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Iraqi Cabinet okays oil regulations

Parliament takes up the benchmark bill next.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published July 4, 2007

BAGHDAD - The Iraqi Cabinet signed off Tuesday on a revised bill to regulate the country's oil industry and sent it to Parliament - a major step in reaching a long-delayed benchmark sought by the United States to promote reconciliation between Iraq's Sunnis and Shiites.

Within hours of the announcement, however, the legislation hit a snag: The Kurds said they had neither seen nor approved the final text and might oppose it.

American officials are hoping that passage of the oil bill and companion legislation to distribute oil revenues will help rally Sunni support for the government and reduce backing for insurgents.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said that his Cabinet had unanimously approved the oil draft and that Parliament would begin discussing it the following day. He called the bill "the most important law in Iraq."

The Cabinet endorsed one version of the legislation last February, but the Kurds protested, saying the measure was unconstitutional because it gave too much power to a yet-to-be-established national oil company in managing the country's oil fields.

Iraq's proven oil reserves have been estimated at 115-billion barrels - second largest in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries after Saudi Arabia.

Fast Facts:

Iraq developments

Violence: A car bomb killed 18 people Tuesday at a Baghdad market, said an anonymous police officer.

Copter forced down: The U.S. command said insurgents forced down a U.S. military helicopter south of Baghdad on Monday. The two pilots, who were slightly hurt, were rescued.

Mahmoudiya case: Federal prosecutors will seek the death penalty if former soldier Steven D. Green is convicted of killing an Iraqi family and raping a 14-year-old girl in March 2006. Associated Press

[Last modified July 4, 2007, 01:15:57]