Iraq's nemesis won't let it be, writes Salah Hemeid Even the most pessimistic observer wouldn't have expected that relations between Iraq's new leaders and their tiny southern neighbour, Kuwait, could take such a sharp turn for the worse so soon after their honeymoon following the removal of Saddam Hussein. Kuwait was the launching pad of the war, and Iraq's new rulers harbour no pretenses to territory that Saddam Hussein claimed was an integral part of Iraq, having supported the US invasion. But the honeymoon is over. Tension between the two Arab neighbours escalated early this month after Kuwait urged the UN to maintain the two- decade old economic sanctions on Iraq until its government settles all outstanding issues resulting from Saddam's 1990 invasion of the oil-rich emirate. Iraq, which is struggling to recover from the devastation wrought by the invasion and ongoing occupation, wants to halt payment of the $25 billion in war-reparation payments owed to Kuwait, as lower oil prices have reduced its budget revenue. Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry Under-Secretary Khaled Al-Jarallah said his country wants Iraq to comply fully with the UN resolutions related to Saddam's invasion, including paying Kuwait reparations for its seven-month long occupation, returning the bodies of dozens of Kuwaitis who were allegedly taken prisoner and killed by Saddam's agents, and agreeing the joint border. Under Chapter Seven of the UN Charter Iraq's assets abroad were frozen until Iraq complies. If it doesn't, it could face new UN sanctions or even the use of force. Now Iraq wants to close Chapter Seven, arguing that Iraq's new government should not be punished for mistakes or wrongdoings committed by Saddam's regime. Under the Iraqi-US security agreement signed in November 2008, the government also secured an agreement from the United States to help in its effort to lift the sanctions and return Iraq to full sovereignty. In practical terms, Kuwait's objection impedes the Iraqi effort and maintains the United Nations' control over its resources. Not surprisingly there were enormous criticism from Iraqi officials, lawmakers and media for the Kuwaiti decision, seen by many as hostile. Even many ordinary Iraqis were stunned by the Kuwaiti move, accusing Kuwait of ingratitude for their effort in the removal of Saddam's regime which was the main threat to Kuwait. Some Iraqi legislators even demand that Iraq should stop paying war reparations altogether and instead exact reparations from Kuwait for facilitating the US-led invasion. "The Kuwaiti stance is repulsive and reflects a vengeful spirit," said leader of the Iraqi Communist Party and lawmaker Hamid Moussa, reflecting a widespread view among Iraqi politicians. The Kuwaitis fired back in similar furore. Kuwaiti MPs last week urged the government to recall its ambassador, who only took up his post last October as the emirate's first envoy in Baghdad since the August 1990 invasion. His appointment was hailed as a breakthrough in hitherto frosty ties between the two countries. Commentators in the key Kuwaiti newspapers lashed out at Iraqi politicians as "new Saddams" and accused them of entertaining similar ambitions against Kuwait. Some fiery remarks went as far as accusing Iraqis of having hatred of Kuwait in their blood. "Those who know Iraq won't be surprised by the despicable statements of the Iraqis. Their dirty words indicate their nature of backbiting, treachery and ingratitude," wrote Khaled Al-Sultan in Al-Siyasa newspaper. Some officials on both sides, including Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, tried to downplay the new crisis and urged an end to provocative statements. He asked the lawmakers to remain calm and to wait for a meeting between foreign ministers of the two countries. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani also called for an end to the row with Kuwait. In a statement on his website, Talabani rejected what he described as "attempts to disrupt relations between Iraq and Kuwait". But in the meantime, Kuwait insists there should be no change in the Security Council's position until its resolutions have been fully complied with. Kuwaiti officials said Iraq should pay the oil-rich country $25.5 billion to compensate for damages caused by the seven-month Iraqi occupation of Kuwait under Saddam's regime, in addition to debts amounting to $16 billion. They also insist on meeting other demands, especially the border demarcation which many Iraqis view as an attempt to seize land and territorial waters from Iraq. The other Kuwaiti demand, the fate of missing Kuwaitis during the invasion, is met with surprise by the Iraqis, as hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who were taken prisoner by Saddam's regime are still unaccounted for, let alone a few dozen Kuwaitis. Although most of the Arab countries are non-committal about the Iraqi- Kuwaiti row, Kuwait has received important backing from its regional allies, while Iraq tries to garner international support for its demand to cancel the sanctions. Last week the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council gave Kuwait full support in its dispute with Iraq over 1991 war reparations and border demarcation. In a statement issued after an emergency meeting in the Saudi capital, the GCC foreign ministers affirmed its support of Kuwait. "The council reiterates that Iraq should comply with all its commitments in line with the UN resolutions related to Kuwait and through the international frameworks forged for this purpose," said the organisation's secretary-general, Abdel Rahman Al-Attiya, following the ministers' discussions. The controversy has sparked fear that the mudslinging in public will leave deep scars in the relations between the two countries, which have a complex historical relationship. The tension has already revived fears that the two countries could return to the politics of hate following Saddam's invasion of Kuwait in August 1990. Shortly before the incursion Saddam accused Kuwait of stealing Iraq's oil through slant drilling in its southern Rumailah oil fields. But mistrust between the two countries goes back much further, as Iraqi governments before Saddam also insisted that Kuwait was a natural part of Iraq, not without cause. After all, it was the British who forced the Turks to sign the humiliating Anglo-Ottoman Convention in 1913, creating this sheikhdom in the strategic coastal area south of Iraq's main southern province of Basra. The convention was declared null and void when the Turks and British became enemies in WW I, but the British won the war and took possession of modern-day Iraq, reaffirming the "independence" of Kuwait, much as the US has done.
