The border dispute with Kuwait has been since 1932 at the time of the monarchy, which kept the problem existed until the July 17 to 30 revolution , which has rejected marking the border , and the position of the Iraqi government was clear and explicit in 1973 with Kuwait that Iraq does not recognize the message attributed to Nuri Said 1932, and the record in 1963 because the islands of Warba and Bubiyan and the coast opposite to them are located within the Iraqi territory, but the circumstances experienced by Iraq exploited by the Kuwaiti side to extend, especially during the Iran – Iraq war , on Iraqi territory.
This historical backlog of the Iraqi – British dispute about Kuwait in the Royal and Republican eras in Iraq , and the border disputes between Iraq and Kuwait, after the establishment of a political entity may be one of the key factors that have pushed Iraq to invade Kuwait on 2/8/1990, which subjected Iraq under penalty of the UN Charter Chapter VII, And Iraq was classified by the United Nations as a state threatening the international peace and security , and breach of Article 39 of Chapter VII.
It has been applied to Iraq to destroy the Iraqi military machine, that destructions includes the various fields of economic, cultural, social life and others , and it was including resolution 833 for the year 1993 to maintain security and the work of the United Nations to demarcate the border between Iraq and Kuwait, and actually, the border was marked extending with a length of 216 km, and the application of the resolution partially under the previous regime led to carve out large swaths of Iraqi territory in the districts of of Safwan and Umm Qasr and its annexation to the Kuwaiti territory.
The first border demarcation has been from the port of Umm Qasr- a pillar 162 in 1993, but Kuwait did not even dare to claim the application of any thing of the Convention until 2003 however, Iraq has refused to recognize and participate in meetings and refusing it in details and even the Committee that was set up by the security Council , the Indonesian head of it rejected to take part in it because it was unfair against Iraq.
Khawr Abd Allah
A waterway located in the north of the Arabian Gulf between the islands Bubiyan and Warba and Iraqi semi- peninsula , Faw and khawr Abd Allah extends to the inside of Iraqi territory, forming khawr Al-Zubair , which the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr located in it , Amer Abd Al-Jabbar , the former minister of transport said the resolution number 833 in the time of previous system consists of two parts , the first part was demarcated since 1993 from( the port Umm Qasr – a pillar 162 ) and other part has not been demarcated being Iraqi but what has happened today , the new demarcation of the Iraqi part which has been voted on it in the Iraqi Council of representatives of the previous session called ( the humiliating khawr Abd Allah agreement ) noting that in the first time the Iraqi parliament voted on it as it was being a humiliating agreement and voted again to passé it on 22-8-2013 , where it was approved.
There are Iraqi lawmakers opposed to the ratification and others supporters saying that it is Kuwaiti although the Kuaitis themselves say it is common , and Ironically , the UN Security Council Resolution NO.833, despite its disadvantages and objections to it , but it gave Iraq the right for absolute navigation , the biggest powers in the maneuver and deeper in the move from the right to the so called transit or free passage as one of the explicit rights awarded by international maritime law to Iraq.
On 22 August 2013, when Iraq signed the agreement of the regulation of maritime traffic between the two countries in the Khawr Abd Allah during the presidency of Nuri al – Maliki of the Iraqi government and Transport Minister Hadi al – Ameri , and also the committees formed by the Iraqi Foreign Minister, and that Iraq approved in January 27 2014 on the meeting of joint Supreme Committee for the demarcation of the border between the two countries, including the ratification of the Law of navigation. ”
And actually the House of Representatives approved in the previous session as it voted to approve the law of ratification of navigation in the Khawr Abd Allah law “, and that the signature of the Minister of Transport Hadi al – Ameri then on the Convention, through which vast areas of Iraq had become Kuwaiti areas , including the Khawr Abd Allah with 250 oil wells which had become for Kuwait, this was a great loss for the Iraqi economy.
The signing of this agreement was in the time of former prime minister Nuri al-Malki and is facilitated by Hadi al – Amiri, Minister of Transport at the that time who lifted the reservation , which was on the Convention that facilitated the process of establishing the port of Mubarak,
and the cost of new demarcation amounting to 750,000 dollars again , even though it has been marked since 1993 , this is a convincing evidence , the demarcation is new and new achievements for Kuwaitis in Iraqi waters and give the port to Kuwait on the 16th anniversary of the Gulf war , that did not come by chance.
And a zero demarcation resolutions depended , from the land to the land, not on the basis of Altaluk line, which has made the most of the deep navigation channel within the territorial boundaries of Kuwait.
This means that Iraq is obliged to use the Kuwaiti territorial waters for navigation jointly; because it is suitable for sea navigation according to the law of Seas and as commensurate with the need of ships for sailing .
The process of using the Khawr jointly needs to regulate the relationship between the Kuwaiti and Iraqi sides to determine the rights and obligations of each party so the agreement came (which fell into under Law No. 42 of 2013) to regulate these things and did not include the issue of demarcation of the border at all , and it is not right to do so because the demarcation has been settled by a committee of the United Nations and adopted by the international organization and become a reality.
And that the clamor that followed the cabinet ‘s decision taken in its session on Tuesday, 24.01.2017 which is the allocation of the amount due on Iraq to print maps of the land borders between Iraq and Kuwait , which was amounted by 750,000 dollars, and it did not discuss the border demarcation agreement and not to regulate navigation in the Khawr Abd Allah.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al – Abadi was surprised for the reopening of the Khawr Abd Allah maritime file, concerning the sea views of Iraq on the Arabian Gulf, and accuse his government to give up large parts of it to Kuwait, stressing that his government did not take a new decision in this regard, but endorsed the report of the competent committees , which were working in this file years ago ,when it was introduced to it .
The convention that combines the Governments of Iraq and Kuwait regarding Khawr Abd Allah dates back to the year 2012 and provides for “cooperation in the regulation of navigation and taking care of the marine environment in the Navigation waterway in Khawr Abdullah to the benefit of both parties.”
Why do they raise the convention at this particular time , it is to create a problem within the framework of the political struggle on power between the wings of one party , along the lines of the Islamic Dawa Party , which includes the current Prime Minister Haider al – Abadi and former Nuri al – Maliki who is trying to cut the road in front of the possibility of Abadi’s winning for a new mandate after the end of his current term. Abadi responded , referring to a “political party seeking to confuse the victories of the Iraqi forces in Mosul by moving the dead Files”, without naming it, and got surprised , that ” some of the parties resort to the political investment in everything , ”
and the current prime minister , added “Iraq executes a binding decision issued by the Council of the public Security in 1993 on the demarcation of the maritime border between Iraq and Kuwait , “and we can not refrain from the implementation of Security Council resolutions, because we will be accused of aggressiveness and rebellion on the international legitimacy.” He continued, “Iraq has lost half of the area of its sea view due to the invasion of Kuwait, and the consequent of international resolutions against it , not because of a new decision we made .”
the Prime Minister revealed , that he notified the Kuwaiti side to start negotiations between the two sides on this file. He said “we will make use of this tumult around it, to open this file entirely with our brothers in Kuwait, but if they refuse, there is nothing to obligate them, and this is a problem.” He also explained that his government began real negotiations with Iran over the maritime border in the Shatt al – Arab. ”
The leader of the Dawa party Ali Alaq pointing out that the issue of Khawr Abd Allah” was existed at the time of al – Maliki ‘s government and is not linked to al – Abadi.
The economic goals , risks and effects for the Khawr Abd Allah are :
* it gives Kuwait a priority in the control of navigation channel in Iraq ‘s territorial waters, what constitutes significant damage on Iraq.
* Iraq ‘s only port that will be under the sovereignty of Kuwait, with the knowledge that resolution 833 , although it is unfair and against Iraq but it gave the right of sea navigation which stipulates that any Kuwaiti do not have the right to climb on a ship heading for Iraq and does not bring down the Iraqi flag.
* In this agreement there is a content admission for the port of Mubarak note that violates the laws of the sea and has nothing to do with the seventh item and 833. Resolution
* raise insurance fees on ships entering Iraq leading to its reluctance to shift trade from the port of Umm Qasr to the port of Mubarak.
* New benefits for Kuwait to make common wages, giving privilege to Kuwait.
the former Transport Minister Amir Abdul – Jabbar said:
the committees were formed from the ministries of foreign and Transportation which brought a study of the subject to explain that the Khawr Abd Allah area is located within the buoy 16.17 and this hinders naval exercise, and also the Universal Law of the Sea stipulates that any state do not have the right to change the geographical location causing a harm to the neighboring country never the less it was their territory.
and Kuwait does not need the port economically , when US forces were in Kuwait , the operational production capacity of the ports reached by 67%, and when the American left , the operational capacity became 35%, and that means they do not need to set up the port and the goal is to be only for the Iraqi goods.
The question : Is the port awarded to Kuwait on the 16th anniversary of the Gulf War! Episode of Kuwaiti revenge against Iraq. Former Transport Minister Amir Abdul – Jabbar says it is a plan of some Iraqi politicians to remove the port of Faw and give railway linking to Kuwait.
Iraq despite its economic crisis experienced and the increase of military spending because of the war against Daaesh and the rise of foreign debts due to the deficit of the budget and the decline of oil prices , but Iraq paid the debt to Kuwait .However , Hoshyar Zebari , the former minister of foreign affairs pointed out delivering a statement to Rieter agency in October 2015 saying Iraq has paid all pills OF compensations almost that amounted by 52.4 billion dollar through allocation 5% from the oil revenues annually to the committee of compensations that is belong to UN where it could to put off the payment taking into the consideration the harsh economic situation Iraq is going through and to prove of the good intention and neighboring
The Kuwait News Agency, said that Kuwait ‘s foreign minister announced the postponement of the final payment in 2017 during a meeting of the Compensation Commission of the United Nations in Geneva.
According to some political and economic experts and analysts see that, there is no doubt that the nibbling of the borders of Iraq , which took place in the Shatt al – Arab and the Khor Abdullah and other lands caused by the first of the former regime, and it was rather for the elected government after 2003 to object to these decisions and to provide documentation that supports the rights of Iraq to the Security Council and others.
as well as try to persuade the great powers that what happened in the nineties of the last century and the damage made on Iraq, in particular , and that Iraq was under the weight of economic sanctions and international pressure, as well as negotiating with Kuwait on a lot of things that can be for Iraq to pressure them to Kuwait,
and that is applied on the issue of concession on the half of the Shatt al – Arab to Iran noting it has been possible to explain to the neighboring Iran that the Convention of Algeria was made by the the signing of a dictatorial regime, Iran itself were not recognize to its legitimacy, and it occurred without the consent of the Iraqi people , it is necessary to re – examine them, in particular that Iran has become a friend of Iraq,
and must to consider the damage that happened to Iraq because of the mistakes of the previous regime and that it was possible to do so, even for the objection and express the position of the border problem.
There was opposition from parliamentarians on the resolution, including Aziz Ugaili member of the National Coalition led by Ammar al – Hakim , where he asked the outgoing government to wait in the implementation of the resolution , stressing that it is necessary to have a Parliament opinion on the demarcation of the border and discuss it in detail before giving a final decision.
the member of parliament for the Kurdish list Farhad Raundozi expresse the opposition of his alliance on this government decision , saying in a press statement that the current government does not have the powers to take such a decision he described as “fateful and strategic.”
Abdul – Jabbar pointed out that the political system in Iraq waived about his right of a new demarcation after 2003 of the Iraqi Khor Abd Allah after the Prop 162 and up to buoy No. 1, new concessions are unrelated to the Security Council resolution 833 , but are the new gains for the Kuwaiti ambitions and the evidence for that what was allocated of amount of $ 750,000 dollars for the new demarcation .
Abdul-Jabbar called on the Council of Ministers and the House of Representatives for the acquaintance on the book of opinions and decisions of the State Shura Council for the year 2009 Page 292/293/294 where he explained that the Shura Council expressed its reservation on paragraph (1) of Article (16) of the Convention, “the repression of illegal business against the Safety of Maritime Navigation “justified it with the following text,” the Republic of Iraq does not possess arbitration experiences and possibilities of negotiating what position to keep pace with other countries in this area. “this is because the above article concerning the settlement of the border disputes with neighboring countries and taking the advice of the Council of State Shura, not to sign on any topic for Iraqi borders counting of non- presence of qualified negotiators.
He added: I think that the State Council has not taken such a decision only for the exact appreciation of the Iraqi political interior situation and sustainable differences between the parties in the state administration in addition to the quota system , which brought the inexperienced people to important sites in the decision – making centers.
And that there be a meeting between the members of the House of Representatives and deputies of Basra and experts in maritime domain with the Prime Minister to explain the issue in detail and to clarify the amount of damage on the country ‘s sovereignty and the destruction of its economy, in order to freeze the Convention or cancel it using high diplomat manner.
It must be a good position of the current Minister of Transport on the agreement to send a book to Kuwait to wait railway linking with Iraq until further notice as a result of the economic situation the country is going through.
After the UN Security Council resolution giving half the Khawr Abd Allah to Kuwait , Iraq ‘s right to claim the costs spent by over 70 years ago , where he was bear the costs alone.
the foreign ministry bears the responsibility because it is the party that prepared the paper and it is the negotiating body , as well as the Council of Ministers , which ratified on the Convention with out a clear and accurate maps and data explaining the topic thoroughly and
did not seek the assistance of experts from Basra to study the economic impacts of the project and its impact on future generations, the biggest sin is placed on the previous session , which it could have rejected the agreement and return to the cabinet.
And bear responsibility too, then – House Speaker Osama Najafi because he refused to accept the solutions proposed by the former transport minister who sent it with Alya Nassif MP since confirmed that Najafi originally refused receipt, and to look at the issue from the principle of a national, and that the borders of Iraq is not a political or sectarian or partisan property, Iraq is bigger than tampering with its territories.
Wael Abdul Latif , a lawyer and deputy governor of Basra and the Iraqi parliament said .
Khor Abd Allah is an Iraqi land and Kuwait has nothing to do ith it, it is a waterway serves the Iraqi ports after thethe problems of Shat al-Arab with Iran and then the process of demarcation is unfair to Iraqnoting that Iraq has spent and bears the cost and maintenance of the canal for 70 years accounted billions of dollars concerning the the digging and organization. This is unfair for Iraq, and today is abide by a new demarcation with spending of $ 750000 and this means there are gains for the Kuwaitisand according to the Mubark port that it is on the Kuwaiti land but the extended a long tongue with a length 1800M to build the Mubark port.
Wael Abdul Latif stressed that critical paragraph of Transport Minister Hadi al – Ameri , who signed the agreement, in 06/06/2011 as “The Island of Boubyan has a large navy interface overlooking the Arabian Gulf and and from the scientific and economic aspect , it can not be for any state to build ports on narrow and crowded navy waterways and at the same time it has a large navy interface and if Kuwait wants to establish its sovereignty over the island of Bubiyan or thinking to build a port to reexport to Iraq , it could do so on that built the port in the waterfront of the island of Bubiyan,
But to cram the harbor on this site and these schemes , this is clear evidence unequivocally that the intention is to harass Iraq and deprive it from the overlooking the Gulf , and therefore Iraq must quickly take a stand because the effects of backfill is shown and in an escalating pace and put Iraq in front of the reality of the case, but in 2013 the minister himself signed and the removal of the reservation for the railway link that existed in 2009.2010.
And D. Wael Abdul Latif mentioned that the committees were formed on the basis that the Kuwaiti side to exceed the fishermen and bringing down the Iraqi flag where the Iraqi and Kuwaiti fishermen were forbidden from fishing in Khor Abd Allah based on the paragraph included in the agreement , twisting the truth since as a matter of fact that the Kuwati fisher man do not fish in this area where he has an area of 500 km on the Arab Gulf while the Iraqi fisher man has only50 km , the poor Iraqi fisherman….. , the son of faw and Sebah .
And all experts and specialists mention that the decision 833 preserve the security and has nothing to do with demarcation of borders and he expresses his surprise and doubts that the Iraqi negotiating committees are meeting only in Kuwait and why they do not meet in Iraq and why they set aside the expert Abd Muhammad from the committee on the day of demarcation set by Hoshyar Zebari for this purpose, all these questions indicate to the existence of imbalance and violation .
And with regard to the building of a port of Mubarak , the Kuwaitis themselves realized of a mistake on this site noting that if Iraq failed to give Dry Canal, dry navigational channel to pass the goods from the port of Mubarak to Iraq , this port would not be feasible.
Coalitions and MPs , who were present in the previous session and currently object to the application of the law , did not object in the previous session and did not appeal against the law at the Federal Court so we put all responsibility on them , and the country will see angry protests since there is no future for the generations of Iraq and they will pay the price of chaos for the crucial decisions of the country.
Shatha Khalil
Unit Economic Studies
Translated by: Mudhaffar al-Kusairi
Rawabet Center for Research and Strategic Studies