The United Nations Security Council has expressed "deep concern" over what it says is Baghdad's failure to address the issue of Kuwaitis and other nationals who have been missing in Iraq since 1991.

Iraq has yet to match its words on the fate of missing persons with tangible deeds and cooperation

Security council statement

Security Council resolutions have called on Iraq to facilitate the return of about 600 foreigners - mostly Kuwaitis - detained during the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, or the subsequent Gulf War.

So far there has been little progress. Iraq says it has lost track of the prisoners.

US ambassador to the UN John Negroponte - who currently chairs the council - also dismissed the latest letter from the Iraqi government proposing new talks on the return of UN weapons inspectors.

Pledges

Ever since the Gulf War, Kuwait has pressed Baghdad to return missing family members, or their remains.

And the Americans have raised the issue of a missing navy pilot, whose plane was shot down over Iraq in 1991.

Negroponte urged Iraq to cooperate

"Despite growing international activity... the government of Iraq has yet to match its words on the fate of missing persons with tangible deeds and cooperation," the security council said on Wednesday.

At the Beirut Arab League summit in March, Iraq promised to respect Kuwait's sovereignty and to resolve the issues of prisoners and property seized during the conflict.

The Security Council endorsed a call by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan for Iraq to "stand by its intention to fully implement the decisions of the Beirut summit on the issue of missing persons".

Iraq, for its part, says it lost track of foreign prisoners during an uprising in the south of the country in 1991.

It also says that more than 1,000 of its own nationals remain unaccounted for.

However, Red Cross officials have inspected Kuwait's prisons and found only 40 Iraqis, all common criminals.

Weapons inspectors

The US ambassador to the UN also mentioned the latest letter sent by Iraq to Mr Annan on the subject of arms inspections.

A US-led coalition ended Iraq's occupation of Kuwait

"We don't see anything new in it," Mr Negroponte said.

"We think it is a part of continuing tactics by Iraq to substitute talk for real inspections and disarmament."

This was the US position, and did not reflect the views of the Security Council as a whole.

Other Council members, notably Russia and Syria, have called for more discussions about the Iraqi letter.

Iraq says it has no banned weapons and demands guarantees about lifting UN sanctions as a condition for the return of arms inspectors.