Saddamiyat al-Mitla' District
Saddamiyat al-Mitla' (Arabic: قضاء صدامية المطلاع) was a district in Basrah Governorate during the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait 1990–1991. The formation of the district was announced on August 28, 1990.[1][2] The name sought to honour the Iraqi president Saddam Hussein.[2] Whilst the rest of Kuwait was annexed as the 19th governorate of Iraq, the strategic northern parts of Kuwait was annexed as the Saddamiyat al-Mitla' district as part of the Basrah Governorate.[1]
Saddamiyat al-Mitla' District قضاء صدامية المطلاع | |||||||||
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De facto district of Iraq | |||||||||
1990–1991 | |||||||||
• Type | Military occupation | ||||||||
Historical era | Gulf War | ||||||||
• Republic of Kuwait annexed by Iraq | 28 August 1990 | ||||||||
• Liberation of Kuwait | 26 February 1991 | ||||||||
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The district covered some 7,000 square kilometres.[3] It included Warbah Island, Bubiyan Island, the area around Abdali, Raudhatain oil field, Sabriya oil field, Ratqa oil field and the southern part of the Rumaila oil field.[4] Apart from its oil resources, the district held most of the underground water sources of Kuwait.[4] Iraqi media declared that a new city, also named Saddamiyat al-Mitla', would be built in the district.[5]
At the time there was speculation on whether the placing of the Saddamiyat al-Mitla' district in the Basrah Governorate rather than the Kuwait Governorate indicated that Iraq might have been ready to retreat from the rest of Kuwait but keep the northern areas.[6]
References
- Richard N. Schofield (1991). Kuwait and Iraq: Historical Claims and Territorial Disputes : a Report Compiled for the Middle East Programme of the Royal Institute of International Affairs. The Institute. p. 79. ISBN 978-0-905031-35-4.
- Elaine Sciolino (30 May 1991). The outlaw state: Saddam Hussein's quest for power and the Gulf crisis. Wiley. p. 224. ISBN 978-0-471-54299-5.
- Aqil Hyder Hasan Abidi; Kunwar Rajendra Singh; Jawaharlal Nehru University. School of International Studies (1991). The Gulf crisis. Lancers Books. p. 215. ISBN 978-81-7095-023-3.
- John B. Allcock (1992). Border and territorial disputes. Longman Current Affairs. p. 390. ISBN 978-0-582-20931-2.
- News Review on West Asia. 21. 1990. p. 383.
- Glenn Frankel (31 August 1990). "Imperialist Legacy Lines in the Sand". The Washington Post. Retrieved 9 September 2017.