Companies pursuing Gulf War compensation claims directly with Iraq

Companies seeking compensation from Iraq for losses suffered in the Gulf War are said to be pursuing their claims directly with Iraq, and not through the official Geneva-based organization responsible for dealing with compensation claims. Krzysztof Dabrowski, vice director of the Economy Ministry, says that the Ministry has received information that companies are being persuaded to withdraw their applications from Geneva, having received little or no compensation from that source, and instead to start bilateral talks with Iraq. According to Waldemar Mierzwa, spokesman for Budimex, one of the Polish companies involved, “We can now only take the matter to court in Iraq. None of our contracts in Iraq has been broken; they have all just been suspended.” (Rzeczpospolita, p. B2) P.W.