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Kurds edge closer to backing crucial Iraq
oil law
26.2.2007 |
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February
26, 2007
BAGHDAD, -- An oil law crucial to resolving
political divisions in Iraq edged closer to approval
after Kurds said some key issues were resolved,
officials said on Sunday.
Passing an oil law to help settle potentially
explosive disputes among Iraq's ethnic and sectarian
communities over the division of oil reserves has
been a key demand of the United States in providing
further military support to the government.
Officials are in last ditch talks to finalize a
draft law that sets rules for sharing the wealth
from the world's third largest oil reserves.
Agreement was nearly reached last month but leaders
in the largely autonomous Kurdish region in northern
Iraq demurred, saying they still had concerns about
relations between regions and Baghdad.
A top aide to Kurdish regional president Massoud
Barzani said on Sunday letters had been exchanged
between the two sides in recent weeks and solutions
found to some problems.
"Some of the issues in debate between the Kurdish
regional government and the federal government in
Baghdad were solved recently," Fauad Hussain, head
of the presidency board in Kurdistan, told Reuters
on Sunday.
"The Kurdish regional government approved the
submission of the oil draft law to parliament..."
Hussain said.
But he added: "The whole issue is still under
discussions and it's only a draft law."
STILL UNDER DISCUSSION
"The Kurds agreed on the key points which clarify
the annexes of the oil law and the issue of the way
that regions can manage oil resources all over the
country, including the Kurdish region," he said.
Barzani met Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, who is
also a Kurd, and U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad on
Saturday.
"We agreed on the draft of the law but still there
are some articles under debate with the central
government," Barzani said at a joint news conference
with Talabani.
Talabani said the key issue discussed at their
meeting was the oil law and they had come "close to
final approval."
U.S. embassy spokesman John Roberts welcomed the
comments by the two Kurdish leaders as indicating
"good progress."
"This is an encouraging development," he said. "It
represents a move forward in terms of the
negotiation process and we welcome any movement
toward agreement."
A government source with close knowledge of the oil
law debate, who spoke on condition of anonymity
because he was not authorized to speak to the media,
said no final agreement was reached on the draft
when the cabinet last met on February 22.
"Discussions in the cabinet on the oil draft haven't
reached a compromise and the key conflicting issue
of the regions having authority to approve deals
with foreign companies is still in debate," the
source said.
The source said the cabinet would meet on Wednesday
for further discussions on the law. Once it is
approved by the cabinet, the law will go to
parliament.
The Iraqi oil ministry had no comment on whether the
Kurds had approved the draft oil law.
The Kurdish government has had reservations on the
wording regarding the powers of a federal council,
to be established under the law, which will set the
oil policy and lay down ground rules for contracts
signed with foreign firms.
Officials from Kurdistan, where relative security
has encouraged more development than elsewhere in
Iraq, have said they want assurances the federal
council will not invalidate their existing
contracts, including with Norway's DNO.
Reuters
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