Basra rally denounces Khor Abdullah agreement as betrayal

Shafaq News – Basra

On Friday, hundreds of Iraqis protested outside the Kuwaiti consulate in Basra province to reject the Khor Abdullah maritime agreement, denouncing what they called a “surrender of maritime sovereignty.”

Ali al-Abbadi, a representative of the demonstrators, told Shafaq News Agency that the issue of the Khor Abdullah agreement and its implications for Iraq’s maritime boundaries remains a point of contention between the government and the people. “While the Iraqi public sees the deal as humiliating and a violation of the country’s territory and waters, the government views it as an unavoidable reality due to UN Security Council Resolution 833 of 1993.”

Al-Abbadi added that the Federal Supreme Court had settled the dispute in September 2023 by declaring the 2013 law ratifying the agreement unconstitutional. However, he noted that public outrage followed a statement by Faiq Zidan, head of Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council, who—after a visit to Kuwait—claimed the court had rejected the same challenge it had previously upheld, arguing it lacked constitutional or legal grounds.

Earlier, a majority of Iraqi lawmakers voiced support for the Federal Supreme Court’s decision to void the agreement. MP Amer Abdul-Jabbar told Shafaq News that 194 out of 329 parliamentarians had signed a petition addressed to the head of the court, endorsing the September 2023 ruling.