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Kurdistan delegation visits Baghdad to
discuss oil contract dispute, Kirkuk
12.12.2007
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December
12, 2007
BAGHDAD, -- Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki
on Tuesday received his Kurdistan counterpart
Nechirvan Barzani and his accompanying delegation to
discuss pending issues, including oil contracts the
region signed with foreign companies as well as the
2008 budget, an informed source said.
"Al-Maliki received Barzani and his accompanying
delegation at his office in Baghdad," the source,
who wished to remain anonymous, said.
MP from the Unified Iraqi Coalition (UIC) Hassan al-Sanied
told the VOI that "the two sides desire to solve all
the problems by resorting to the federal
constitution and the central court."
"Talks will also cover the Kurdistan Workers' Party
(PKK) crisis, loans, 2008 budget, and the
reconstruction operations in the region," he added.
The Kurdish delegation arrived in Baghdad Monday to
discuss a dispute over several oil contracts the
Kurdistan regional government has signed with
foreign companies and other controversial issues.
With national legislation stalled, Kurdish
authorities have signed more than a dozen contracts
with foreign companies over the objections by Oil
Ministry officials in Baghdad, who consider the
deals illegal. |
Nechirvan Barzani, Prime
Minister of
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) |
The Iraqi Cabinet approved a U.S.-backed draft bill
last February to regulate the country's oil industry
and forwarded it to parliament. But parliament,
citing legal technicalities, sent it back to the
Cabinet. The measure has been bogged down in
negotiations ever since.
Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan government approved
a regional oil law in August, paving the way for
foreign investment in their northern oil and gas
fields.www.ekurd.net
But the national Oil
Ministry has declined deals signed under the
agreement illegal and threatened to blacklist
companies that sign them.
The Kurdish delegation, led by Kurdistan Prime
Minister Nechirvan Barzani, also planned to address
the pending 2008 budget and plans to hold a
referendum on the status of the oil-rich city of
Kirkuk.
"The agenda includes such vital issues as oil
drilling, (oil) contracts already concluded by the
regional government of Kurdistan, the region's share
of the budget and Article 140 of the constitution
and means of implementing it," said Jabar Yawar,www.ekurd.net
a spokesman for
Kurdistan's Peshmerga security forces (Kurdistan
national forces).
Article 140 refers to the constitutional section
that calls for a referendum on Kirkuk by the end of
this year. Iraqi and Kurdish officials have
acknowledged they will not meet the deadline.
The Kurds want to incorporate Kirkuk, 290 kilometers
(180 miles) north of Baghdad, into their self-rule
region, but they have met stiff resistance to the
idea from Arabs and the national government.
Yawar said the Kurds also would discuss the central
government's budget allocation for the Peshmergas
and the merger of the former guerrilla force into
the regional border command.
AP | VOI
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