Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi praised the continuous work in cooperation with the United Nations to close the file of Chapter VII, pointing out that his government supports the international efforts to pursue and punish the “terrorists”.
Abadi added that Iraq faces “great challenges in the fight against corruption, which is no less dangerous than terrorism, stressing that Iraq can achieve political stability and activating dialogues to solve problems with real and serious will of politicians, to provide a safe ground for international companies.”
The UN Security Council imposed a siege on Iraq in 1990 because of Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait under Article VII of the Charter of the United Nations, and imposed on Iraq to pay compensation to Kuwait more than 50 billion dollars.
In April 1995, the Security Council adopted resolution 986, which included the oil-for-food formula, which allowed Iraq to export a specific portion of its oil, to benefit from its revenues in the purchase of the humanitarian needs of its people under the auspices of the United Nations.
One of the reasons for postponing the decision to exit Iraq from Chapter VII , it continued to pay compensation to Kuwait more than fifty billion dollars for the damage of the invasion.
On December 9, 2017, the UN Security Council unanimously decided to exit Iraq from Chapter VII after the implementation of the obligations required of it , and the country was suffering under the weight of Chapter VII in the framework of UN sanctions imposed after the invasion of Kuwait in 1990.
The Iraqi Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Iraq’s mission to the United Nations held consultations with the United States to issue a resolution unanimously adopted by the Security Council of the resolution 2390/2017.
The parties (Iraq and the United Nations) have implemented the measures imposed under Chapter VII under resolutions 1958 (2010) and 2335 (2016).
Iraq is still paying 4.6 billion dollars to finalize the file of compensation with Kuwait, which has been postponed payment since 2014 at the request of Baghdad in view of the economic crisis in Iraq.
The exit from Chapter VII is an important step to restore Iraq’s normal status and international standing, as it confirms the end of Iraq’s obligations under Chapter VII on the oil-for-food program after it was implemented in full.
The economic expert and the financial adviser to the Prime Minister the Mudher Mohammed Saleh that the exit from Chapter VII provides opportunities for encouraging foreign investment in Iraq after more than forty years of major conflicts led to a decline in economic development and other walks of life, and will release funds held and frozen at the United Nations and countries and International organizations.
Saleh shows that the remaining amount of Iraq to the United Nations after its departure from Chapter VII up to $ 3 billion, which adds funds to the Iraqi treasury.
He explained that the complete exit of Iraq from this chapter means the ability to import technology necessary for economic development in the country, which is very important, as it was prohibited to import modern technology, including dentistry.
He affirms that Iraq’s transition from Chapter Seven, which allows the use of force against our country in resolving disputes with nations to Chapter VI, which sees Iraq as a peace-loving state and resolving disputes with nations by peaceful means, is a positive sign of the full return of Iraq by interacting with the international community and providing encouraging climate opportunities for foreign investment in the country, especially in the phase of the post-Kuwait donors conference in the reconstruction and investment in Iraq.
Saleh says the next Iraq is the Iraq of Peace and Reconstruction, which has spent more than 40 years of conflicts, disputes and a decline in economic development and progress.
Saleh refers to the release of the frozen funds for the Development Fund for Iraq under Security Council resolution 1483 in May 2003, explaining that there are a lot of funds held by the United Nations from the oil-for-food program and the remnants of the costs of the inspection teams and the memorandum of understanding that should be handed over to the treasury of the Iraqi state, And any other funds still held or frozen by States or international organizations.
Saleh pointed out that the decision to exit has many positive effects, which is reflected in the low costs of insurance and shipping in various forms to and from Iraq, pointing out that a lot of prohibited technology and facilities on Iraq will disappear, in addition to the climate of investment and credit rating of Iraq will improve to a large extent, and external pressures on it will be reduced, thus strengthening its international position in its economic and financial relations in general and the high investment climate.
The second paragraph of the resolution on the oil-for-food program adopted by the Security Council at its meeting on 8 January 2017 indicates that the Security Council welcomes the fact that the remaining funds in the escrow account established pursuant to paragraphs 3-5 of its resolution 1958 (2010) have been transferred to the Iraqi Government pursuant to Security Council Resolution No. 2335 of 2016.
The exit of Iraq from Chapter VII on oil for food and the financial adviser to the Prime Minister, the Mudher Mohammed Saleh confirms , that the exit of Iraq from the seventh item, came after the implementation of the requirements of the Security Council, which is a good signal and encouraging companies and investors to enter Iraq.
Kuwait and the soft hand against Iraq
The Iraqi analyst and political thinker Ghaleb Shabandar said that there is no neighboring country that has sucked Iraq like Kuwait, as it operates in a scientific, soft and precise manner, similar to the British approach, as it has strengths and can not be confronted by Iraq. Kuwait relies on its affiliated elements of the mafias that promote drugs in Iraq and it buy important figures to control joints in Basra.
He said that Kuwait’s entry into Iraq was not through investments or companies, but by people (partisan and non-partisan) that dealt with them before and after the US occupation. This confirms Kuwait’s relentless efforts to keep Iraq economically and militarily weak, although Iran has linked the situation in Iraq with political parties and pressures. , Kuwait has been deeply involved in the strategic side of oil and khor Abdullah .
The Shabandar said that Basra is the key maritime to Iraq. Therefore, Kuwait decided through Khawr Abdullah to suffocate Iraq. The decision did not come from the power of Kuwait, but from the weakness of the important figures bought by Kuwait, which uses the clever soft hidden policy against Iraq, and exceed the Iraqi borders, oil fields and the marshes of Basra.
He pointed out that the exit of Iraq from Chapter VII to VI does not mean that Iraq out of the obligations of the seventh absolutely, because there are belongings and files such as: reconstruction and national reconciliation, and the relationship between Baghdad and Erbil, cash and salaries.
He praised the efforts exerted by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in combating corruption in all its forms, stressing his ability to do so for important reasons, including: the existence of mechanisms to implement his plan to save Iraq, which is not the only country that suffers corruption that the religious authority supports steps of Abbadi in fighting corruption and insists on it and in addition to that Abadi is very popular, and gains international support, and the support of impartiality in the judiciary and supporters of businessmen and politicians to see Abadi in the elimination of corruption.
In the opinion of Judge Wael Abdul Latif, who was governor of Basra, and a member of the House of Representatives, that the exit of Iraq from the seventh item is not only gradually, because there were five large files open to Iraq, namely:
– The missing file that has been closed.
Amiri Archive, which was closed.
– The file of corruption of oil-for-food, involving personalities, leaders and even heads of state, has been filed against 95 companies and institutions, but Iraq lost all, and 152 million dollars were returned , and then the file closed .
– The fourth file on internationally banned weapons.
– The fifth and final file that is still in existence is the Kuwaiti compensation, which is one of the most important files that Kuwait legally complies with. The remaining $ 4.6 billion is in addition to the bargaining on Khor Abd Allah. As Kuwait demands in the final map to the demarcation of borders to get Khor Abdullah.
Abdellatif said the previous two governments that preceded the Abbadi government in 2006-2014 were abandoning Iraqi soil in favor of Kuwait, which had mistakenly taken huge oil fields from Iraq, in addition to Umm Qasr naval base, Umm Qasr village and a long land route which is the strategic stockpile of Iraqi crude oil, pointing out that Kuwait is Demanding the final demarcation of the border between Iraq and Kuwait, which was agreed in 2012-2013.
The expert on economic affairs, Majid al-Suri, said that Iraq today, once it is fully out of Chapter VII, means that there is a vision that allows Iraq to import the necessary technology and cooperation with other countries to obtain this technology for social and economic development in Iraq, which is very important, the problem is not in the decision to exit Iraq from Chapter VII, but more importantly, what happened in Iraq from the issue of eliminating the terrorist organization “ISIS” and the victories achieved, at the time of the declaration of war on administrative and financial corruption, which contributed to support the Iraqi position for the attraction to invest with security and stability, and will lead to the prosperity of Iraq economically and financially.
In the view of the professor of strategic management at the University of Baghdad Ali Saihood al- Sudani that the exit of Iraq from the seventh item is “an important event because it will develop and quality change at the technological and scientific levels in all economic , research and scientific sectors .”
He pointed out that the scourge of corruption hinders this trend and undermines the efforts exerted diligently and added that the financial and banking system in Iraq is old and suffers from backwardness and slowness in its procedures and ways of interacting with the global banking system, adding the burden on the Iraqi economy.
Al-Sudani said that the seventh item is not the main factor in the reluctance of the foreign investor, but rather the absence of monitoring, auditing and governance mechanisms in the projects implemented or under implementation, in addition to the spread of corruption, calling on the government to fortify the banking sector and develop it to be able to provide easy financial guarantees trading , secure and controlled by security in terms of its being away from the financing of terrorism in all its forms.
In the view of economic expert Raed al-Hashemi that the exit of Iraq from Chapter VII requires the government to do more to restore what it lost in the past years due to its abnormal situation within the international community, and stressed that the country was among the list of suspicious countries, which made international banks and international companies and institutions hesitate to cooperate with them.
He says that Iraq’s exit from Chapter VII will open doors in all areas, including the freedom of banking transactions, where local banks were prohibited from sending remittances and the opening of credit and documents of shipment.
The experts emphasize that the political confused situation prevailing in the country and preoccupation with the large differences between the political blocs, and the spread of corruption in most joints of state institutions, especially the circles that the investment process pass through are an obstacle to the expansion of investment, noting that the results of Iraq’s exit from the expense of the chapter VII will be slow , and needs the concerted efforts between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other ministries.
Shatha Khalil
Researcher in Economic Unit
Rawabet Center for Research and Strategic Studies