Why does Khor Abdullah raise fears of renewed tension between Iraq and Kuwait?

POSTED ON[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] BY [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

[size=52]Why does Khor Abdullah raise fears of renewed tension between Iraq and Kuwait?[/size]

[size=45]The ruling of the Federal Supreme Court in Iraq, last month, invalidating Parliament’s ratification of the agreement regulating navigation between Iraq and Kuwait in the Khor Abdullah region, raised fears of renewed tension in relations between the two countries, as they were cut off from 1990 to 2008.[/size]
[size=45]In 1993, the UN Security Council issued Resolution No. 833, stipulating that the waters of Khor Abdullah be divided equally between the two countries, and Iraq ratified the agreement on November 25, 2013, during the era of the second government of Nouri al-Maliki (2010 - 2014).[/size]
[size=45]Maritime Boundary Demarcation Agreement
Khor Abdullah is a narrow waterway separating Iraq and Kuwait, and represents one of the most prominent border demarcation files between the two countries. The creek is located in the north of the Arabian Gulf, between the Kuwaiti islands of Warba and Bubiyan and the Iraqi Al-Faw Peninsula.[/size]
[size=45]This region has long been a subject of dispute between the two countries, even before Kuwait's independence from Britain in 1961, given that Iraq does not have long coastlines on the Gulf, which do not exceed 58 kilometers.[/size]
[size=45]The presence of the islands of Warba and Bubiyan off the coast of Iraq, and at a close distance from them, prevents it from having deep ports and receiving giant ships, or from having a wide economic zone, or from building a large naval force that competes with its counterpart in Iran, for example, with the exception of the Al-Faw Peninsula.[/size]
[size=45]Therefore, Baghdad replaced the two islands by establishing the port of Umm Qasr on the banks of Khor Al-Zubair, which is considered a natural extension of Khor Abdullah but within Iraqi territory. Baghdad also proposed leasing the two islands during the war against Iran (1980-1988).[/size]
[size=45]The late Iraqi President Saddam Hussein also demanded that Kuwait cede the two islands to his country, but his request was met with Kuwaiti rejection.[/size]
[size=45]This situation reflects the sensitivity of the demarcation of the maritime borders in Khor Abdullah, and Kuwaiti fears that the Iraqi Federal Court’s ruling invalidating the 2013 agreement would constitute a prelude to new tensions with the historical neighbor, as relations between the two countries did not resume until 2008, which were severed after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990. .[/size]
[size=45]Why did the Federal Court cancel the agreement?
The Iraqi Federal Court based its ruling to invalidate the Khor Abdullah Agreement on the unconstitutionality of Parliament’s vote on the agreement in 2013, because it did not obtain a two-thirds majority of the members of the House of Representatives, as stipulated in Article 61 of the Constitution.[/size]
[size=45]Regardless of the various readings that accompanied this ruling, it is implicitly considered an Iraqi withdrawal from the agreement unilaterally, because the Federal Court’s ruling is final and not subject to appeal, and the government is forced to implement it constitutionally, based on the principle of separation of powers.[/size]
[size=45]This ruling did not go unnoticed in Kuwait, as the Council of Ministers rejected it, and said in a statement that “the rationale for the ruling included false historical allegations.”[/size]
[size=45]Kuwait was not satisfied with this rejection, but summoned the Iraqi ambassador to it, Al-Manhal Al-Safi, on September 16, and handed him a note of protest against the Federal Court’s ruling.[/size]
[size=45]On the 27th of last month, Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Salem Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah also discussed, with his British counterpart, James Cleverly, the ruling of the Iraqi Federal Court, and “the issue of Baghdad’s cancellation of the security swap protocol in Khor Abdullah with Kuwait and the site in 2008.”[/size]
[size=45]In a legal and academic response to the Iraqi Federal Court’s ruling, the Kuwait Research and Studies Center indicated that the ruling contradicted a previous ruling issued by the same court on December 18, 2014.[/size]
[size=45]The position of the government and parliament in Iraq.
The positions of the main Iraqi parliamentary blocs varied between those who called on Kuwait to accept the ruling of the Federal Court and communicate with the Iraqi government to conclude a new agreement to demarcate the maritime borders, and those who stressed the need for Baghdad to adhere to the Khor Abdullah Maritime Navigation Agreement.[/size]
[size=45]The Iraqi government sided with the second opinion, which was expressed by Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani, during his meeting with the Prime Minister of Kuwait, Ahmed Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, on the sidelines of his participation in the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly, which was held between September 19 and 26.[/size]
[size=45]Al-Sudani assured his Kuwaiti counterpart of Iraq’s commitment to the relevant Security Council resolutions, the principles of international law, common understandings and good neighbourliness, and the sovereignty and integrity of the territory of the sister State of Kuwait, in a way that does not conflict with the Iraqi constitution and international law, which implicitly means the Iraqi government’s commitment to the 2013 agreement with Kuwait, and the resolution Security Council No. 833, but without a decisive position on the unappealable ruling of the Federal Supreme Court.[/size]
[size=45]As for parliament, 174 deputies, the majority of whom belong to the “coordinating framework” forces, which includes most of the influential Shiite forces with the exception of the Sadrist movement, demanded, on September 23, the government to deposit a copy of the ruling issued by the court in the General Secretariat of the United Nations and the International Maritime Organization, In order to preserve what they considered “Iraq’s historical right to Khor Abdullah.”[/size]
[size=45]However, the “Coordination Framework” softened its tone and announced on September 27 its commitment to international resolutions, including those related to the relationship with Kuwait. The “State Administration” coalition, which includes, in addition to the Coordination Framework, Sunni and Kurdish forces, announced its commitment to the same resolutions. Including UN resolutions.[/size]
[size=45]The “State Administration Coalition” consists of 280 deputies (85%) out of 329 deputies, which enables it to re-vote on the Khor Abdullah Maritime Navigation Agreement with a two-thirds majority, in a manner that does not contradict the ruling of the Federal Court, which did not challenge the content of the agreement, according to Legal experts.[/size]
[size=45][You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]