Iraqi parliament to review case of fisherman killed by Kuwaiti coast guard

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraq's parliamentary Security and Defense Committee will convene on July 16, 2026, to examine the killing of Basra fisherman Najm Abdullah Khalid by Kuwaiti coast guard personnel, committee member Ahmed Daghir al-Musawi said. The session will hear testimony from the commander of the Iraqi Navy, the head of Iraq's coast guard and a representative of the Favur Fishermen's Association. The committee said it will review the full circumstances of the incident and discuss measures to protect fishermen operating in Iraq's territorial waters. The killing has already drawn protests in Basra, where demonstrators gathered outside the Kuwaiti consulate on Sunday following the fisherman's death. The Iraqi Foreign Ministry said it had received footage in which Kuwaiti forces did not intentionally cause the casualties, and raised the matter with Kuwaiti officials. Prime Minister Ali Salih al-Jazairi has directed the Foreign Ministry, the General Staff and Basra-based security units to follow up on the case. The bodies of the dead fisherman and three of the four detained fishermen were returned to Iraq through the Safwan border crossing.