In April 25, 1920 , the League of Nations put Iraq under the British Mandate for providing advice to the Iraqis to establish their own state, as stated in Article 22 of the Charter of the League of Nations, which stipulates that the States or territories which were under authority of Ottoman state is the sacred trust in the hands of humanity , and it must become under the auspices of major countries for the creation of the modern states. Accordingly, the three states of Mosul, Baghdad and Basra came under the British Mandate, which Article IV of its regulations stipulates that the mandatory Power was liable to preserve the Iraqi lands and do not waive or lease and not put it under the authority of a foreign country (1).
When our study of the administrative borders of the three States in the period of the first World War , which applies Article IV, we note that the administrative district(Qaimmaqamya ) of Kuwait was part of the state of Basra, while the other areas in the province of Basra, which are located south of Qaimqamya of Kuwait , the Sultan Abdul Aziz Al Saud has occupied it in 1913 when took Possession of the Al – Ahsa, and therefore Article IV of the Regulations of the Mandate is not applied on it .therefore the British government has to include Qaimqamip of Kuwait in its mandatory on Iraq but exempted it to make Kuwait as a base to protect its interests in the Arabian Gulf and India, the Iraqis saw in that to deprive Iraq of water access to the sea . so this issue has become basically a basis for all border disputes between the Iraqi government and Britain since the founding of the Iraqi state in 1921 , and until the end of the British Protection on Kuwait and declared it an independent state in 1961, becoming a direct dispute between Iraq and Kuwait after this date.
The characterization of border, passed by the Security Council based on its Resolution No. 687 of 1991, has relied on a secret message Britain says that Iraq ‘s Prime Minister Nuri al – Said has sent it to the British High Commissioner in Iraq on July 21, 1932 in which Nuri gave a description of the border between Iraq and Kuwait … and Interestingly, this letter does not bear the signature of Nuri said , but only his name,and I did not find in the British archives anything to refer to the existence of a formal letter in Arabic , signed by Nuri said, with the exception of the text of the message in English without the signing of Nuri said in front of his name. This letter was published in a book Arabian Boundries, a copy of the documents in the Public Record Office in London (2). on my supervisory on two letters of the master ‘s and doctorate on the subject of Kuwait , the researchers could not find the message of Nuri ‘s signature about the characterization of the border in 1932 , not in Arabic and nor in English, Which raises doubt that this letter is a creation of the British High Commissioner, who was in charge of foreign affairs of Iraq.
On the other hand, Nuri al-Said did not mention in his official correspondence to the message and so was acting against it . Mr. Naji Talib Prime Minister of Iraq and his foreign minister has assured me that for several years in the Republican era that he has made every effort to find the root of the book , which the British said that Nuri has written on the characterization of border with Kuwait in 1932 but he did not find its origin in the Iraqi foreign ministry files . Subhi Abdul Hamid, Iraq ‘s foreign minister for the period 1963- 1964 sees the insistence of Kuwaitis in the days of his era as a minister to enter into negotiations to determine the borders demonstrates that if they have previous agreements or document on the border, such as a document of Nuri Said to say these are our borders …. fix it with us.
Iraq ‘s position on determining the border with Kuwait , it seems clear from the memorandum of Iraqi Foreign Ministry on June 25, 1932, before the date of the letter attributed to Nuri al-Said in less than a month, discussed the British demands in it to determine Iraq ‘s international borders with its neighbors on the occasion of Iraq ‘s entering as a member of the League of Nations as an independent state , stating with regard to Kuwait:
“1. the status of the Kuwaiti emirate has not been defined from the international aspect legally, so the border has not yet exactly known.
- The determination of the border are made under an agreement between two sovereign states , and such an agreement between Iraq and Kuwait did not happen.
- The determination should be between committees representing the two countries,
Accordingly, one party of them marking specific points and regarded it as a sign of the borders abide by neighboring countries but it is something that has never approved by the international border rules “(3)
this memo issued by the Iraqi Foreign Ministry , when Nuri Said was prime minister confirms beyond any doubt the message of July 21, 1932 attributed to Nuri said is incorrect. And that Iraq did not recognize the border marks set by Kuwait. Thus , the characterization of border has not made with Kuwait when Iraq became an independent state and a member of the League of Nations in 1932.
Correspondences of border after independence
in the October 7, 1940, when Nuri Said was foreign minister, the British Embassy in Baghdad sent a message to him directly which expressed the British government ‘s desire to the planning of the border between Iraq and the protectorate, Kuwait, on the basis of the letter attributed to Nuri Said in 1932, and the embassy asked from the Ministry of Iraqi Foreign affairs to send a note confirming these borders. the answer of Nuri was as follows:
((Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Baghdad
No. 2635/265/7/19648
11/21/1940
to His Majesty ‘s Embassy -Baghdad
Ministry of Foreign Affairs presents its compliments to the Her Britannic Majesty’s Embassy in Baghdad, and referring to the memorandum of embassy No. 487 , dated 7 October 1940 has the honor to show that the proposal contained in the memorandum of the embassy inspired to discuss the issue of the Iraqi-Saudi border. Because the matter has been postponed for the time being, the ministry believes that it is appropriate to postpone the discussion on the matter under discussion in the memorandum of the embassy.
Nuri Said
Foreign Minister)) (4)
and thus Nuri Said neglected completely the referring to the letter attributed to him, and considered the topic inspired by the issue of the Iraqi – Saudi Arabia border, which angered the British ambassador in Baghdad Basel Newton , who wrote to the British Foreign Minister Halifax on November 29, 1940 , saying , the Nuri is fabricating pretexts, and that Iraq wants in delaying the demarcation to be able to get “on one or two regions the way he removed the post of border at Safwan and maybe even grab the islands of Warba and Bubiyan.” The ambassador added that before receiving the Iraqi response, the Mister Edmonds (one British advisers in Iraq) has notified him that the Iraqi Ministry of Defence has expressed its disapproval on the planning the border between Iraq and Kuwait until the settlement of the issue of abandonment of Kuwait to Iraq for the islands of Warba and Bubiyan to enable Iraq of the complete control on the entrances leading to the proposed port at Umm Qasr. the ambassador discussed the importance of Kuwait in the near future, saying:
((It ‘s a key point not only on the road to Baghdad and beyond, but also on any flight route or land may be established between Jordan and the Gulf. In addition, Kuwait looks rich in oil and perhaps Kuwait waters are in the Khor Abdullah suitable for the best possible port we will build it in the western side of the Gulf)) (5)
on February 17, 1941, ie after the departure of Nuri al – said from the ministry, and the receipt of Taha al – Hashimi as prime ministry and the Iraqi Foreign Ministry , which has taken the same position , and it answered in March of the same year that it believes that the demarcation should be preceded by the settlement of other issues related to Kuwait (6). Thus , for the second time the Iraqi government did not recognize the characterization of the border , which Britain attributed it to the message of Nuri Said in 1932, but it did not refer at all to the same message. As the British Foreign Office did not insist in subsequent correspondence on the subject of the message attributed to Nuri but discussed the topic without referring to it,
it has sent on 29 and 31 march 1941 cables related to the control of Iraqis on the entrances Kawr Abd Allah and it pointed out that the advantage of Britain and the advantage of Kuwait to keep Kuwait to control on the entrances of Kawr Abd Allah and do not take any action that weakens the important position of Kuwait due to the importance of the position of Britain now and in future there .
the cables referred also to the visit of Tawfiq al-Suwaidi to London in October 1938 and his meeting with Lord Halifax, where Iraq said Halifax agreed in this meeting to give up Kuwait to Iraq for the island of Warba and Bubiyan, but the British Foreign Office denied this matter by saying that there is nothing to support that, but the British documents that we have reviewed indicate that the Sheikh of Kuwait has agreed to hand over Bubiyan Island to Iraq in exchange for border identification, also approved another proposal to be leased to Iraq for a long time (7).
All this correspondence confirms that Iraq did not specify borders for itself with the protectorate Kuwait since the founding of the Iraqi state through the period of the twenties and the thirties and forties of the twentieth century, and as the islands of Warba and Bubiyan were regarded part of its territory due to their importance as the sea outlet , and Kuwaitis agreed on conditions, but Britain wanted since 1940 to set up a port on the eastern side of Khwar Abd Allah to protect its interests which is currently known as Mubarak port .
First characterization of the border in 1958
After World War II in 1945 the talk was began in the Iraqi political corridors of establishing the pipeline for Iraqi oil through Kuwait and another to equip Kuwait with waters of the Shatt al – Arab and benefit from the port of Al – Ahmadi for Iraqi exports and imports. But Britain had informed its political agent in protectorate Kuwait to discourage the Sheikh of Kuwait to take any step linking to Iraq taking into account the British strategic interests (8)
. When Nuri Said pressed in 1956 on the need to implement the Iraqi oil pipeline through Kuwait after the Iraqi oil exports stopped through a tube passing Syria during the tripartite aggression against Egypt in 1956, Britain stipulated that Iraq should officially declares its recognition of the borders that were drawn by Percy Cox who had himself marked it in 1923 with Kuwait (9), and was not referred to the letter attributed to Nuri said in 1932.
And the British ambassador notified Nuri Al-said that al-Sabah do not agree on the implementation of this project unless Iraq to declare its abandon about its demands on Kuwait . nevertheless Nuri al Said continued in his insistence on Britain to extend the oil pipe line across the Kuwait , and in a meeting with the representatives of oil companies , Nuri Al-Said announced about the lack of recognition for any border with Kuwai and said :
Britain treaties with Al-Sabah in 1899 and 1913 had been made at a time when it was concluded with a small number of sheikhs who their power does not exceed the limits of the old castle of Kuwait city while the rest of the areas in Kuwait but belonging to tribes and these tribes are originally an Iraqi tribes so there is nothing to be called the borders of Kuwait that may cause a dispute and if the company IBC determined to carry out the oil pipeline , I guarantee non-interference by the Kuwaitis in this mater
And I am ready to provide adequate military force if necessary to protect the company and its facilities)) (10) and when he announced the formation of an Arab Union between Iraq and Jordan on February 14, 1958 , the US ambassador in Baghdad Wldmar Kalmn confirmed that Nuri Said had told him that he was considering the invitation of Kuwait to join Union (11). But the British Foreign Office notified its diplomats to take in to consideration of the continued flow of oil from Kuwait to Britain and the need to maintain the deposits of the Sheikhs of Kuwait in the United Kingdom if Iraq put forward the idea of Kuwait ‘s accession to the Arab Union. and also told the Sheikh of Kuwait to be talking with Abdul Ilah when he visits to Kuwait to improve Kuwait ‘s relations with Iraq and never refers to the issue of Kuwait ‘s accession to the Arab Union. (12)
And when Nuri al-Said became president of the Arab Union Ministry , his government sent a memo on the fifth of June 1958 to the British embassy in Baghdad to convey it to the British government in London as the entity responsible for the affairs of Kuwait protectorate for study and to inform the Union Government for its opinion about it .
The note contained a historical overview of the nature of the relationship of Kuwait with the Ottoman Empire before World War I, and said it had formed a dependent regime belongs to the city (Vilayet)of Basra in the form of Qaimqamip, and that the 1913 agreement between Britain and the Ottoman Empire recognized the sheikh of Kuwait as a Qaimqama for it. And the Memo included the imposition of mandatory system on Iraq but does not include Kuwait because Britain ‘s domination of the relationships and management of Iraq ‘s foreign affairs which led Iraq to become in front of a de facto and sees Kuwait separating from it . The note demanded solutions that would restore Iraq ‘s historical rights in Kuwait . and suggested for the annexation of Kuwait to the Arab Union.
But if the British government sees to achieve the join is not possible at the present time , it will use the following procedure:
((The Arab Union Government finds itself compelled to declare that all the islands in territorial waters are among the Arab Union borders, and that the boundary line starts from a point of the confluence of Wadi Auja in Valley al-Batin and heading east in a straight line until it reaches to Jahra on the Sea of Kuwait Bay)) (13)
that the memo, which is attached to this research in its Arab and English text, and it is the first Iraqi document outlining the Iraqi formal description for the proposal of border line between Kuwait and Iraq, and it ‘s issued by the Council of ministers of the Arab Union , which is headed by Nuri al – said, it did not come with any mention of the message attributed to him in 1932.
As for Britain ‘s position on the memorandum and the characterization of the border where the margins and explanations of officials of the British Foreign Office has recommended of the request from Iraq to withdraw it , and in the case of rejection , the British government will provide in protest. But the overthrow of the monarchy in the July 14, 1958 after about five weeks from the date of the note ended the subject forever.
If we passed the stage of the rule of Abdul Karim Qasim and his fall, the first formal action for the characterization of the border was in 1963 , when the new government recognized for the Kuwait as an independent state signed by Prime Minister Ahmed Hassan al – Bakr on the minutes of October 4, 1963, and further recognized for the borders drawn by the message in 1932 attributed to Nuri Said, without his knowledge of the note by the fifth of June 1958 , which the Government of Nuri provided for the first time a description of the boundaries which is quite different from what attributed to him before.
Kuwait has recorded a record in 1963 at the United Nations, but the governments that followed the signing of the minutes do not do this procedure because of its objection to the boundaries as described in the letter attributed to Nuri Said to 1932, Iraq was a clear and frank in its position in the talks in 1973 with Kuwait , which Iraq does not recognize for the message of 1932 nor the minutes of 1963 because the islands of Warba and Bubiyan and the coast opposite to them within are Iraqi territory and Kuwait should abandon it as a condition for the installation of the border. But the Kuwaiti government exploited the preoccupation of Iraq with the north war and began expanding into Iraqi territory , causing the al-Samitah incident when Iraqi troops were forced on 03.02.1973 to regain control of the existing post (14)
also Kuwait took advantage of Iraq ‘s preoccupation in the war with Iran in the eighties of the twentieth century to increase the expansion into Iraqi territory.
And when Iraq occupied Kuwait and withdrew from it by force and military force led by USA, the security council issued against it many resolutions and among it the resolution 687 on 3 April 1991 where it demanded for the demarcation of borders between Iraq and Kuwait according to the minute of 1963 based on the letter attributed to Nuri al-Said of the year 1932 but the Iraq minister of foreign affairs sent on 23 191 a memo to the secretary general of UN stressing his objection to the characterization of the border by the council pointing out that procedure is related to the states and mentioned the security council did not take in to consideration the point view of Iraq which is known in it stating ” hat is included in the in relation of the borders between Iraq and Kuwait in the document so called the minute agreed upon it of the year 1963 that it did not complete the constitutional procedures to be approved by the legislative authority and the president of Iraq that kept the issue of border suspended without solution hence the council imposed on Iraq illegal borders with Kuwait
And the Iraqi foreign minister was based on the Resolution 660, issued in 1990, which stressed on resolving differences through negotiation, and ignoring this issue is the imposition of an unjust decision against Iraq and it is a dangerous precedent that has never seen by UN.
It is clear from the above that the demarcation of the border between Iraq and Kuwait has been based on a single ambiguous message that is not based on any signature or official approval, and that the official , who attributed to him the letter did not acknowledge in any day for it despite his involvement of the midst of correspondences and discussions with Britain over the border with Kuwait of the subsequent thirty year , on the contrary , he has referred to the border in a clear and in an official form in a note of June 5 in 1958 directed from the government of Nuri al – said to the British Foreign Office , which is assumed that the UN security Council to be based on it . it is what Iraq must do today to recover its usurped rights .
(1) to the list of Mandatory Iraq, Abdul Razak al – Hassani, the history of the Iraqi ministries, Beirut 1978, c 1, pp . 291-296
(2) See Appendix (1) the text of the message in English attributed to Nuri Said in July 21, 1932.
(3) the Iraqi Foreign Ministry, a study on the issue of the Iraqi border – Kuwait, p . 7
(4) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Embassy of His Britannic Majesty, Baghdad, (memorandum) No. 2635/265/7/19648 at 11.21.1940
( 5) of the British ambassador, Basel Newton, Baghdad, the British Foreign Office , Alvaichaont Halifax, London (message) No. 537 (360/31/40) on November 29, 1940, the State of Kuwait, the State Department, the legal Department.
(6) State of Kuwait, State Department, Legal Department, the topic ( the border between Kuwait and Iraq) ,
(7) the State of Kuwait, State Department, Legal Department, the topic ( the border between Kuwait and Iraq), See Supplement No. 2 and 3 of the research note in Arabic and English. (14) the State of Kuwait, State Department, Legal Department (Report- Confidential – Kuwaiti border – Iraqi) in 15/04/1973, pp . 12-16 .fiqrh IX. As well as the Iraqi Foreign Ministry report ( the issue of the Iraqi – Kuwaiti border) , pp . 9-18.
Prof. Mohammad Muzaffar ADHAMI
The unity of the Iraqi Studies
Translated by: Mudhaffar al-Kusairi
Rawabet Center for Research and Strategic Studies