World
  |
|
US expert sees tough times ahead for Iraq oil law
AFP
BAGHDAD
Petroleumworld.com 02 28 06
Some tough horsetrading still lies ahead for the draft oil law passed by the Iraqi cabinet but a May deadline for approval by parliament is still possible, a US economic expert said Tuesday.
"There are issues which are quite sensitive and require the political process to take it forward and get people on board," said Daniel Weygandt, economic counsellor at the US embassy in Baghdad.
"The end of May is an ambitious goal but it should be attainable," he told reporters in Baghdad.
Politicians had initially hoped the law, a key plank in moves to reunite the war-torn country, would get through parliament by December last year, but when that did not happen they moved the date arbitrarily to the end of May.
The draft law, which aims to distribute revenues from crude oil exports equitably across Iraq's 18 provinces, was given the nod by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's multi-party cabinet on Monday after months of bitter wrangling."The national unity government has a large majority in parliament, so when the cabinet approves the draft ... the chances of getting the law approved are quite reasonable," said Weygandt.
Under the agreed mechanism, he said, revenues will be based on populations of the various provinces.
"It is a very equitable system," he said. "It sends a signal to people throughout Iraq that they will be sharing in (revenues) and they can hold local authorities accountable for the results of what they do.
"It creates a very positive dynamic in the provinces and reinforces the message against terrorism," he added.
The fact political leaders were able to come up with a workable compromise on wealth-sharing in a relatively short time of around six months, the expert said, "speaks volumes for the commitment of all parties in negotiations".
AFP 27 1428 GMT 02 07
Copyright© 1999 AFP. All Rights Reserved.
Your
feedback is important to us!
We invite all our readers to share with us
their views and comments about this article.
Write to editor@petroleumworld.com
Any
question or suggestions, please write to:
editor@petroleumworld.com
Best
Viewed with IE
5.01+
Windows
NT 4.0, '95, '98 and ME +/ 800x600 pixels