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Kurdistan make breakthrough on talks with
Iraq
28.12.2006
By Hawar Kirkuki |
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Kurdistan Region will receive
17 percent of Iraq's national budget
December 28, 2006
Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister
Nechirvan Barzani said that Kurdistan Region will
receive 17
percent of Iraq's national budget, and urged the
Iraqi government to implement the constitutional
article regarding Kirkuk on time.
Describing talks with Baghdad as "successful and
fruitful," Barzani told reporters upon his return to
Erbil International Airport last Tuesday that the
KRG reached an agreement with Iraqi authorities over
Kurds' share of the national budget.
However, he added, "The agreement will be put before
the Council of Ministers in Baghdad and they will
make the final decision on it." |
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister
Nechirvan Barzani |
The KRG has asked the Iraqi government to hand over
an alleged sum of $486 million (US) to the Region's
treasury. According to previous agreements between
the KRG and the Baghdad government, the price of oil
per barrel was estimated at $26(US), while oil has
been sold at more than $60(US) over the past year.
Kurds demand a share of the Iraqi government's extra
oil income.
The Iraqi government has agreed to pay $364
million(US) to the KRG in three phases. The rest of
the money has been spent on projects in Kurdistan
carried out by Iraqi government ministries, Kurdish
officials say.
KRG officials also participated in talks on oil law
in Baghdad. Barzani said he held talks with Iraqi
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on the issue.
Oil has been a major issue dividing Kurdish and
Iraqi authorities in post-war Iraq. KRG says it is
constitutionally allowed to drill for oil in areas
under its control, but Iraqi oil officials have
threatened that KRG's oil deals will not be "valid."
"Most of the oil wells are in southern Iraq, and the
oil law allows KRG to talk with companies and make
deals for oil production," Barzani said.
"In the future, a law will be issued, according to
which each region and part of the country will have
its share of oil revenues. We need to have our share
of that and we are waiting for that law to be
issued."
For most of late November and early December, a
Kurdish delegation led by PM Barzani was in Baghdad
to hold talks with central authorities over
"suspending dossiers."
According to preliminary agreements between the KRG
and federal authorities, a representative from the
Baghdad government will attend talks between the KRG
and oil firms.
Once the KRG reaches a deal with a company to drill
for oil in Kurdistan, the contract will be sent to
Baghdad for assessment and approval by an Iraqi
government committee. The contract will then be
returned to the KRG and it will have 60 days to sign
it.
"There needs to be some criteria according to which
the (oil) contracts are investigated so as to know
if there is any corruption in the deals or to what
extent the company will implement its obligations,"
Barzani said.
Another issue on the agenda during the talks between
the KRG and Iraqi officials was that of Peshmerga.
The Iraqi government had earlier asked the KRG to
send its strong Peshmerga troops to southern and
central parts of the country to provide security.
However, KRG has been reluctant to accede to that
demand so far, saying that some conditions must
first be met.
Barzani told reporters that the KRG has asked the
Iraqi government to fund Peshmerga forces from its
$8 billion 2007 defense budget. But the Iraqi
government has not yet agreed to that demand.
"After lots of talks ? we didn't achieve any result.
But we insist that Kurdistan Peshmerga must have a
share in Iraq's defense budget and we will continue
our talks with Baghdad to resolve this issue."
In a closed session of the Iraqi Parliament last
month, Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, Iraq's Sunni
parliament speaker, had called upon the Kurdish
leadership to send Peshmerga forces to Baghdad to
protect the lawmakers.
The KRG has approximately 100,000 Peshmerga forces
under its command and Iraq's constitution recognizes
them as "regional guards."
Disputes over the oil-rich Kirkuk continued in
Baghdad as well.
Kurds demand the normalization of the situation in
Kirkuk in line with Article 140 of Iraq's national
constitution that was ratified last year.
The Iraqi government has formed a committee for
implementing the constitutional article, led by the
country's Minister of Justice. Barzani reiterated
the Kurdish stance that no delay in executing
Article 140 is acceptable.
"We insist on implementing the constitutional
Article (on Kirkuk) and PM al-Maliki reiterated that
this article has to be implemented on time," PM
Barzani said.
Iraq's constitution has set a three-step roadmap to
normalize the situation in Kirkuk and other areas
that were Arabized by the government of former
President Saddam Hussein. A referendum on the city's
fate is to be held by the end of 2007 on whether it
should remain under central government's control or
join Kurdistan Region.
The city is populated by Kurds, Turkomans, Arabs,
and Christians, and is currently administratively
linked to the Iraqi government.
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