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Iraq moves cautiously towards ethnic
consensus on oil revenue
13.8.2005
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BAGHDAD, Aug 13 (AFP)
- 14h12 - Iraqi leaders, under intense US pressure,
have reached tentative agreements on oil wealth
distribution, perhaps the most divisive issue among
for the country's disparate ethnic and religious
groups.
Panelists finalising Iraq's constitution said
Saturday a deal had been struck to share the world's
second largest known oil reserves, which are
concentrated in the Kurdish controlled north and
largely Shiite south.
"An in principle agreement has been reached late
yesterday that Iraq's oil revenues will be shared
between the Shiites, the Kurds and the Sunnis,"
Sunni panelist Saleh al-Motlag told AFP.
Many Sunnis fear that if Iraq adopts a federal
structure, the country's oil wealth will be divided
up between the Kurdish and Shiite regions, leaving
them with nothing.
But Motlag explained that while a percentage of oil
revenue would go to the federal government, the rest
would be distributed centrally to each governorate
according to its population size.
"All the groups have agreed on this," said Motlag,
one of the representatives on the 71-member
constitution committee struggling to draw up a draft
charter before Monday's deadline.
Some reports indicated the federal government of
each oil producing region would take a revenue share
of about five percent, with the rest going to
Baghdad for nationwide distribution.
A Kurdish member of the panel expressed caution over
interpreting the apparent consensus as an end to
problems over the division of Iraq's oil wealth.
"The Sunnis have still not agreed to any of the main
points ... but even if there is no agreement from
them (over the remaining two days), the draft can
still be passed in the National Assembly," Mahmud
Othman told AFP.
Othman said Kurdish and Shiite groups could use
their parliamentary majority over the Sunnis to get
the charter approved by Iraq's legislature.
While Sunnis are represented on the constitution
drafting body, their decision-making power is
effectively limited since the minority group has
little sway in parliament after largely boycotting
January's national elections.
"The agreement is between the Kurdish and Shiite
coalitions, maybe supported by (ex-prime minister
and powerful secular Shiite coalition leader Iyad)
Allawi's list," said Othman, adding that "intense
pressure from the Americans" had been a crucial
factor.
Crucial consensus was also reached on the future of
the disputed oil-rich city of Kirkuk which sits atop
40 percent of the country's oilfields, or six
percent of total world reserves, a source close to
the process said.
Another panelist told AFP on condition of anonymity
an agreed deadline for "normalisation of Kirkuk" had
been laid out in the draft constitution -- the first
time such a deadline has been officially agreed.
During the 1980s, former Iraq president Saddam
Hussein tried to consolidate his control over
Kirkuk's oil by expelling thousands of Kurds from
the region, replacing them with mainly Shiite Arabs
from the country's south.
Kurds are demanding this process be reversed before
holding a referendum on the future status of a city
they want included within the borders of a federally
autonomous Kurdish zone.
Kurdish commentators welcomed the news of a deadline
for normalisation.
"We have been asking for a normalisation deadline
throughout, so this is a good step," said Dr. Noory
Talabani, a Kurdish regional MP and an international
expert on Kirkuk.
"It is significant that this goes into the
constitution since it represents a recognition that
the situation (in Kirkuk) is not normal," Talabani
said.
Iraqi oil officials were cautious about the emerging
consensus.
"I have to see the overall oil formula before
deciding if it will work," said former oil minister
Thamer al-Ghadban.
"There are other important factors like control of
oil exploration and other ventures."
Iraq's output of nearly two million barrels a day
largely comes from southern oil fields, while all of
the 1.6 million barrels a day of exports flow
through southern terminals.
Northern oil export routes remain paralysed due to
the security situation.
AFP
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