Iraqi PM faces criminal complaint amid secrecy over bid to revive Khor Abdullah treaty with Kuwait

Iraq's prime minister, Mohammed Shia' Al-Sudani, is under legal fire after claims that he and the president, Abdel Latif Rashid, have quietly asked the federal supreme court to reinstate a disputed maritime pact with Kuwait that the same court struck down in September 2023.

Amir Abdul Jabbar Ismael, an independent MP who served as Iraq's transport minister in 2008 until 2010, told reporters on Wednesday that he has lodged a criminal case against the prime minister under Article 329 of the 1969 penal code, alleging "abuse of power and obstruction of justice". The charge carries a potential seven-year jail term.

Ismael displayed what he said were leaked cabinet papers showing al-Sudani had instructed ministries to withhold the court's ruling from the United Nations and the International Maritime Organisation–a step required under the now defunct treaty.

"The prime minister is duty bound to execute the judgment, not bury it," he said.

The New Arab could not independently verify the documents.

The row erupted after Kuwait's state news agency, KUNA, on Tuesday quoted an unnamed Iraqi source as saying al-Sudani and Rashid had each filed petitions urging the court to reverse its decision voiding Law 42 of 2013, which ratified the Khor Abdullah navigation agreement.

According to the agency, the president's brief invokes Article 8 of the Iraqi constitution, committing Baghdad to "good neighbour" relations, while al-Sudani's filing cites the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, which bars states from using domestic law to sidestep treaty obligations.

Baghdad has remained tight-lipped. Government spokesman Basim al Awadi did not return numerous calls or messages from TNA, and the supreme court has yet to answer an emailed query on whether it has received any fresh petitions.

Hawre Tofiq, an adviser to the president, dismissed the Kuwaiti report as unfounded. "No appeal has been filed by the president; the parliament ratified the treaty and the federal court annulled it, so no one has the right to challenge the court's decision," he said on Wednesday.

Under Article 94 of the constitution, supreme court decisions are "final and binding" and "not subject to appeal".

Lawyers say the judges could still divert a move to reopen the case, but only if petitioners present entirely new grounds.

Maritime flashpoint

Khor Abdullah is the narrow channel linking Iraq's main port of Umm Qasr to the Gulf and runs alongside Kuwait's under construction Mubarak Al-Kabir port. The court voided the treaty last September after ruling that parliament had approved it by simple majority, not the two thirds needed for international agreements.

Kuwait and other Gulf states have since pressed Baghdad to honour the original accord, warning that legal uncertainty could disrupt trade and investment. The dispute also overshadows negotiations on finalising the land and maritime border and on sharing oil and gas fields.

Jamal al Halbousi, a former head of Iraq's border demarcation team, told TNA by phone from Baghdad, that the reported petitions were "unprofessional and totally at odds with Iraq's sovereign interests".

He alleged that Kuwaiti envoys had offered gifts to Iraqi politicians to lobby for reinstatement of the treaty–a charge Kuwait has denied. 

"Why defend a right the supreme court has already returned to Iraq?" he asked.

Halbousi warned that overturning the ruling would cost Iraq "large swaths of sea, key oilfields such as Jamal Twaina 1 and 2, and significant customs revenue" while extending Kuwait's jurisdiction to Iran’s maritime boundary.

He added that parliament could still re-ratify the treaty, "If the parliament approves it by two thirds, it becomes legal–but the executive cannot do an end run around the legislature."

Across the border, sentiment is more upbeat. Bader Al-Saif, a historian at Kuwait University, described the reported appeal as a "positive signal".

"If confirmed, it shows Iraq aligning with its international commitments," he told TNA at a forum in Sulaimaniyah, northern Iraq.

Al-Saif pointed to joint committees on border demarcation, prisoner transfers and economic integration. "Faw Port, Iraq's Development Road, Kuwait's Mubarak port–they can complement each other. There need to be no losers if we cooperate," he said.

Pressed on the contested Durra (Arash) offshore gas field–claimed by Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and, at times, Iran–al-Saif said any Iraqi claim "appears to come from unofficial voices". He argued that completing maritime demarcation beyond UN defined Point 162 should end the dispute.

"Iraq has repeatedly endorsed UN boundary lines before and after 2003; any noise to the contrary is just that–noise," he added.

Al Saif confirmed that a British consultancy has been hired to design a joint development plan for shared oil reservoirs along the border. "The goal is to manage production in a way that safeguards both sides' rights, rather than one profiting at the other's expense," he said.

For now, the reported appeals remain unconfirmed amid conflicting statements in Baghdad, leaving the fate of the Khor Abdullah agreement, and control of Iraq's slender Gulf access, hanging in the balance.