The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and the legality of its claims in international law and Islamic international law

The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and its subsequent annexation is, undoubtedly, one of the most daring, aggressive acts in modern time. This invasion represented a clear violation of all recognized treaties. Despite that, discussion focused entirely on the political and legal aspects of the incasion, to the detriment of no less important issues, such as Iraq's claims justifying their invasion. The main concern of this thesis is to fill this vacuum and discuss fully the legal aspect of the Iraqi invasion to prove its illegality under both International Law and Islamic International Law.

In evaluating the legality of the Iraqi claim, the thesis discusses in the first chapter the historical development of Kuwait and how it became an independent nation. In the second chapter, the focus is on the lefality of the protection agreement of 1899 signed between the Emir of Kuwait and the British government. It proves that such agreement was legally sound.

The rest of the chapters are devoted to a discussion of all Iraqi claims vis a vis Kuwait and their legality under both modern International Law and Islamic International Law. The discussion is dealt with under three headings: invasion in response to Kuwait economic aggression, invasion upon the request of Kuwaiti dissidents, and finally the legality of the invasion under Islamic International Law.

The outcome of such discussion is that all Iraqi claims failed to meet the test of legality under the rules of both laws. Moreover, it proved that states will use the ambiguity of legal rules and exploit them to their advantage as was in the case of Iraq.