KUWAIT CITY, Aug 12, (Agencies): In a new escalation in tensions between Kuwait and Iraq on the Mubarak Al-Kabeer Port, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki has threatened that Iraq would resort to the United Nations to stop Kuwait from continuing the construction process, reports Al-Anba daily.
Al-Maliki alleged that Iraq has officially asked Kuwait to halt all construction work and claimed that Kuwait has not responded yet to the request. Al-Maliki’s statements, which were aired on Iraq’s Al-Sumariya satellite TV channel, were in contradiction to statements made by his foreign minister Hoshyar Zibari who said Kuwait has the right to construct the port.
Al-Maliki, in his statement, said the United Nations told the Iraqi government that Iraq has the right to fully benefit from its port and pointed out that anything less than complete benefiting will be considered a violation of Iraqi rights. An Iraqi technical team will be sent to study Mubarak Al-Kabeer port and its technical details, Al-Maliki said. He claimed that Kuwait announced that the port will be constructed in three phases, adding that there is talk that there will be a fourth phase which would pose danger to Iraq’s navigational rights.
Attack
Meanwhile, an Iraqi MP warned Kuwait that some armed militias and groups would attack Mubarak Al-Kabeer Port and even invade the whole of the country if construction continues in the port, reports Al-Rai daily.
MP Kathem Al-Shammiri, who is a member of the White Iraqi bloc, said in a press release that these militias would carry out ‘destructive’ attacks on Boubyan Island and on Kuwaiti soil, adding that if such attacks took place, the Iraqi government would claim that the militias are outlawed.
Al-Shammiri claimed that the operations would come in defense of Iraq against Kuwaiti transgressions and warned that the militias will not abide by any official Iraqi position that calls for not attacking Kuwait. Al-Shammiri added that Kuwaitis must know that Iraq now is different from the Iraq of 1991, which was isolated at the international arena. Kuwait must refrain from taking actions that would result in inflaming the hatred of the Iraqi people, Al-Shammiri said. He also called on Kuwait to gain the friendship of the Iraqi people by abandoning compensation payments, and called on Kuwaiti firms to invest in Iraq.
In Baghdad, a number of Iraqis held a demonstration at Al-Tahreer Square to demand that Kuwait halt the construction of the port.
 An Iraqi technical delegation, which is in charge of discussing the Mubarak Al-Kabeer Port, will arrive in Kuwait on Sunday, reliable sources told Al-Seyassah daily.
The delegation, which is headed by consultant to the Ira    qi  government Thamer Al-Ghadban, will stay in the country for more than two days. Sources said Kuwait is ready to reply to all the questions of the visiting delegation as well as provide documents which prove the legality of all of Kuwait’s procedures in this regard. They disclosed that Kuwaiti officials will organize a field visit for the delegation to the port’s location in the presence of officials of all authorities involved.
By receiving the Iraqi delegation, Kuwait wants to allay all Iraqi fears over the port, cooperate and be transparent in line with the principles of respecting international laws and decisions related to navigation, said sources.
Furthermore, Chinese Ambassador to Kuwait Huang Jeimin affirmed in a statement that Kuwait has the right to build Mubarak Port as it has the right to build anything on its land and within its territorial waters. He added that any dispute can be resolved through dialogue and joint committees.
Earlier, Kuwait said threats by Iraqi militants will not deter her from completing the construction of a controversial megaport.
“We are not scared by threats and we are continuing the construction work in the project. Work is ongoing smoothly and as planned,” foreign ministry undersecretary Khaled al-Jarallah told reporters.
The Kuwaiti official was responding to new threats by Iraqi Shiite militant group Ketaeb Hezbollah that it will strike the port if Kuwait did not halt construction.
The group made its first threat last month and Kuwaiti newspapers on Sunday published new threats by the same group.
“This threat is unfortunate and irresponsible,” Jarallah said after a presentation on Mubarak Al-Kabeer port to heads of foreign diplomatic missions in Kuwait.
“There must be an official Iraqi handling of these threats,” the Kuwaiti official said.
Last month, Ketaeb Hezbollah, which has claimed deadly attacks on US troops in Iraq and is believed to be backed by Iran, warned a South Korean consortium to halt work on the Kuwaiti port project.
Iraqis are objecting to the port because they say it will strangle Iraqi shipping lanes.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has said that Kuwait has yet to notify Baghdad officially of the Mubarak project. He said Baghdad only learned about it from third parties.
The multi-billion-dollar container port is being constructed on Bubiyan Island, close to the border with Iraq and is due for completion in 2016. Construction began in 2007.
Jarallah and other Kuwaiti officials on Sunday denied that the port will have any “negative impact” on the shipping lines or the environment, saying it will rather better serve the economies of both nations.
Jarallah said an Iraqi technical delegation received details on the project in Kuwait City in May and visited the site of the project. Another delegation is due to arrive in the emirate soon for more questions.
The Gulf is the main export outlet for Iraqi oil, which accounts for the lion’s share of the country’s revenues, and Baghdad has started major work to modernise its outdated ports.