ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi parliamentary committees are set to question the country's naval chief and a senior foreign ministry official, a member of the legislature's Defense and Security Committee confirmed to Rudaw on Tuesday, adding that the move is related to the fatal shooting of an Iraqi fisherman by the Kuwaiti coast guards in shared waters earlier this month.
"The Commander of the Iraqi naval forces will be questioned by our [Defense and Security] Committee next Thursday," said lawmaker Mazen Gharib, adding that the session aims to determine the circumstances surrounding the July 3 killing of Najm Abdullah.
Iraqi Parliament's First Deputy Speaker Adnan Fayhan on Monday instructed the legislature's Defense and Security Committee to host the naval chief to "review the circumstances surrounding the incident," a statement from Fayhan's office read.
The deputy speaker further instructed the legislature's Foreign Relations Committee to host another official - a "foreign ministry undersecretary," to clarify “the diplomatic and legal measures the ministry has taken” with regard to Abdullah's killing, the statement added.
The 34-year-old fisherman was fatally shot on July 3 by the Kuwaiti Coast Guard while on a boat with four others in the Khor Abdullah waterway, which forms part of the maritime boundary between Iraq and Kuwait. While Abdullah was killed, another crew member was wounded, and the remaining three were temporarily detained by Kuwaiti authorities.
The incident has sent shockwaves across Iraq, sparking angry protests in Basra, Iraq's southernmost and Abdullah's home province, with demonstrators calling on Baghdad to secure justice for the slain fisherman.
Iraqi Premier Ali al-Zaidi on Saturday directed the foreign ministry, the army chief of staff, and local security authorities to investigate the incident, stressing the "importance of taking all legal measures to prevent the recurrence of such incidents and to protect the lives and property of our citizens."
The killing of the Iraqi fisherman notably coincided with a key visit by Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein to Kuwait on Wednesday, where he met with the Sheikhdom's senior officials, including First Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Fahad al-Yousef.
Hussein affirmed Iraq’s “categorical rejection of the recurrence of such incidents that affect the lives of citizens and harm the distinguished brotherly relations” between the two countries, read a statement from Baghdad’s foreign ministry.
The Kuwaiti side was quoted as clarifying that “the incident occurred during nighttime” and that the Kuwaiti force “did not intend to cause the casualties that resulted from the incident,” the statement added.
Despite this, the Iraqi foreign minister emphasized the importance of "establishing clear mechanisms for coordination and communication between the competent authorities in the two countries to ensure they do not recur."
Hussein further called for enhanced coordination to "ensure respect for the sovereignty of both countries, maintain the security and safety of navigation in Khor Abdullah, and avoid the occurrence of such unfortunate incidents in the future."
