The Khor Abdullah crisis...the repercussions of the Gulf position and Kuwait’s efforts to internatio

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[size=52]The Khor Abdullah crisis...the repercussions of the Gulf position and Kuwait’s efforts to internationalize the issue[/size]

[size=45]The Iraqi Prime Minister, Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani, renewed Iraq's commitment to the relevant Security Council resolutions between Iraq and Kuwait, the principles of international law, common understandings, good neighbourliness, and the territorial sovereignty and integrity of the State of Kuwait.[/size]
[size=45]Speaker of the House of Representatives, Muhammad Al-Halbousi, stressed to members of the Kuwaiti National Assembly, on Thursday, the importance of respecting the implementation of bilateral agreements and Security Council resolutions, according to a statement received by Al-Mada.[/size]
[size=45]tension[/size]
[size=45]The issue of demarcating the border between Iraq and Kuwait returned to the forefront recently, after Kuwaiti demands to resolve the outstanding issues between the two countries, including the demarcation issue.[/size]
[size=45]The tension around this sign began in 2010 when Kuwait laid the foundation stone for the construction of Mubarak Port on the western bank of the creek. At the same time, Baghdad laid the foundation stone for the construction of the large Al-Faw port on the opposite bank, in what was considered at the time a response to the Kuwaiti move.[/size]
[size=45]While tensions escalated between Iraq and Kuwait after the Iraqi Federal Supreme Court ruled that the Iraqi Parliament’s ratification of the agreement regulating navigation in the “Khor Abdullah” waterway between the two countries was unconstitutional.[/size]
[size=45]Decision to veto the agreement[/size]
[size=45]The Federal Supreme Court, after Kuwait’s request from Iraq to end the file of regulating navigation, based its ruling on the unconstitutionality of this law and the ratification of the agreement between Iraq and Kuwait.[/size]
[size=45]She stressed that “the Constitution of the Republic of Iraq of 2005 represents the interest of the Iraqi people in their past, present and future. It was the result of a hard and bitter struggle by all the people of Iraq, Arabs, Kurds, Turkmen and all components of the people, and everything stated in it represents a faithful translation of the blood of the martyrs of Iraq, and was achieved by building democratic institutions and ensuring freedom of opinion.” And thought and belief after the people had been suffering under a brutal, oppressive, tyrannical regime for more than 30 years, and because the constitution became effective after the people’s referendum on it, according to what was stated in Article 144 thereof, therefore, deviating from the constitution represents a crime described as the crime of violating the constitution or high treason.[/size]
[size=45]He no longer exists[/size]
[size=45]The Federal Court also stated, through a statement received by Al-Mada, that “the Federal Supreme Court based its ruling on the unconstitutionality of Law No. (42) of 2013, the law ratifying the agreement between the government of the Republic of Iraq and the government of the State of Kuwait regarding regulating navigation in Khor Abdullah, on the provisions of Article ( 61/ Fourth) of the Constitution of the Republic of Iraq for the year 2005, as it is not possible to implement a legal text that contradicts the Constitution despite the validity of that text because its implementation mechanisms have been disrupted. The (defunct) Revolutionary Command Council, which is responsible for ratifying international treaties and agreements in accordance with Law No. (111) of 1979, the Treaty Contracting Law, which was in effect at the time of enactment of the law ratifying the aforementioned agreement, no longer exists, and the type of government system, its institutions, the powers of those institutions, and the mechanism for exercising Those powers changed completely, and all of this became established in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Iraq.”[/size]
[size=45]The court added, “It is not permissible to suspend the provisions of the Constitution in exchange for local legislation that contradicts it and is effective before the enactment of the Constitution. Rather, local legislation becomes in violation of the Constitution and other legislation resulting from it is subject to being ruled unconstitutional whenever it is challenged.”[/size]
[size=45]Internationalization of the issue[/size]
[size=45]Kuwait began an international movement to discuss the file of the maritime navigation agreement with Iraq with senior officials in Washington and the United Nations, while the Gulf Cooperation Council considered the Iraqi judiciary’s decision regarding the Khor Abdullah agreement “out of context and inaccurate.”[/size]
[size=45]On Wednesday, the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and the United States of America issued a joint statement that addressed many regional and international issues, while also touching on the file of Iraq and Kuwait.[/size]
[size=45]They called for “the completion of the demarcation of the Kuwaiti-Iraqi maritime border beyond Mark No. 162. They also called on the government of Iraq to expedite the settlement of the internal legal situation to ensure the continued implementation of the agreement related to regulating maritime navigation in Khor Abdullah between Kuwait and Iraq for the year 2012, which is legally in force.”[/size]
[size=45]Historical fallacies[/size]
[size=45]As for the Kuwaiti position, the Foreign Minister affirmed his country's strong condemnation of this ruling, indicating that he came to New York for the sole purpose of informing the foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, friendly countries, and the Secretary-General of the United Nations about the merits of the ruling issued by the Iraqi court.[/size]
[size=45]Kuwait renewed its rejection of the Federal Court’s decision declaring the unconstitutionality of the maritime navigation agreement between the two countries in Khor Abdullah, while the Gulf Cooperation Council called on Iraq to take serious and urgent steps to address the negative effects of these developments.[/size]
[size=45]The Kuwaiti News Agency quoted Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmed Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah as saying that the Iraqi government must take “concrete, decisive and urgent measures to address the ruling and the historical fallacies contained therein in a way that preserves good neighborly relations.”[/size]
[size=45]The Kuwaiti Prime Minister stressed the commitment to the security, independence and territorial integrity of both countries and to the agreements concluded between them and the relevant international resolutions, most notably Security Council Resolution No. 833, which delineated the land and sea borders between the two sides up to the 162 nautical mark.[/size]
[size=45]Comment Do not cancel[/size]
[size=45]Experts confirmed that Federal Court Decision 105 of 2023, which annulled Law 42 of 2013 ratifying the Khor Abdullah Agreement, does not mean canceling the agreement, but rather suspending its ratification by Parliament by a two-thirds majority in accordance with Article 61 Fourth of the Constitution, meaning that this decision restored Matters go back to square one after the conclusion of the 2012 agreement, and therefore it is considered initialed and its ratification and entry into force depend on the parliament’s vote.[/size]
[size=45]The former representative of the Services Committee, Abbas Yaber, told Al-Mada, “The effects are more positive regarding Khor Abdullah, and the borders were essentially an Iraqi demarcation and were exploited during the period of deteriorating conditions in Iraq.”[/size]
[size=45]He stated, “Kuwait is an Arab and brotherly country, and we believe that the interests are common between the two countries, but the court’s decision is supposed to be taken to resume negotiations in the correct manner that serves the two countries,” noting that “there is no navigational regulation due to the existence of the beaching law after the navigational movement was, Today, the two parties are supposed to look to the public interest to end differences, and for the Arabs to unite in all their details.”[/size]
[size=45]It is noteworthy that the United Nations demarcated the land borders between the two countries in 1993 after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, but the demarcation did not cover their entire maritime borders and the matter was left to the two oil-producing countries to resolve. The agreement divided the port of Khor Abdullah between Iraq and Kuwait, and it is located in the far north of the Gulf between each. From the Kuwaiti islands of Warba and Bubiyan and the Iraqi Al-Faw Peninsula, it extends into Iraqi territory, forming Khor Al-Zubair, in which the port of Umm Qasr is located within Basra Governorate.[/size]
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