a report will be submitted to the sanctions committee in that regard.
However, and as to the provision calling for freezing funds and financial assets, The letter said the Ministry of Interior has "no authority to deal with that demand, which in our opinion, is the responsibility of the Ministry of Finance or the Central Bank, as appropirate".
The letter noted that while the Kuwaiti authorities are committed to impelementing the resolution provisions, the laws and regulations normally enforced by the relevant agencies, including security and the judiciary, when applied to particular incidents, vary in accordance with the type of incident invloved.
"Such laws may not be comprehensive, which might create lacunae, in particular when dealing with such highly political questions as those at issue here," the letter stressed.
