Stripping Kuwaiti citizenship of those involved in Iraq’s “heist of the century”

The border disputes between Iraq and Kuwait returned to the spotlight after both parties issued statements in recent weeks highlighting the importance of resolving the outstanding issues and adhering to agreements, while politicians and viewers of the Al-Hurra website reported some of the decisions. charged Iraq as “unfair” and said the resolution of the issue depends on commitment.

In Iraq, Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein announced that talks between the two countries would soon be launched to resolve the “unresolved issues”.

This came during his meeting in Washington, Thursday, with the US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, Barbara Leaf, where Hussein indicated that “dialogue is the right way to solve problems,” according to a statement by the Iraqi Foreign Ministry. Cases.

On the other hand, the foreign ministers of the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council and the United States emphasized the importance of “Iraq’s commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Kuwait and respect for international agreements and the resolutions of the United Nations, to special Security Council Resolution No. 833 regarding the border between Kuwait and Iraq.”

In a statement issued after their meeting in New York, on September 25, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meetings, the ministers called on the Iraqi government to “ensure that the Kuwait-Iraq Agreement to navigate marine rule in Khor Abdullah still in force.”

Khor Abdullah’s agreement … where did the problem come from

In January 2013, the Iraqi Council of Ministers approved an agreement with Kuwait related to the regulation of maritime navigation in Khor Abdullah overlooking the waters of the Gulf. The Iraqi Council of Representatives ratified the agreement later that same year to officially enter into force.

After ten years had passed, the Federal Court in Iraq decided that the agreement was unconstitutional and justified a decision “for violating the provisions of Article (61 / Fourth) of the Constitution of the Republic of Iraq, which states that the ratification process is international. Contracts and agreements are governed by law enacted by a two-thirds majority of the members of the House of Representatives.”

The decision of the Iraqi court brought back to the fore the border problems between Baghdad and Kuwait, which both countries promised to overcome recently, after a gradual improvement in relations over the past years.

A Member of the Foreign Relations Committee in the Iraqi Parliament, Representative Muthanna Amin, in an interview with the Al-Hurra website, summarized the most prominent issues between Iraq and Kuwait, including the return of what has been the release of Kuwaiti prisoners and the return of antiquities and collectibles that were “taken from Kuwait” when Iraq invaded the Gulf State, as he put it.

The head of the “Families of Imprisoned Martyrs and Missing” Association in Kuwait, Fayez Al-Enezi, explained in an interview with the newspaper:News“Last August, the local newspaper reported that Kuwait was able to return the remains of 294 people from Iraq, while 311 people are still missing, including people of non-Kuwaiti nationalities.

Sea navigation…a “complex” file between Kuwait and Iraq

The most important file for a member of the Foreign Relations Committee in the Iraqi Parliament, Representative Muthanna Amin, is the issue of the regulation of maritime navigation in their country as a result of being subject to Chapter Seven sanctions. after invading Kuwait in 1990, according to his quote.

Amin said that the issue of territorial waters and freedom of movement in them is very important for Iraq, and he asked that “the navigation agreements between the two countries must be reconsidered so that they do not adversely affect Iraqi ports and finish their job,” he said.

A member of the Foreign Relations Committee in the Iraqi House of Representatives also pointed out that many Iraqis believe that their country made decisions that he described as “unfair” and that they want them to be reconsidered. Pointing out that “flexibility is needed between the two parties to solve the problem of managing maritime navigation and demarcating borders between the two countries.”

Amin also told the Al-Hurra website that Iraqi-Kuwaiti relations have seen significant progress in the recent period, especially after the Security Council officially closed, in February 2022, the Kuwaiti compensation file after Iraq to pay $ 52.4 billion, as he said.

Amin explained that Iraq was excluded from Chapter Seven procedures of the UN Security Council after paying reparations to Kuwait, and that Iraq was moved from Chapter Seven to Chapter Six to resolve the outstanding issues with Kuwait.

According to the United Nations, Chapter Six is ​​concerned with the “peaceful settlement of disputes” and deals with “the practices of the Security Council aimed at promoting and implementing recommendations, methods or procedures which aimed at the peaceful settlement of disputes within the framework. of Articles 33-38 of Chapter Six and Articles 11 and 99 of the Charter of the United Nations.

The Khor Abdullah Agreement and its Legal and Constitutional Implications

The agreement states that Khor Abdullah waters will be divided equally between the two countries, based on UN Security Council Resolution 833 issued in 1993, which restored the borders after an invasion Iraq on Kuwait.

Iraq opposes this agreement because it believes 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 restricted ports. .

Legal expert Dr. Adnan Al-Sharifi tells the Al-Hurra website that all decisions of the Federal Court in Iraq are binding according to the principle of “constitutional supremacy between -national,” and that the court relied on Article 61 of the Iraqi Constitution when it ruled that this agreement was unconstitutional, indicating that this step is part of a “practice between -national.” “It is related to the role of legal authorities in monitoring laws and contracts.

Al-Sharifi says that the Iraqi constitution required two-thirds of the members of the Iraqi parliament to be present when ratifying treaties and agreements, “and this did not happen in the voting session on the agreement in 2013.”

Iraq and Kuwait now have two paths, as the legal expert says. and binding however, if the Parliament refuses to vote on the agreement, that is the second situation, then Kuwait can in this case visit 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 as it is now does not protect Iraqi interests,” saying that the option before Kuwait now is to renegotiate in order to reach a new agreement that will satisfy both parties and protect their rights according to international standards and laws.

The legal expert denied that Iraq could be subject to any measures against it because of its rejection of the current agreement, but pointed out the consequences for the country if Kuwait would submit a case to the international court and it would win, but Iraq REFUSED to comply. “Only in this case will Iraq be exposed to international sanctions.”

Al-Sharifi explains Article 14 of the Khor Abdullah Agreement, which clearly states that “both parties must first resolve the dispute amicably, and if consensus fails, the dispute shall be referred to the International Tribunal for the Law of Law. Yes, whose decisions will be binding on both parties.”

He says that based on the terms of the current agreement, Kuwait must first solve this problem through negotiation and a friendly solution, but “Kuwait’s choice to deny, reject and escalate statements is a clear violation of the terms of the agreement, ” as he put it.

In an exclusive interview with the Al-Hurra website, the former Kuwaiti Minister of Information, Sami Al-Nisf, said, “Kuwait has confirmed more than once that the issue is “Iraqi-Iraqi”, and it has no complaints if the Iraqi government. returning this agreement to Parliament for approval again.”

Al-Nisf pointed out that “any other movement or action will be evidence of the presence of parties trying to ‘plant mines’ in the relationship between the two countries, and Iraq will be the main victim if this agreement is rejected, as Kuwait is located within the integrated Gulf system and it is in Iraq’s interest to strengthen its relations.” With these countries.

Regarding the Iraqi parties’ objection to the agreement, which they said violated Iraq’s right to navigation, a former Kuwaiti minister said this is not true, “as seen by the fact that Iraq is now building one of the largest ports in the region . The Iraqi port of Al-Faw is bigger than all the ports of Kuwait combined, so there is no ‘teaching’ for Iraq in sea navigation. Iraq has other ports on the Gulf, for example, the port of Umm Qasr and Al-Zubair.”

He said that “Kuwait has historically helped Iraq in maritime navigation. It was the Kuwaiti ports that supported Iraq during the war against Iran, which forced Iraq at the time to shut it all down,” he said.