Kuwait summons Iraqi ambassador over MP's claims of attack on fisherman

Basra politician called for PMF militias to protect Iraqi coastline

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs building in Kuwait City, Kuwait. Photo: MOFA Kuwait

Kuwait has rejected accusations by an Iraqi MP that its coast guards were involved in the death of a fisherman from Iraq.

Alaa Al Haidari, an MP from the southern port city of Basra, made the remarks in a video released on Tuesday in which he called for a naval force from the Popular Mobilisation Forces to protect Iraq’s coastline.

The PMF is a collection of militias, mainly backed by Iran, which includes radical groups such as Kataib Hezbollah, which has been accused of killing Iraqi protesters and attacking coalition forces in Iraq.

After Mr Haidari’s remarks, Kuwait summoned Iraq’s ambassador to condemn the comments.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Majid Al Dhafiri met Iraqi ambassador Al Manhal Al Safi to discuss resolving the situation.

“The two sides tackled the latest remarks of an Iraqi parliament member, regarding claims of attacking Iraqi fishermen,” a Kuwaiti government statement said, the state-linked Kuwait News Agency reported.

“Al Dhafiri expressed the resentment and rejection of those remarks that do not reflect the deep ties between both countries, and do not meet the principles of good neighbourliness,” it continued.

Iraqi fishermen sometimes complain that strong currents along Iraq’s coastline push their boats into Kuwaiti and Iranian territorial waters.

"People seized in the border areas are handed over, in good health, by the ground forces, in co-ordination with the Iraqi side,” a Kuwaiti coast guard official told AFP in December.