Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraq's parliamentary Security and Defense Committee on Thursday recommended dismissing the commander of the Iraqi Navy over alleged failures to protect Iraqi fishermen following last week's fatal shooting of a fisherman near the maritime border with Kuwait.

Committee member Mahmoud Faleh Al-Sayyid said the decision followed a committee hearing with Navy Commander Lt. Gen. Mazin Kbayan and other security officials. He attributed the recommendation to proven negligence in the performance of duty and the alleged violations the fishermen were subjected to.

Last week, Kuwaiti authorities detained an Iraqi fishing boat and its five-member crew near the maritime border. The fishermen were later returned through the Safwan border crossing along with the slain fisherman's body and another fisherman who was wounded in the incident.

The shooting prompted demonstrations outside the Kuwaiti consulate in Basra, where protesters demanded greater protection for Iraqi fishermen operating in the northern Gulf.

Iraq's Foreign Ministry previously said it had raised the case with Kuwaiti authorities, who presented video footage of the incident and maintained that their forces had not intended to cause loss of life.