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.
"We consider these annexes as unconstitutional and they contradict the agreement reached between the central government" and the Kurdish self-governing administration, Saleh said. "We are not going to support these annexes. During the negotiations, we discussed the oil law, not the annexes set by Baghdad without our knowledge."
The draft bill would distribute oil revenues among Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds and is considered a major step toward national reconciliation.
Most of the proven reserves are in the Kurdish north and the Shiite south and Sunni leaders were anxious that their areas get a share of the wealth too.
Supporters say the bill would bring billions in foreign investment that are badly needed for Iraq's devastated economy.
Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani had predicted the draft law would be approved by parliament this month. But it has yet to be debated.
Although Sunni parties also signed off on the bill last February, a number of Sunni legislators have spoken against it, saying it would give foreigners too great a role in the country's major industry.
Saleh told The Associated Press that according to the draft bill, the Kurdish regional government has the right to negotiate and sign preliminary contracts with oil companies. Those contracts will be reviewed by the federal oil commission to make sure they are in accordance with Iraqi law.
But he said establishment of an Iraqi state oil company would bolster the role of the central government.
"We had bitter experience in the past with the central governments which have used oil money to crush the Kurdish people," he said.
Oil Ministry spokesman Assem Jihad said the Kurds had nothing to fear because the state company would be subject to legal controls.
Iraq is estimated to have about 115 billion barrels proven oil reserves, which make it the world's third largest. But Iraq has lagged in exploration technology and some experts believe the real figure is higher.
(AFX News, 01/05/2007)