PAST AND PRESENT PROBLEMS OF IRAQ'S BOUNDARIES WITH KUWAIT AND SAUDI ARABIA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP86T00608R000600140013-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 14
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 3, 1999
• Sequence Number: 13
• Publication Date: August 1, 1975
• Content Type: REPORT

Rel,i2T/1R~osdA-bG-sPR~SfVT PROBLEMS
KUWAITAND SAUDI `ARABIA . ~ f ~.
C I:A
 Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP86T00608R000600140013-8
No Foreign Dissent
Past and Present Problems of Iraq s Boundaries
with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia
GCR RP 75-28
August 1975
Approved For. Re,lease,1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP86T00608R000600140013-8
 Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP86T00608R000600140013-8
Warning Notice
Sensitive Intelligence Sources and Methods Involved
NATIONAL SECURITY INFORMATION
Unauthorized Disclosure Subject to Criminal Sanctions
Classified by 019641
Exempt from General Declassification Schedule
of E.O. 11652, exemption category
?5B(1) (2), and (f3)
Automatlcoflyy declassified on:
date impost ibit to determine
Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP86T00608R000600140013-8
 Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : 600140013-8
SECRET
No Foreign DLascm
Arabia signed a border agreement that would divide the Neutral Zone equally
between the two countries and make some other unspecified alterations in the
boundary. The agreement has yet to be ratified, but Iraq and Saudi Arabia
may well have reached a fintil boundary settlement.
been serious dispute between the two governments concerning the boundary.
The Saudi Arabian press recently reported that on 2 July 1975 Iraq and Saudi
Iraq's recent boundary agreement with Iran removed a major block to
riparian cooperation in the Gulf; Iraq now seems Interested in settling its long-
standing bitter territorial dispute with Kuwait and in concluding a boundary
agreement with Saudi Arabia.
The Iraq.Kuwait dispute is embarrassing in terms of both Persian Gulf
cooperation and Arab brotherhood. Its roots go back to Britain's support in the
late 1800's of Kuwaiti claims to independence from the Ottoman Empire and,
more recently, to Iraqi Irredentist claims against Kuwait & 'At date from 1936.
Although both states have recently exchanged proposals, they have not reached
agreement and a settlement does not seem likely in the near future.
The undemarcated boundary between Iraq and Saudi Arabia poses much
less of a problem. Iraq has no claims on Saudi territory (the old claims on
parts of Al Hasa Province having been relinquished in 1983), and there has never
SECRET
Approved For Reel
 Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP86T00608R000600140013-8
SECRET
No Foreign Disseva
Table of Contents
Page
Summary ............................................................. i
The Iraq-Kuwait Boundary ............. ............................... 1
Iraqi Irredentism .......................................... .......... 2
The Iraq-Saudi Arabia Boundary
Map 1: Iraq-Kuwait Boundary ........ . I
Map 2: Zones of Kuwait ............................................... 3
Map 3: Iraq-Saudi Arabia Boundary ............ .
Photo 1: Umm Qasr and Vicinity .............................. . .. facing 4
Photo 2: Umm Qasr ................................. ... ... 5
NOTE-This research paper was prepared by the Office of Geographic and Cartographic
Research and coordinated with the Office of The Geogra her Department of State, and with
OCT. Comments and questions may be directed to code 143, extension 2886,
25X1A9a
Approved For Release 1999/09/26: CIA-RDP86T00608R000600140013-8
 Approved For Release 1999/09F2EF CIA-RDP86T00608R000600140013-8
No I%orcign Disscm
Past and Present Problems of Iraq's Boundaries
with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia
Iraq, following the recent signing of a border
treaty with Iran, now appears to be making progress
toward settling its boundary problems with its
southern neighbors, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
These boundaries are among the few remaining in
the Persian Gulf region on which no settlement
has been reached.
The Iraq-Kuwait Boundary
The Iraq-Kuwait boundary, about 240 kilom,,tors
long, has never been surveyed and demarcated
nor has it even been defined with any precision
(Map 1). The boundary was described in vague
terms of "metes and bounds," but many of the
Iraq-Kuwait Boundary
MAP NO. 1 1
1
SECRET
Arrr j ! phrlo Nn_.
I
(- ';K/,ai -r /.-hai r
Persian
Gulf
Al KUBF o
Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP86T00608R000600140013-8
original landmarks are no longer identifiable. (See
Appendix for Articles 5, 0, and 7 of 1913 Anglo-
Turkish Convention, which pertain to delimitation
of the boundary.)
The territorial disputes between Iraq and Kuwait
have a long and tortuous history beginning in the
late 1800's, predating by some decades their estab-
lishment as independent countries. Kuwait town,
founded in the early 18th century, flourished as a
seaport and shipbuilding center and rc-nained inde-
pendent until 1829, when the Sheikh was forced
to recognize the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire.
Kuwait existed for the next several years as a
semi-autonomous sheikhdom, paying tribute only
 Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CI8pP86T00608R000600140013-8
when Ottoman rule. was strong enough to force
it to (10 so, Ottoman administrative control over
Kuwait was tightened in 1871 when Midhat Pasha,
Turkish Governor of Mesopotamia, introduced it
Europeanized admiuist?ative system of uilayets
(provinces), .san/aks (subprovinces), and qadas
(districts), and Included Kuwait as one of the
gadas of Basrah Vilayet. The Kuwaiti Sheikh was
appointed ga'1mmagam (district governor).
In 1897 Sheikh Mubarak of Kuwait, fearing com-
plete absorption by the Ottomaul Empire, requested
British protection, and in January 1899 Great Britain
signed an agreement with him. The Sheikh, in re-
turn for British support, pledged himself and his
heirs not to receive any foreign representatives
nor to alienate any part of Kuwaiti territory without
consent of the British Government. Six additional
agreements followed, and in 1914 Britain recog-
nized the Sheikhdom as "an independent govern-
ment under British protection," in order to secure
Kuwait's support in World War I.
The boundaries of Kuwait had been first defined
the preceding year by the Anglo-Turkish Conven-
tion of July 1913, concluded to prepare the way
for the Baghdad Railway. One of the treaties of
the Convention, agreed to by both Great Britain and
Turkey but never ratified, recognized Kuwait as
an autonomous qada of the Ottoman Empire and
confirmed the Ottoman right to appoint the Sheikh
of Kuwait as qa'immaqan. The Turks in turn agreed
to refrain from interference in the affairs of Kuwait
and to recognize the validity of the treatics that
Sheikh Mubarak had previously concluded with
Britain.
Articles 5 and 7 of the treaty divided Kuwait
into two zones (see Appendix). Zone I comprised
the land within a radius of about 85 kilometers
from Kuwait town; and Zone II consisted of what
is now the western territory of Kuwait and a
large slice of the northeastern part of Saudi Arabia's
Eastern (Al Hasa) Province and the former Saudi-
Kuwait Neutral Zone (Map 2).
Kuwait's sovereignty over the second zone was
soon lost. King 'Abd al-'Aziz (popularly known as
Ibn Saud), emerging leader of what was to become
Saudi Arabia, began to flex Saudi muscles and
claimed part of it. In 1920 Sheikh Salim of Kuwait
dispatched a force into the second zone against
the Saudis, but the Kuwaiti force was defeated and
the Saudis advanced to within 30 kilometers of
Kuwait town. This put most of Zone If under Saudi
control.
In 1921 the Saudis began raids into Iraq, prompt-
ing the British to seek a delimitation of boundaries
to protect both Kuwait and Iraq against Saudi
expansionists. The Conference of 'Uqayr was called
in 1922 to deal with this matter under the guidance
of Sir Percy Cox, British High Commissioner of
Iraq. Treaties signed in December of that year
defined the present boundaries of Saudi Arabia
with Kuwait and Iraq and created the Saudi-Iraq
and the Saudi-Kuwait Neutral Zones; they did not,
however, mention the Iraq-Kuwait border. That
matter was "effectively settled" in April 1923 by
it memorandum, in response to a letter from the
Sheikh of Kuwait, from Sir Percy to the Brit:
Political Agent in Kuwait. Sir Percy authorized the
Political Agent to inform the Sheikh that "his claim
to the frontier and islands above indicated [the
islands being Warbah, Bubiyan, and smaller asso-
ciated islands] is recognized in so far as His
Majesty's Government are concerned." The Iraq-
Kuwait boundary was defined in the memorandum
in terms nearly identical with those of Article 7 of
the Anglo-Turkish Convention of 1913.
Iraqi Irredentism
When Iraq became independent in 1932, Iraqi
Prime Minister Nuri al-Sa'id, in an apparently secret
exchange of letters with Britain, agreed to honor
the Kuwait boundary as it was defined in Sir
Percy Cox's 1923 memorandum. The commitment
was broken in 1938, however, when an Iraqi de-
mand for the annexation of Kuwait was made on
King Ghazi's personal broadcasting service, but no
further action was taken. In 1958, Prime Minister
Nuri al-Sa'id revived the claim in an attempt to
force Kuwait's adherence to the short-lived Arab
Union between Jordan and Iraq.
In June 1961, at the termination of Britain's pro-
tectorate over Kuwait, Iraqi Prime Minister Abd
al-Qasim announced that Kuwait was "an integral
part of Iraq." He added, "We shall, accordingly,
issue a decree appointing the Sheikh of Kuwait
as Qa'immaqam of Kuwait, who will come under
the authority of Basrah Province." This claim was
based on the Iraqi assertion that Kuwait was his-
2
SECRET
Approved For Release 1999/09/26: CIA-RDP86Tb0608R0Q0600140013-8
 Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP86T00608R000600140013-8
torically part of the Ottoman Province of 13asrah
and therefore should belong to Iraq.
The Iraqis refused to recognize the 1913 treaty
that established Kuwait's boundaries, claiming that
since it was never ratified, it had no validity under
international law. In asserting this, they laid claim
to a large clunk of Saudi territory as well as to all
of Kuwait (Map 2). Iraq further contended that
the Cox memorandum of 1923, which was supposed
to have settled 0:v Iraq-Kuwait boundary question,
was invalid because the High Commissioner was
disposing of Iraqi territory in contravention of the
terms of the Mandate concluded at the Conference
of 'Ugayr."
Qasimn s pronouncement, together with reports
of Iraqi troops massing on the border, prompted
the Sheikh of Kuwait to request British aid. On
1 July 1961 the British sent a contingent of troops
back into Kuwait to forestall the feared Iraqi
invasion.
'Specifically, Article 8 of the Anglo-Iraqi Treaty of
Alliance of 1922, which prohibited the surrendering of any
Iraqi territory. That section of the Mandate did not become
effective, however, until the exchange of ratifications in
December 1924.
Zones of Kuwait as defined by the Anglo-Turkish Convention, 1913
Zone I D Zone II
Pre-World War I Ottoman boundaries in southern Iraq
-- Vilayet (province)
Sanjak (subprovince)
Present international boundary
nriJAR
(3O
Aft al?Batin;
3
SECRET
Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP86T0O608R000600140013-8
0 s0 100 Mlles
0 50 100 Kilometers
 Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP86T00608R000600140013-8
Following the overthrow of the Qasim regime
in 1963, events took an abrupt turn in Kuwait's
favor. In October 1963 a communique was issued
by both the Kuwaiti and Iraqi Prime Ministers
announcing Iraq's recognition of Kuwait's inde-
pendence and sovereignty. While this ended Iraqi
claims to most of Kuwait, it was not a boundary
agreement and did not, therefore, settle the question
of sovereignty over the offshore islands, which have
since become a major issue as Iraq develops the
port of Umm Qasr.
Iraq's interest in the offshore islands became
evident about 1955, when she proposed leasing
Warbah Island from Kuwait together with a 4-
kilometer strip of land along the border between
Umm Qasr and Safwan to facilitate access to the
port of Umm Qasr (Photo 1). A presence on War-
bah Island would give Iraq, control over the ap-
proaches to Khawr Zubayr, the inlet on which Umm
Qasr is located. The proposal was offered as a
quid pro quo for Kuwait's leasing the right-of-way
for a pipeline that would have delivered 125 mil-
lion gallons of fresh water per day to Kuwait from
the Shatt al Arab. The pipeline project-and hence
the lease proposal-was abandoned because of
Kuwait's reluctance to rely on Iraq's good will for
a supply of fresh water and because her demand
that Iraq acknowledge their de facto border as
de jure was not met.
Another stir over Warbah Island occurred in 1966
when Kuwaiti boatmen observed Iraqi flags on
Warbah. The Kuwaiti Prime Minister visited the
island to observe the situation; however, it was
never discovered who planted the flags, and the
incident precipitated no military or diplomatic
confrontations.
Trouble erupted along the land boundary in
March 1973 when Iraqi troops clashed with Kuwaiti
forces and occupied the Kuwaiti police post at as-
Samitah, just south of Umm Qasr (Photo 1). Inter-
vention by other Arab countries brought a quick
cease-fire and averted a larger conflict, but there
are indications that Iraqi troops are still holding
the post.
Iraq continues to expand both the commercial
and the military facilities at Umm Qasr, and it
appears that part of the military complex extends
across the border into Kuwait (Photo 2). The
increasing importance of Umm Qasr has led Iraq to
pressure the Kuwaitis for a settlement of their
territorial differences, but so far neither side has
put forward proposals to which the other will agree.
Iraq is demanding an open border policy, pos-
session or control of Warbah Island, a lease of at
least the northern half of Bubiyan Island, and
probably (although not yet specified) ownership
or control of the Kuwaiti right bank of Khawr
Zubayr above Warbah Island.
Ownership of Warbah and any of the adjacent
islands could affect the size of the continental
shelf that would accrue to Iraq in any future law-
of-the-sea negotiations in the upper Persian Gulf.
A shelf delimited from any of the islands could
be larger than one delimited from present Iraqi-
held territory.
In return for de jure Iraqi recognition and de-
marcation of the Iraq-Kuwait boundary, Kuwait
has offered for a nominal sum to lease Warbah
and the northern half of Bubiyan to Iraq for an
indefinite period. She has also, in at least one
offer, proposed joint development and use of Khawr
Zubayr. Neither side will agree completely with the
other's proposals, and officials of both countries
admit that reaching an agreement will be difficult.
The Iraq-Saudi Arabia Boundary
The Iraq-Saudi Arabia boundary is 685 kilo-
meters long; the northern boundary of the Saudi-
Iraq Neutral Zone is 191 kilometers, and the south-
ern boundary 201 kilometers (Map 3). All three
boundaries run through desert for their entire
lengths and, like the Iraq-Kuwait boundary, have
never been surveyed. The language that defines
the boundaries, in Article 1 of the Protocol of
'Uqayr, December 1922, is vague.
A boundary demarcation agreement between
Iraq and Saudi Arabia should present few problems
since there are no known disputes concerning the
alignment of the boundary. (Iraq's 1963 recognition
of Kuwait's sovereignty ended Iraq's claim against
the Al Hasa portion of Saudi Arabia that was
part of the second zone of Kuwait as defined by
the 1913 Anglo-Turkish Convention.) There is al-
ways a possibility of disagreement over the location
of specific points during a demarcation survey, but
these should be easily negotiated.
4
SECRET
Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP86T0b608R00Q600140013-8
 5X1 D Approved For Release 1999/09/26 CIA-RDP86T00608R000600140013-8
Approved For Release 1999/09/26 CIA-RDP86T00608R000600140013-8
 SECRET
Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : IA-RDP86T00608R000600140013-8
The history of the Iraq-Saudi Arabia boundary
and the Saudi-Iraq Neutral Zone boundary parallels
that of the Iraq-Kuwait border. The British created
the boundaries tinder their Mandate powers, They
were delimited by the treaty of Muhammarah (now
Khorramshahr), May 1922, which formalized an
agreement reached by Sir Percy Cox and King
'Abd al-'Aziz to stop the raiding between Iraqi
and Saudi tribes and to assign some tribes to Iraq
and others to Saudi Arabia, and by the Protocol of
'Uqayr, December 1922 (see Appendix). 'Abd al-
'Aziz was persuaded to agree to a boundary de-
limitation only on the condition that there would
be no fortifications or troop concentrations by either
party at wells or watering places and that Najdi
tribes would be allowed free movement to watering
places on the Iraq side of the boundary. These
arrangements were later confirmed by the Treaty
of Arab Brotherhood, signed in April 1936, between
Iraq and Saudi Arabia, Although there have been
a number of disputes among the tribes along the
border since the 1922 delimitation, they have not
escalated to disputes between the two govern-
ments,
The Saudi Arabian press recently announced that
representatives of Iraq and Saudi Arabia signed
a border agreement in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on
2 July 1975. According to the report, the agreement
provides for an equal division of the Neutral Zone
between the two countries and for some alterations
to straighten the border; where this involves one
country's giving up territory, it is compensated else-
where. The agreement has yet to be ratified and no
further details concerning it have been released. The
report seems to indicate, however, that the two
countries are well along toward a final boundary
settlement.
6
SECRET
Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP86T00'608R000600140013-8
 Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP86T00608R000600140013-8
I. Articles of the Anglo-Turkish Convention of July 29, 1913, pertaining to
delimitation of Iraq-Kuwait boundary.
The autonomy of the Sheikh of Kuwait is exercised by him in the territories,
the limit of which forms a semi-circle with the town of Kuwait at the
center, the Khor Zubair at the northern extremity and Grain at the southern
extremity. This line is indicated in red on the map attached to the present
convention (Annex V). The islands of Warbah, Bubyan, Mashjan, Fay-
lakah, Auha, Kubr, Qaru, Maqta, and Umm al-Maradim, together with
the adjacent islands and waters, are included in this zone.
The tribes which are situated within the limits stipulated in the following
article are recognized as within the dependence of the Sheikh of Kuwait
who will collect their tithes as in the past and will exercise the administra-
tive rights belonging to him in his quality of Ottoman Kaymakam. The
Ottoman Imperial Government will not exercise in this region any admin-
istrative action independently of the Sheikh of Kuwait and will refrain
from establishing garrisons or undertaking any military action whatsoever
without prior understanding with the Government of His Britannic Majesty.
The limits of the territory referred to in the preceding article are fixed
as follows: The demarcation line begins on the coast at the mouth of the
Khor Zubair in the northwest and crosses immediately south of Umm-
Qasr, Safwan, and Jabal Sanam, in such a way as to leave the vilayet of
Basrah these locations and their wells; arriving at the al-Batin, it follows
it toward the southwest until Hafr al-Satin which it leaves on the sides
of Kuwait; from that point on the line in question goes southeast leaving
to Kuwait the wells of al-Garaa, al-Raba, Warbah and Antaa, reaching
the sea near Jabal Munifa.
7
SECRET
Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP86TOO608R000600140013-8
 Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP86T00608R000600140013-8
II. Articles of the Protocol of Uqayr, December 2, 1922, pertaining to the
delimitation of the Iraq-Saudi Arabia boundary.
(a) The frontier from the East begins at the junction of the Wadi al
Aujah (W. el Audja) with Al Batin and from this point the Najd frontier
passes in a straight line to the well called Al Wuqubah (El Ukabba)
leaving Al Dulaimiyah (Dulaimiya) and A] Wuqubah (El Ukabba) north
of the line and from Al Wuqubah (El Ukabba) it continues northwest to
Bir Ansab (Bir Unsab).
(b) Starting from the point mentioned above, i.e., from the point of the
junction of the Wadi al Aujah (W. el Audja) with Al I3atin (El Batin) the
Iraq boundary continues in a straight line northwest to Al Amghar (El
Amghar) leaving this place to the south of the line and from thence
proceeds southwest in a straight line until it joins the Najd frontier at
Bir Ansab (Bir Unsab).
(c) The area delimited by the points enumerated above which includes
all these points will remain neutral and common to the two Governments
of Iraq and Najd who will enjoy equal rights in it for all purposes.
(d) From Bir Ansab (Bir Unsab) the boundary between the two states
proceeds northwest to Birkat al Jumaimah (Birkat el Djum(--ima) and
from thence northwards to Bir al Ugbah (Bir el Akaba) and Qasr
Uthaimin (Kasr Athmin) from there westwards in a straight line passing
through the centre of Jal al Bata (Djal el Batn) to Bir Lifiyah (Bir Lifa)
and then to Bir al Manaiyah (Bir al Maniya) and from there to Jadidat
Arar (Djadaidat el Arar) from there to Mukur and from Mukur to the
Jabal Anazan (Anaza) situated in the neighbourhood of the intersection
of latitude 32 degrees north with longitude 39 degrees cast where the
Iraq-Najd boundary terminates.
Whereas many of the wells fall within the Iraq boundaries and the Najd
side is deprived of them, the Iraq Government pledges itself not to inter-
fere with those Najd tribes living in the vicinity of the border should it
be necessary for them to resort to the neighbouring Iraq wells for water,
provided that these wells are nearer to them than those within the Najd
boundaries.
The two Governments mutually agree not to use the watering places and
wells situated in the vicinity of the border for any military purpose, such
as building forts on them, and not to concentrate troops in their vicinity.
8
SECRET
Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP86T00608R000600140013-8
 1D
Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP86T00608R000600140013-8
Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP86T00608R000600140013-8