The United Nations panel overseeing compensation for losses caused by Iraq's invasion of Kuwait on Friday paid out $ 361.8 million to affected countries, bringing total payments so far to $ 5.9 billion.


The money goes to 60 government and three international organisations, which will distribute it to 74,442 individual claimants -- foreign workers who lost money when they had to flee and others who suffered material damage in Kuwait.


Jordan will receive the largest payment in the latest installment -- $ 142.3 million -- according to a UN Compensation Commission statement. Some $ 38.3 million will go to Kuwait and $ 37.5 million to Bangladesh.


Compensation awards approved by the 15-nation commission are paid using Iraqi oil sales approved by the UN Security Council.


In total, the commission has received around 2.6 million compensation demands for a total of some $ 240 billion from individuals, governments and corporations seeking to offset loss and damage caused by the invasion of Kuwait in 1990.


Processing the claims is expected to take several more years.


Meanwhile, the UNCC approved Kuwaiti claims worth just less than $ one billion, a fund statement said.


The governing council announced, in a press release issued over the weekend, that all 20 claims of Category E4 filed by the state of Kuwait were approved.


Those claims were filed by Kuwait on behalf of Kuwaiti corporations and with a total award value of $284,219,873. They are part of the third instalment of Category E4.


The governing council, in its 35th session, approved another 23 claims in the fifth instalment of Category E4 filed by the government of Kuwait on behalf of Kuwaiti corporations, the value of which stands at $411,345,600.


In the sixth category of Category E4 claims, out of 140 claims filed by the government of Kuwait on behalf of Kuwaiti corporations, 136 were approved. Their value stands at $97,556,794.


In addition the state of Kuwait was awarded another E4 claims in the seventh instalments. The number of claims filed were 139, out of which 138 were approved at a value of US135,979,257.


The total value of claims filed by the state of Kuwait and approved by the current governing council stands at $929,101,510.


For non-Kuwaiti claims in the fifth instalments of Category E1, five claims were approved of corporations in the oil sector by six governments and their value stands at $1,453,388.