A 20 September bilateral meeting between the Iraq and Kuwait PMs on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly was dominated by an ongoing dispute spurred by the Iraqi Federal Supreme Court invalidation of the two countries’ 2012 maritime agreement (MEES, 8 September). In comments carried by state agency Kuna, Kuwaiti PM Sheikh Ahmed Al Nawaf Al Sabah stated that the ruling contained “historical fallacies” against Kuwait and called on Baghdad to take “urgent and decisive measures.”
The 2012 agreement, which regulated navigation at the crucial Khor Abdallah waterway shared between both nations, was voted into law by Iraq’s parliament in 2013. The court struck down the law earlier this month, arguing that it was passed by a simple majority rather than the two-third majority required for bilateral treaties. Legislative validation, by Iraq and Kuwait, was a condition of the 2012 agreement entering force, leaving it currently in legal limbo. (CONTINUED - 319 WORDS)