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Iraqi Kurdistan government approves draft
oil, gas law
26.6.2007
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June
26, 2007
Erbil-Hewler, Kurdistan region (Iraq), --
Iraqi Kurdistan's region's prime minister, Nechirvan
Barzani, said on Monday that he sent a message to
the federal government in Baghdad containing his
government's approval of the draft oil and gas law.
Speaking at a press conference in Arbil, he said, "I
sent a message to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki
to update him on our approval of the proposed draft
law and we will wait to have it sent to the
parliament."
The draft oil and gas law for the management of oil
resources is considered one of the most
controversial issues in Iraq, and there are
differences among political blocs on the law
regarding the equitable distribution of revenue. |
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister
Nechirvan Barzani. |
The law, if approved by
parliament, will give Iraqi and foreign investors
the right to set up establishments and oil
refineries and use them for 50 years.
Most of Iraq's known oil reserves are located in the
Shia-dominated south and the Kurdish north.
Iraq sits on the world's third-largest oil reserves
and officials have sought, since last year, to
finalize the draft law.
The law is vital for attracting foreign investment
to Iraq, to boost its oil output and rebuild its
economy.
Recent disputes have arisen after Iraq’s oil
ministry warned regions in late April against
signing contracts until the law was passed.
The Kurdistan regional government has signed several
agreements with foreign companies.
Meanwhile, the prime minister of the Kurdistan
region commented on the recent Anfal rulings by
saying "We are glad of these rulings."
He denied any Kurdish demands to accelerate the
executions or to have them carried out in Kurdistan.
Iraq's Supreme Court on Sunday sentenced Ali Hassan
al-Majid, also known as Chemical Ali, former Iraqi
defense minister Sultan Hashim and former military
official Hussein Rashid al-Tikriti to death.
The court found the cousin of former Iraqi president
Saddam Hussein, Hashim and Tikriti guilty of
committing crimes against humanity in the 1980s
genocide of Kurds, known as Operation Anfal.
The court also sentenced former Iraqi intelligence
official Farhan Motlak al-Juburi and military
intelligence chief Saber Abdul-Aziz al-Dori to life
in prison, wrapping up the Anfal case that took
about 60 sessions to reach the verdicts.
Court president, Judge Mohammed Oraibi al-Khalifa,
also found defendant Taher Tawfiq al-Aani, the
former governor of Ninawa, not guilty due to
insufficient evidence of his involvement in
Operation Anfal.
Anfal was an anti-Kurdish campaign found to be led
by the former regime between 1986 and 1989, which
involved a series of military campaigns against the
Kurdish Peshmerga fighters and the mostly Kurdish
civilian population of southern Kurdistan.
VOI
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