Baghdad said it was worried that Kuwait’s new giant port would strangle Iraqi shipping lanes and especially its oil exports. These have to pass through the narrow gap around Boubyan Island, the site of the port project – and a strategically sensitive area at the tip of the Gulf.
Further, Kuwait’s Mubarak Al-Kabir project is only 20km away from Iraq’s own major Al-Fao Port development, which in a tit-for-tat move has been brought forward to start construction in 2012, reports the Kuwait Times.
Baghdad has been a little late in responding to Kuwait’s plans: although Iraq summarily demanded work on the project stop until studies – referencing Iraq’s maritime rights – were completed, it didn’t start to object until four years after construction work had begun: predictably Kuwait declined.
However, this week saw an increase in security as an Iraqi delegation visited the site which lies around 120km north of Kuwait City. Meetings with a regional environmental organisation and other bodies are soon to take place.
It can’t be ignored that the area has its share of political instability; particularly welcome is the possibility that the two countries could work together on a joint technical committee, suggesting that both sides might benefit in economic terms from co-operation.