Iraqi committee challenges navigation agreement with Kuwait

An Iraqi parliamentary committee said on Wednesday that it will challenge the maritime navigation agreement with Kuwait.

Committee Chairman, Mazen Al-Mazni, told a press conference held in the parliament building in Baghdad that the committee decided to appeal the agreement after meeting with officials in the Iraqi foreign ministry and former ambassador to Kuwait, Mohammad Bahr Al-Ulloum.

“It was agreed to form a legal team specialised in international law in order to challenge the agreement,” he said.

Read: Iraq sends first crude oil shipment to Egypt

The Khawr Abd Allah agreement gives the two countries the right to share the waterway equally, however Iraqi officials considered it a political concession in favour of Kuwait, claiming the canal is the only water port for a majority of Iraqi ports to international waters.

Al-Mazni explained that his committee will meet with officials from the Ministry of Transport, Water Resources and Defence to complete the investigation of the agreement, without specifying a date, and then submit a report to the parliament.

Salim Shawqi, another member of the committee, said at the press conference that he hopes to solve the issue politically with Kuwait and in a friendly way.