New York [US], September 20: Kuwait's Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Salem Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah denounced in the strongest terms a recent Iraqi federal court ruling over the issue of Khor Abdullah, over which Kuwait and Iraq signed a 2012 agreement to regulate maritime navigation. Speaking to KUNA late Monday on the sidelines of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly, Sheikh Salem said the Iraqi decision is based on ahistorical claims, affirming that he had reflected Kuwait's stance on the issue during his meetings with GCC foreign ministers.
He reiterated Kuwait's stance during the GCC foreign ministers' meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, affirming the gathering came out with consensus of views on the issue. Sheikh Salem hoped the Iraqi government would take necessary steps to handle the case and respect the sovereignty of Kuwait and agreed-upon treaties. During the GCC-US ministerial meeting, Sheikh Salem presented a narrative on the recent verdict by the Iraqi supreme court, which scrapped the agreement on maritime navigation in Khor Abdullah, according to a press release from the Kuwaiti foreign ministry.
The agreement, ratified by parliaments of both Kuwait and Iraq in 2013, was lodged at the UN, the minister told the meeting, noting that the Iraqi court ruling contained offending fallacies against Kuwait. Blinken said he understood Kuwait's stance on the agreement, stressing the US' commitment to protecting Kuwait's security, safety, sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as the security of the Gulf region. The GCC-US meeting dealt also with regional topics of common interest and strategic partnership between the GCC and the US, according to the statement.
Meanwhile, Kuwait's Deputy Foreign Minister Sheikh Jarrah Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah expressed late Monday Kuwait's firm stance on the Khor Abdullah agreement with Iraq, saying the latter's federal court took an unnecessary decision based on ahistorical claims. According to a foreign ministry statement, Sheikh Jarrah reflected Kuwait's stance on the matter during his participation in the GCC-UK meeting held on the sidelines of the 78th UN General Assembly in New York.
The meeting discussed a variety of issues including cooperation and strategic partnership between the GCC and the UK. Meanwhile, Head of the Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council FaiqZaidan stressed on Tuesday during a meeting with Kuwaiti Ambassador to Iraq Tariq Al-Faraj "Iraq's respect for Kuwait's history, present and future, and the independence of Kuwait through various historical eras".
He also affirmed "the importance of respecting and implementing the agreements and treaties between Iraq and Kuwait in accordance with constitutional and legal contexts and respecting the implementation of relevant Security Council resolutions". According to the judicial council's statement, Zaidan emphasized "the depth of relationship between the two brotherly peoples and Iraq's appreciation for Kuwait honorable stance in helping Iraq get rid of the dictatorial regime". However, the statement did not address the judicial decision issued by the Iraqi federal court, which invalidated the Khor Abdullah agreement between Iraq and Kuwait. - KUNA
Source: Kuwait Times