The Khawr Abd Allah (Arabic: خور عبد الله) is today an estuary, but once was the point where the great Euphrates and Tigris rivers emptied into the Persian Gulf. Located in the south of Iraq, the Iraq-Kuwaiti border divides the lower portion of the estuary, but adjacent to the port of Umm Qasr the estuary becomes wholly Iraqi. The Shatt al-Arab is now the point where the great rivers drain out, east of the Khawr Abd Allah.
It has also lent its name to the maritime Khawr Abd Allah Protocols or KAA Protocols first developed by the British Royal Navy between March and June 2008 during the British command of Combined Task Force 158. The non-legally binding KAA Protocols were developed and mediated between the heads of the Kuwaiti and Iraqi navies by Major David Hammond Royal Marines, the British naval lawyer and legal advisor to CTF 158. This included the production of the KAA Interoperability Admiralty Chart by Major Hammond and which was subsequently distributed to both countries, having been produced by the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office. On November 11, 2008, the KAA Protocols were historically signed at Kuwait Naval Base having been verbally agreed onboard HMS Chatham (F87) on 8 May 2008.[1] The signing meeting saw the first formal meeting of the heads of respective navies since before the 1991 Gulf War. Subsequently, the success of the non-legally binding protocols was reported to the US Congress on January 9, 2009 in the Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq Report.[2]