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The Iraqi Federal Supreme Court has annulled a maritime agreement with Kuwait concerning their shared control of Khor Abdullah, a crucial water route leading into the Arabian Gulf, Asharq Al Awsat reports. The court ruled that the agreement — signed by former Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki in 2013 — was unconstitutional because it should have been ratified by a two-thirds majority of the Iraqi parliament rather than a simple majority.
What agreement? The agreement designates Khor Abdullah as a maritime line dividing the two countries, and stipulates that “each party shall exercise its sovereignty over that part of the waterway which lies within its territorial water,” according to The National. The agreement was signed after the First Gulf War and is in line with a UN resolution issued in 1993, the outlet explains.
The maritime border has long been a source of controversy: The agreement has been a source of political controversy in Iraq, with activists arguing that it favored Kuwait at the expense of Iraq's navigational corridor in Al Khor. Khor Abdullah is Iraq's only gateway to the Gulf, facilitating the majority of its oil exports and imports.
What now? The two countries may resort to the UN again for a resolution, Asharq Al Awsat quotes an Iraqi MP as saying, though it’s unclear what the direct impact of the annulment will be for movement across the maritime border. MPs tell The National that the ruling will not effectively cancel the agreement, since it falls in accordance with international treaties like the UN.
More details soon? The Iraqi court yesterday also postponed a case filed by an MP to revoke two government decrees from 2021 to form committees made up of ministry officials with Kuwait to work on the demarcation of maritime borders, The National adds, citing MP Soud Al Saied. The issue will be discussed in a later session, when more supporting documents are provided, after the validity of the initial decrees was put into question by several MPs, the outlet adds.
REMEMBER- Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Salem Al Sabah and his Iraqi counterpart, Fuad Hussein, had met earlier this summer, and promised to work towards completing the demarcation of the maritime borders between the countries through talks between various technical committees. The visit had sparked controversy in Iraq at the time, The National said.
