Border disputes between Iraq and Kuwait return to the forefront and "options" to resolve them
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
+A
-A
Baghdad Today - Follow-up
Border disputes between Iraq and Kuwait have returned to the spotlight after both parties issued statements in recent weeks indicating the importance of resolving outstanding issues and adhering to joint agreements, while politicians and observers described some of the decisions imposed on Iraq as “unfair” and stated that resolving the issue depends on both parties’ commitment to constitutions and international law.
In Iraq, Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein announced the imminent start of negotiations between the two countries to resolve the “pending files.”
This came during his meeting in Washington, Thursday, with the US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, Barbara Leaf, as Hussein indicated that "dialogues are the right way to solve problems," according to a statement by the Iraqi Foreign Ministry.
On the other hand, the foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and the United States stressed the importance of "Iraq's commitment to Kuwait's sovereignty and territorial integrity and respect for international agreements and United Nations resolutions, especially Security Council Resolution No. 833 regarding the demarcation of the borders between Kuwait and Iraq."
In a statement issued after their meeting in New York on September 25, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meetings, the ministers called on the Iraqi government “to ensure that the Kuwait-Iraq agreement to regulate maritime navigation in Khor Abdullah remains in effect.”
Khor Abdullah Agreement...the root of the problem
In January 2013, the Iraqi Council of Ministers approved an agreement with Kuwait regulating maritime navigation in Khor Abdullah, which overlooks the Gulf waters. The Iraqi Council of Representatives ratified the agreement later that year, officially entering into force.
After a decade, the Federal Court in Iraq decided that the agreement was unconstitutional and justified its decision “for violating the provisions of Article (61/Fourth) of the Constitution of the Republic of Iraq, which stipulated that the process of ratifying international treaties and agreements is regulated by a law enacted by a two-thirds majority of the members of the Council of Representatives.”
The Iraqi court's decision brought back to the forefront the border problems between Baghdad and Kuwait, which the two countries had recently pledged to overcome, after the gradual improvement in relations over the past years.
Member of the Foreign Relations Committee in the Iraqi Parliament, MP Muthanna Amin, summarized the most prominent pending files between Iraq and Kuwait, including the return of the remains of Kuwaiti prisoners and the return of antiquities and possessions that were “taken from Kuwait” during the Iraqi invasion of the Gulf state, according to his expression.
The head of the Kuwaiti Association of Families of Martyrs, Prisoners and Missing Persons, Fayez Al-Enezi, had explained in an interview with the local newspaper Al-Anbaa last August that Kuwait had been able to return the remains of 294 people from Iraq, while 311 people were still missing, including people of non-Kuwaiti nationalities.
Maritime Navigation.. A "Complex" File Between Kuwait and Iraq
The most important file for the member of the Foreign Relations Committee in the Iraqi Parliament, MP Muthanna Amin, is the issue of regulating maritime navigation. He says that this file is complex and contains problems, especially because of the rejection of some Iraqi parties of some of the conditions imposed on their country as a result of its being subject to Chapter VII sanctions following its invasion of Kuwait in 1990, according to his expression.
Amin said that the issue of territorial waters and freedom of movement in them is very important for Iraq, and called for the necessity of "reconsidering the navigation agreements between the two countries so that they do not negatively affect Iraq's ports and limit their role," as he put it.
A member of the Foreign Relations Committee in the Iraqi Council of Representatives also pointed out that many Iraqis believe that their country has been imposed with decisions that he described as "unfair" and that they are demanding that they be reconsidered. He pointed out that "solving the problem of regulating maritime navigation and demarcating the borders between the two countries requires flexibility between the two parties."
Amin also said that Iraqi-Kuwaiti relations have witnessed a noticeable improvement in the recent period, especially after the Security Council officially closed, in February 2022, the Kuwait compensation file after Iraq paid $52.4 billion, according to his expression.
Amin explained that Iraq was removed from the scope of Chapter VII procedures of the UN Security Council after paying Kuwait's compensation, and that Iraq was transferred from Chapter VII to Chapter VI to resolve the remaining outstanding issues with Kuwait.
According to the United Nations, Chapter VI is concerned with “pacific settlement of disputes” and deals with “the practice of the Security Council in promoting and implementing recommendations, methods or procedures for the pacific settlement of disputes within the framework of Articles 33-38 of Chapter VI and Articles 11 and 99 of the Charter of the United Nations. In general, Chapter VI contains various provisions under which the Security Council may make recommendations to the parties to a dispute or to the parties to a situation.”
The Khor Abdullah Agreement and its legal and constitutional consequences
The agreement stipulates that the waters of Khor Abdullah be divided equally between the two countries, based on UN Security Council Resolution 833 issued in 1993, which redrawn the borders following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.
Iraqis object to this agreement because they believe that it gives Kuwait the right to territorial waters deep inside Iraq, which hinders the movement of maritime trade in front of the country's limited ports.
Legal expert Dr. Adnan Al-Sharifi said in a statement that all decisions of the Federal Court in Iraq are binding according to the principle of “international supremacy of constitutions” and that the court relied on Article 61 of the Iraqi Constitution when it decided that this agreement was unconstitutional, noting that this step is part of an “international custom” regarding the role of judicial bodies in monitoring laws and treaties.
Al-Sharifi added that the Iraqi constitution stipulated that when ratifying treaties and agreements, two-thirds of the members of the Iraqi parliament must be present, “and this did not happen in the 2013 session to vote on the agreement.”
Iraq and Kuwait now have two paths, the legal expert says. The first is for the Iraqi parliament to revote on the agreement by a two-thirds majority so that it becomes effective and binding. However, if the parliament refuses to vote on the agreement, which is the second scenario, then Kuwait can resort to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.
Al-Sharifi explained that the 2013 agreement "was concluded without consulting all Iraqi parties, and many of them believe that the agreement in its current form does not protect Iraq's interests," adding that the option before Kuwait now is to renegotiate to reach a new agreement that satisfies both parties and protects their rights in accordance with international standards and laws.
The legal expert denied the possibility of Iraq being subject to any measures against it due to its rejection of the current agreement, but he pointed out the consequences that the country would face if Kuwait filed a case in the International Court and won it but Iraq refused to abide by it, "In this case only will Iraq be subject to international sanctions."
Al-Sharifi explains Article 14 of the Khor Abdullah Agreement, which clearly states that “the two parties must first resolve the dispute amicably, and if agreement fails, the dispute shall be referred to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, whose decisions will be binding on both parties.”
He added that based on the terms of the current agreement, Kuwait must first resolve this issue through negotiation and a friendly solution, but "Kuwait's resort to statements of condemnation, denunciation and escalation is a clear violation of the terms of the agreement," according to his expression.
In a televised interview, former Kuwaiti Minister of Information, Sami Al-Nisf, said, “Kuwait has confirmed more than once that the issue is ‘Iraqi-Iraqi,’ and has no objection if the Iraqi government returns this agreement to parliament for re-ratification.”
Al-Nusf pointed out that "any other move or procedure will be evidence of the existence of parties trying to 'plant mines' in the relations between the two countries, and Iraq will be the one most affected if this agreement is rejected, because Kuwait is located within an integrated Gulf system and it is in Iraq's interest to strengthen its relations with these countries."
Regarding the objection of Iraqi parties to the agreement, which they said violates Iraq's right to navigation, the former Kuwaiti minister added that this is not true, "as evidenced by the fact that Iraq is now building one of the largest ports in the region. The Iraqi port of Faw is larger than all of Kuwait's ports combined, and therefore there is no 'strangulation' of Iraq in maritime navigation. Iraq also has other ports on the Gulf, such as the ports of Umm Qasr and Zubair."
He stated that "Historically, Kuwait has helped Iraq in maritime navigation. Kuwaiti ports are what supported Iraq during the war with Iran, which forced Iraq at that time to close all its ports," he said.
Source: Alhurra
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Today at 7:08 am by Rocky
» utube 11/9/2 MM&C News Reporting-Sudani Art IV IMF-Port Faw Open-CBI Governor-No Room for Tw
Today at 7:08 am by Rocky
» Finance Committee discusses revenue enhancement and investment budget allocations with governors
Today at 7:06 am by Rocky
» His advisor: Al-Sudani's visit to Kurdistan focuses on these files
Today at 7:03 am by Rocky
» Al-Tamimi explains the importance of the real estate return law
Today at 7:02 am by Rocky
» MP: The administrative capital is a project under study and 2025 is the decision date
Today at 7:01 am by Rocky
» Parliamentary Planning: Al-Sudani's government has not achieved what it pledged in its program
Today at 6:59 am by Rocky
» MP: Baghdad has started funding the governorates to complete their projects
Today at 6:57 am by Rocky
» Al-Haboubi: The Riyadh Summit ignored the most important item that would force the entity to stop th
Today at 6:56 am by Rocky
» Foreign remittance sales increase by 99% at Central Bank auction
Today at 6:54 am by Rocky
» Trade Bank of Iraq clarifies interest rates on its loans in 5 areas
Today at 6:53 am by Rocky
» Iraq prepares to launch a group of investments worth a quarter of a trillion dollars
Today at 6:51 am by Rocky
» Bitcoin Approaches $90,000 for the First Time Ever
Today at 6:50 am by Rocky
» Minister of Electricity directs investigation into high electricity bills
Today at 6:49 am by Rocky
» Iraqi Ministry Approves Contract Fixing
Today at 6:48 am by Rocky
» Iraq prepares investment portfolio to attract $250 billion in two years
Today at 6:44 am by Rocky
» What is the cost of the population census in Iraq?
Today at 6:43 am by Rocky
» Parliamentary Finance Committee discusses investment budget allocations with a number of governors
Today at 5:13 am by Rocky
» President of the Republic: Iraq is fulfilling its obligations under the climate agreement
Today at 5:11 am by Rocky
» The position of truth
Today at 5:10 am by Rocky
» The government places achieving development among the priorities of the 2025 budget
Today at 5:07 am by Rocky
» Next Thursday .. Planning begins the first step of the census
Today at 5:05 am by Rocky
» The utility of the population census
Today at 5:04 am by Rocky
» Iraq needs to address funding issues
Today at 5:03 am by Rocky
» The risk of oil supply disruption has receded.
Today at 5:02 am by Rocky
» Parliamentary Finance Committee discusses with a number of governors the allocations of the investme
Today at 5:00 am by Rocky
» Integrity: Two new rulings issued against the director of a government bank in Diyala
Today at 4:57 am by Rocky
» Federal Ministry of Finance returns payrolls of regional employees due to technical problems
Today at 4:56 am by Rocky
» Iraqi analysis of the results of the "Riyadh Summit": Ink on paper and will not change anything in r
Today at 4:54 am by Rocky
» Finance Ministry approves the establishment of all contracts in justice institutions
Today at 4:52 am by Rocky
» In various fields.. Preparations to launch a group of "unprecedented" investments in Iraq
Today at 4:46 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani's advisor announces US Treasury support mechanisms for Iraq
Today at 4:40 am by Rocky
» Indomie and dollar smuggling: Has fast food become a cover for currency smuggling from Iraq?
Today at 4:38 am by Rocky
» Including personal status.. Former MP: Parliament will resume work next Saturday to pass laws
Today at 4:37 am by Rocky
» Politician: America has put Iraq at its mercy and controls all its imports
Today at 4:36 am by Rocky
» “Political” Interventions in Nineveh Education... Transferring Staff and Appointing “Contractors” as
Today at 4:34 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani at the Riyadh Summit... and American messages may be passed to Tehran via Baghdad
Today at 4:33 am by Rocky
» Is the Grand Faw Port Iraq's gateway to global trade?
Today at 4:32 am by Rocky
» After extending its legislative term... Why has Parliament not held any session yet?
Today at 4:31 am by Rocky
» Karrada bids farewell to its trees: Road expansion sparks controversy over the future of the environ
Today at 4:30 am by Rocky
» Victory Coalition talks about the outbreak of a “war of leaks” and reveals an external breach
Today at 4:29 am by Rocky
» Al-Mashhadani confirms to the US Ambassador the importance of resolving the security agreement file
Today at 4:27 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani: Iraq strongly renews its initiative to establish an Arab and Islamic fund
Today at 4:25 am by Rocky
» Al-Khazaali: The importance of activating cooperation mechanisms between Iraq and Azerbaijan in the
Today at 4:24 am by Rocky
» Al-Araji and Salami discuss details of joint security agreement and border control between the two c
Today at 4:23 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani and Bin Salman stress the need to coordinate positions to stop the war and provide relief
Today at 4:22 am by Rocky
» Parliamentary Finance: The government has started preparing the 2025 budget
Today at 4:20 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani to Bin Salman: We appreciate the efforts made by the Kingdom to hold the summit called for
Today at 4:17 am by Rocky
» What did Iraq achieve in its meetings with the US Treasury, and did it succeed in controlling the sa
Today at 4:10 am by Rocky
» Morning list of dollar exchange rates in Iraq
Today at 4:09 am by Rocky
» Ziggurat of Aqar Quf.. A new step to choose Baghdad as the Arab Tourism Capital for the year 2025
Today at 4:06 am by Rocky
» Notice regarding applying for the free scholarship channel for the medical group colleges
Today at 4:05 am by Rocky
» After questions published on Alsumaria.. Planning sends a message to Iraqis: Don't worry
Today at 4:04 am by Rocky
» Al-Mashhadani to the US Ambassador: The importance of resolving the security agreement file by the e
Yesterday at 6:52 am by Rocky
» Mr. Al-Hakim: We support the automation of government sectors to stimulate the economy and move prod
Yesterday at 6:51 am by Rocky
» Embezzlement of 570 million dinars from a bank in Babylon
Yesterday at 6:49 am by Rocky
» The housing dream is fading away: Are housing complexes only for the wealthy?
Yesterday at 6:48 am by Rocky
» Economist identifies main reason behind dollar's rise
Yesterday at 6:45 am by Rocky
» Al-Mutalibi: The Riyadh Summit is a preparation for the American project towards Palestine
Yesterday at 6:41 am by Rocky
» With the document.. The State Council completes the review of the law on the care of minors in Iraq
Yesterday at 6:39 am by Rocky
» Private banks' capital in Iraq increased by 7.3%
Yesterday at 6:38 am by Rocky
» Integrity Commission begins investigation into audio recording attributed to Al-Sudani's chief advis
Yesterday at 6:36 am by Rocky
» Among them is Iraq.. the country that bought the most gold in 10 years
Yesterday at 6:34 am by Rocky
» Ministerial team conducts field visits to local factories in Baghdad
Yesterday at 5:17 am by Rocky
» The truth about canceling a paragraph in the population census form in Iraq
Yesterday at 5:16 am by Rocky
» Iraq returns 7 Iranian trucks loaded with tomatoes
Yesterday at 5:15 am by Rocky
» New image of Iraq
Yesterday at 5:13 am by Rocky
» Automation to monitor the operation of government and private generators
Yesterday at 5:12 am by Rocky
» Lifting the ban on Iraqi ships next year
Yesterday at 5:11 am by Rocky
» Guaranteeing the rights of workers in the private education sector
Yesterday at 5:09 am by Rocky
» UN to Al-Sabah: The Iraqi government has made progress in the environmental file
Yesterday at 5:08 am by Rocky
» {Automation}.. A new procedure to monitor the operation of generators
Yesterday at 5:07 am by Rocky
» Tourism: Closure of more than 85 percent of violating companies
Yesterday at 5:06 am by Rocky
» Transport leads campaign to rehabilitate railway lines and locomotives
Yesterday at 5:05 am by Rocky
» Economic partnerships and investments in the real estate market in Sulaymaniyah
Yesterday at 5:04 am by Rocky
» Iraqi private sector accreditation
Yesterday at 5:03 am by Rocky
» Experts: Faw Port is Iraq's gateway to a global economic future
Yesterday at 5:02 am by Rocky
» Ihsan Al-Shammari: Trump's policy towards Iraq will differ from the Biden administration's... and th
Yesterday at 5:00 am by Rocky
» The Minister of Trade discusses with the Mayor of Baghdad the development of joint cooperation and t
Yesterday at 4:58 am by Rocky
» Bitcoin Price Surpasses $80,000 for the First Time
Yesterday at 4:57 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani heads to Saudi Arabia to participate in the Arab and Islamic Summit
Yesterday at 4:55 am by Rocky
» Oil Minister discusses with Jordanian Ambassador in Baghdad joint cooperation between the two countr
Yesterday at 4:54 am by Rocky
» Revealing the content of Al-Araji’s visit to Tehran: Baghdad’s message for a new roadmap in the regi
Yesterday at 4:52 am by Rocky
» Al-Hindawi to Baghdad Today: All problems regarding the population census in the disputed areas have
Yesterday at 4:51 am by Rocky
» Agriculture says it has passed the stage of rising prices of vegetables and meat in Iraq
Yesterday at 4:50 am by Rocky
» {Automation}.. A new procedure to monitor the operation of generators
Yesterday at 4:48 am by Rocky
» Statement from the government on Iraq's participation in the Riyadh Summit
Yesterday at 4:47 am by Rocky
» Iraq calls on Türkiye to rebuild Mosul
Yesterday at 4:46 am by Rocky
» The leaks crisis “gets more complicated” and the government complains of “targeting”.. Al-Sudani’s c
Yesterday at 4:45 am by Rocky
» Ministry of Oil: Oil Products Distribution Company continues to develop government fuel filling stat
Yesterday at 4:43 am by Rocky
» Parliamentarian reveals the component that rejects passing the “Real Estate Return” law in its curre
Yesterday at 4:42 am by Rocky
» Parliamentarian: Basra-Aqaba pipeline paves the way for normalization
Yesterday at 4:40 am by Rocky
» Nechirvan Barzani's attendance at Baku summit strengthens Kurdistan's position as a destination for
Yesterday at 4:39 am by Rocky
» In Tehran, Iraqi National Security Adviser Discusses “Widespread Conflict” with Iranian Foreign Mini
Yesterday at 4:38 am by Rocky
» “Indomie” in Iraq: A popular dish or a dollar smuggling?
Yesterday at 4:36 am by Rocky
» Parliamentary move to question the governor of the Central Bank of Iraq
Yesterday at 4:35 am by Rocky
» The Democratic Party reveals the reasons for delaying the formation of the regional government
Yesterday at 4:34 am by Rocky
» Framework “worried” about Trump’s backtracking on withdrawing US troops from Iraq
Yesterday at 4:33 am by Rocky
» The President of the Republic heads to Azerbaijan tomorrow to participate in the Climate Conference
Yesterday at 4:31 am by Rocky