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Politics
Cabinet okays draft oil law
Associated Press
Published February 27, 2007
BAGHDAD - The Iraqi Cabinet approved a draft law Monday to manage the country's vast oil industry and distribute its wealth among the population - a major breakthrough in U.S. efforts to press the country's Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish groups to reach agreements to achieve stability. Parliament will take up the measure when it reconvenes next month. With all major parties endorsing the bill, approval is likely - though a debate is expected on some of the details. "I very much hope the main political groups will rise to the occasion" and approve the bill, Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh, a Kurd, said. Iraq has some of the world's largest petroleum reserves, and supporters hope the law will encourage major oil companies to invest billions - if the security situation improves. Under the measure, revenues will be distributed to all 18 provinces based on population size - a concession to the Sunnis whose central and western homeland has relatively few proven reserves. Most of the oil is in the Kurdish north and Shiite south, and many Sunnis fear they would be cut out of a fair share.
[Last modified February 27, 2007, 05:31:19]
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