ChChapter 2: Origins and influences of nationality law eligibility criteria for nationality are cumulative, they can serve to exclude and possibly leave stateless individuals who, although resident on the pivotal date, do not satisfy the further requirements. A common condition that is supplementary to residence in several MENA countries is the previous possession of Ottoman nationality. As already touched upon above, the decline and dissolution of the Ottoman Empire was a key event in the shaping the regional map. Thus, for example, the original nationality law of Iraq (dating from 1924), stated in article 3 that: “All persons who on the 6th day of August, 1924 were Ottoman subjects and were habitually resident in Iraq are hereby declared to have ceased to be Ottoman subjects and to have acquired Iraq nationality on that date.” The Saudi legislation was also premised on the need to regulate the emergence from Ottoman rule but takes a more nuanced approach. It houses a provision relating to acquisition of nationality by former Ottoman nationals (both those resident on Saudi soil at the time and those abroad who are members “of the indigenous people of the land”)70 as well as a stipulation that nationality is conferred to “any person who was not an Ottoman subject and was residing in 70 - Article 4a and 4b. 59