Latest news with #KhorAbdullah
Shafaq News
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Shafaq News
Iraq court delays ruling on Khor Abdullah treaty challenge
Shafaq News/ Iraq's Federal Supreme Court on Wednesday postponed its ruling on legal appeals filed by Iraq's President Abdullatif Rashid and Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, who are seeking to reverse a landmark decision that invalidated the 2013 Khor Abdullah maritime agreement with Kuwait. The court rescheduled its decision to June 22, 2025, extending a high-profile legal battle over Iraq's commitment to a key international treaty. In September 2023, the court declared the parliamentary ratification of the Khor Abdullah agreement unconstitutional, sparking diplomatic tensions and prompting President Rashid and PM al-Sudani to file separate petitions urging the court to reconsider. A source familiar with the case told Shafaq News the appeals demand the court overturn its previous ruling and reinstate Law No. 42 of 2013, which ratified the agreement governing maritime navigation between Iraq and Kuwait. Raed al-Maliki, a member of parliament, welcomed the delay. 'The postponement is better than a ruling that might favor the government,' he said in a Facebook post, calling for 'greater public and media mobilization to expand the circle of pressure in support of the court's position.' The Khor Abdullah agreement, signed in 2012 and ratified by Iraq in 2013, aimed to regulate navigation in the strategically sensitive waterway shared by both nations. The treaty became a point of contention after the court ruled that the ratification process violated constitutional procedures. In his appeal, Rashid argued that the court's ruling undermined Iraq's obligations under international law, citing Article 8 of the Iraqi Constitution, which commits the country to honor treaties and maintain good neighborly relations. Al-Sudani echoed that view in his filing, referencing the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. He warned that dismissing the agreement would harm Iraq's international credibility and violate the principle that internal laws cannot justify noncompliance with international commitments.
Iraqi News
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Iraqi News
The Federal Court postpones consideration of the appeal filed regarding Khor Abdullah until mid-June
Baghdad-INA The Federal Supreme Court decided on Wednesday to postpone consideration of the appeal filed regarding the Khor Abdullah issue until mid-June. The court's president, Judge Jassim Mohammed Abboud Al-Amiri, told the Iraqi News Agency (INA): "The court has decided to postpone consideration of the appeal filed regarding the Khor Abdullah issue until mid-June." The Federal Supreme Court had previously decided to postpone its ruling on the lawsuit filed by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and President Abdul Latif Jamal Rashid regarding the Khor Abdullah Agreement.
Rudaw Net
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Rudaw Net
Iraq's top court to rule on PM, President appeal to reinstate maritime deal with Kuwait
Also in Iraq Iraq 'temporarily' bans work entry for Syrians, four South Asian nationalities Iraqi President ratifies law elevating Halabja to provincial status People from all faiths pay respect to late Pope Francis in north Iraq Iraq-US relations 'fundamental pillar' for stability, development: FM A+ A- ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq's highest judicial authority, the Federal Supreme Court, is set to look into a crucial appeal on Wednesday, filed separately by the country's president and premier, seeking to reinstate the Khor Abdullah agreement with Kuwait. The maritime accord governs navigation rights and boundary demarcation in the strategic Khor Abdullah waterway. It was previously nullified by the same court in 2023. The Khor Abdullah agreement - signed in 2012 and ratified by Iraq in 2013 under Law No. 42 - regulates navigation rights in the Khor Abdullah waterway, Iraq's only direct maritime access to the Gulf. It lies between Kuwait's Bubiyan and Warba islands and Iraq's al-Faw Peninsula. In September 2023, the Federal Supreme Court ruled the agreement unconstitutional, arguing that the Iraqi Parliament ratified it with a simple majority rather than the required two-thirds majority. The decision was welcomed by certain political factions within Iraq but drew condemnation from Kuwait. Soran Omar, a member of the Iraqi parliament's Economic and Investment Committee, then told Rudaw that several Shiite lawmakers supported the legal challenge, viewing the agreement as unfavorable to Iraqi interests. While welcomed by some Iraqi political blocs, the September 2023 ruling sparked contention with Kuwait. Kuwait's then-Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabah urged Iraq to adopt 'concrete, decisive, and urgent measures' to 'address historical fallacies against Kuwait' in the court ruling. He further expressed Kuwait's 'desire to finalize the border demarcation process with Iraq' - a process left incomplete after the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and the subsequent UN Resolution 833 of 1993, which only delineated the land border. The Iraqi state-run news agency (INA), then quoted Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani as telling Sabah that Iraq is committed to 'joint agreements' and respects Kuwaiti territory. More recently, in April 2024, the Iraqi PM Sudani and President Abdul Latif Rashid individually appealed to the Federal Supreme Court to reverse its annulment of the agreement. The appeal came amid increasing diplomatic pressure from Kuwait, its Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) allies, and the United States, all of whom have called on Iraq to maintain the agreement in the interest of regional stability. While the UN Resolution 833 of 1993 demarcated the land border between Iraq and Kuwait, it left the maritime boundary undefined. The Khor Abdullah pact was a bilateral effort to resolve that gap, but remains a symbol of unresolved tensions. Hastyar Qadir contributed to this report.
The National
29-04-2025
- Politics
- The National
Controversy in Iraq as it moves to reinstate maritime deal with Kuwait
Iraq's top court will on Wednesday hear a bid by the country's leaders to reinstate a water pact with Kuwait that some current and former officials claim would "sell out" Iraqi sovereignty. The Khor Abdullah deal, under which Iraq and Kuwait shared a key waterway into the Arabian Gulf, has been on ice since the Iraqi Federal Supreme Court struck down the maritime agreement in September 2023. Supported by the countries of the Gulf Co-operation Council, Kuwait has expressed concern over the court decision and asked Baghdad to return to the agreement. This month, Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid and Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani asked the court in separate requests to reverse its earlier decision. However, their requests have sparked a public backlash in Iraq, reigniting long-standing border disputes and sovereignty concerns. 'Iraqi citizens are taking a stand today against any attempts to sell out Iraq's wealth and sovereign rights, and to affect its maritime boundaries,' MP Soud Al Saiedi told a gathering at Baghdad's Tahrir Square. 'It is about the future of our nation, our children and our people's livelihood,' added Mr Al Saiedi, who led the campaign to revoke the law in 2023. 'Iraqis are determined to protect their homeland and defend their rights." On the other hand, the government pointed out that the agreement does not primarily concern border demarcation, but instead regulates navigation in Khor Abdullah. Khor Abdullah is a narrow waterway that leads from the Arabian Gulf, curving around Kuwait's Bubiyan and Warba islands on one side and Iraq's Al Faw Peninsula on the other. It is Iraq's only entrance to the Gulf, through which most of its oil exports flow, alongside its imports. After Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 833 three years later which determined the land border between Iraq and Kuwait. However, the delineation of the maritime border was left to the two countries. The deal draws a line in the middle of Khor Abdullah and stipulates that "each party shall exercise its sovereignty over that part of the waterway which lies within its territorial water". It provides that the agreement 'shall remain in effect indefinitely" but can be mutually terminated with six months' notice. The court previously annulled a law ratifying the 2012 deal, in a case filed by several Iraqi MPs. It held that the law was unconstitutional because it should have been passed with a two-thirds majority in parliament, not a simple majority. Shortly after the ruling, the GCC and US issued a joint statement in which they called on the Iraqi government to 'ensure that the agreement remains in force'. Critics consider the agreement unfair, saying Kuwait has no right to control any part of Khor Abdullah, historically known as an Iraqi canal. They argue that the agreement is meant to delineate a maritime border rather than regulate navigation. 'It's a humiliating and disastrous agreement for Iraq,' said Amir Abdul-Jabar, who served as transport minister from 2008 to 2010. He said he had filed a lawsuit against Mr Al Sudani for 'blocking the court's ruling", by refusing to have copies of it deposited at the UN and the International Maritime Organisation. There was no statement from the government or the presidency on the two lawsuits. Requests for comment from The National to the government went unanswered. 'We are accustomed to our officials making concessions to neighbouring countries in order to gain their support,' said Mohammed Hafidh Ali, an Iraqi engineer. 'I see it as a betrayal,' he added.
