Report: Kurds will oppose draft oil law

BAGHDAD: Kurdish lawmakers will try to block parliamentary approval of legislation to regulate the country's oil industry because some of the annexes added to the bill are unconstitutional, a Kurdish official said Monday.

Kurds hold 58 of the 275 parliament seats, not enough to defeat the measure on their own. But Kurdish objections could delay passage of the bill, whose ratification into law is a top U.S. priority.

Last February, the Kurdish bloc agreed to support the draft bill following lengthy negotiations and strong U.S. pressure. The measure was endorsed by the Iraqi Cabinet, which includes Kurdish members, but without technical annexes which must be approved along with the bill.

On Monday, Kurdish spokesman Khalid Saleh said annexes prepared by the central government in Baghdad would give almost 93 percent of Iraq's proven oil reserves to the state-owned Iraq National Oil Company.

Saleh said that violated the February agreement.

Read the rest at the International Herald Tribune

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