New Delhi, Feb. 25 -- A dispute between Iraq and Kuwait over their maritime border that reignited over the weekend has prompted Gulf Arab countries to side with Kuwait, putting Baghdad on the defensive on Monday over its demand.

The dispute came after Iraq recently submitted a map and geographic coordinates to the United Nations to delineate what it says are Iraqi areas in the Persian Gulf waters - some of which Kuwait claims infringe on its territory.

Although relations have improved between the two countries since the 2003 ouster of former Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein's - who invaded Kuwait in 1990 - their maritime boundary has been a persistent cause of friction.

Kuwait's foreign ministry said Iraq's claim infringes on Kuwait's so...