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Iraqi politicians agree deal on sharing
oil, says Kurd minister Ashti Hawrami
21.6.2007
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June
21, 2007
Iraq's Kurdish leaders said last night they had
struck an important deal with the central government
in Baghdad over a law to divide up Iraq's oil
revenues, which is seen by the Bush administration
as one of the benchmarks in attempts to foster
national reconciliation.
Ashti Hawrami, the minister for natural resources in
the Kurdistan regional government, told the Guardian
the text had been finalised late last night after 48
hours of "tough bargaining" with Baghdad. The deal
represented "a genuine revenue sharing agreement"
that was transparent and would benefit all the
people of Iraq and help pull the country together,
he said.
Iraq's oil revenue accounted for 93% of the federal
budget last year. Iraq sells about 1.6m barrels a
day.
Mr Hawrami said the law provided for the setting up
of two "regulated and monitored" accounts into which
external and internal revenues would be deposited.
The external account would include items such as oil
export earnings and foreign donor money, while the
internal fund would consist largely of customs and
taxes.
The federal government in Baghdad would take what it
needed, and the rest would be automatically
distributed to the Kurdistan regional government,
which would get 17%, and to Iraq's governorates
"according to their entitlement". Revenues would be
distributed monthly, he said.
Mr Hawrami said the system would better enable
Iraqis to track how and where the oil funds were
being spent. The Kurds, for example, have complained
that remittances to their self-rule region have been
being held back by up to six months in Baghdad.
Iraq's Sunni Arabs had also expressed concerns that
they might miss out on their share.
Iraq's finance minister, Bayan Jabr, and the oil
minister, Hussein Sharistani, were accompanying the
president, Jalal Talabani, on a state a visit to
China and could not be contacted for comment.
The new deal came days after a visit to Iraq by the
US defence secretary, Robert Gates, during which he
rebuked politicians for failing to reach consensus
on sharing oil revenues. The US sees the deal as a
benchmark of progress toward reconciliation.
A western diplomat in Baghdad said last night:
"Fair-sharing of Iraq's oil revenue is important to
finding a sustainable political solution in Iraq.
But on its own it will not halt the sectarianism."
guardian co.uk
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