Kurdish diplomat to DC Qubad Talabani
Interview: Kurdish diplomat to DC Qubad Talabani
Ben Lando & Krishnadec Calamur
UPI
February 6, 2007
WASHINGTON -- An Iraqi oil and gas council could mitigate the concerns of sparring factions over legislation to develop the country's energy reserves, the top Kurdish representative in Washington says.
But Qubad Talabani, representative of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRS) to the US, warns that the northern region has finished compromising on the energy issue.
"We have made considerable concessions in this process ... What has got to come back now is a guarantee that regions will receive their fair share, and regions will have the final say over management and contracts of any future oil deals," Talabani, son of Jalal Talabani, Iraq's president, said Friday, speaking from his Washington office.
Talabani also said the Kurdish north, largely autonomous since 1991, and relatively free of violence, has been deprived by the central government in Baghdad of fuel and electricity it deserves.
Negotiations over the hydrocarbons law have been officially taking place since last year, but are stuck on a few major points of disagreement between the Kurds and the central government, rooted in mistrust fomented by decades of violence.
Talabani said the council would be "intergovernmental," made up of regional and central government representatives and experts in areas like finance and banking.
"The council will make recommendations or comments on decisions made by the regions," he said. "A region should have final say over a region's development. We can't have the central government veto the decisions we make."
"The council will be not just advisory, but also a mechanism that distributes revenues. It won't have the power to block regional decisions. I doubt it will be a loophole-free system ... but they are leaving it to common sense and, worryingly, to goodwill."
Kurdish officials say their reserves, near 50 billion barrels - about 43 percent of Iraq's total, and another 11 billion, would be added if voters in Kirkuk decide in a controversial referendum scheduled by year's end to become part of the KRG.
Shiites control oil in the south, leaving Sunnis, a minority group empowered during Saddam Hussein's regime, with few resources. Oil sales fund 96 percent of the country's budget, so access to oil revenue is not a small concern.
The Kurds want 17 percent of revenue, down from the 20 percent they first wanted, and more than the 13 percent the KRG was initially offered. No agreement has been reached on the revenue-sharing law. Talabani said when it is reached, the council will ensure the measure is followed, not altered at the whims of any Baghdad minister.
The hydrocarbons law is also stuck on who has control over all new or future development. The KRG argues the 2005 constitution puts all current oil development under Baghdad's control, and the rest to the regions.
The KRG has signed development deals with private companies, which Iraqi oil minister Hussein Al Shahristani has said will not be honored.
Talabani said the national hydrocarbons law should set the parameters for such deals, but noted the regions should be negotiating and signing them. And any qualms about them would be brought before the intergovernmental council.
"For too long the country has failed in its oil policy," Talabani said of the history of central control. "Gone are the days we will be taken hostage by anyone."
Talabani said the hydrocarbons law can be changed in the future, after it is implemented and the loopholes and errors are realized.
"We've got to start somewhere and kick start the process," he said.
A deal on these issues, along with a much better security situation, are seen as necessary for Iraq to obtain the necessary investment in the hydrocarbon sector. The US is leaning hard on Iraq to pass the hydrocarbon law; it is a marker US President George W. Bush has set to define success.
"It doesn't require American pressure," Talabani said of the law. "It can't be said we're lagging. We won't bend on this issue. We value our friendship with the Americans, but any attempt to force concessions will fail," Talabani said.
And for the success Kurdistan has seen, Talabani says both Baghdad and Washington are not doing their part.
"Of the $21 billion spent on Iraq, 3 percent has been given to KRG and has been spent mainly on civil society, not infrastructure programs. We get three hours of electricity. Our people are bemused by this. It's a cause of much frustration."
Talabani said the KRG's plans to increase its electricity generating capacity have been stifled, and blames Baghdad for the current shortage of transportation, cooking, and heating fuels.
"It's huge. We're in winter. People need fuel for heat. Vehicles are parked for hours, days sometimes, to get gas. What people are saying is: 'Why didn't we have this problem during Saddam's days?'" Talabani said. "How can this government in Baghdad be treating us worse?"
He accused Baghdad of creating the situation as leverage over the Kurds during negotiations. "We're afraid the instability of Iraq could jeopardize the stability of the Kurdistan region. We think the US has neglected the region," Talabani said.
"We won't break away from Iraq, but we can't guarantee that Iraq won't break away from us."
Interview: Kurdish diplomat to DC Qubad Talabani - Business - Middle East Times
Right on...But they are Telling US...
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Originally Posted by
TEXASGIRL
And when the yen was revaled, the day before the government had said it wasn't going to happen but it did. So there is ALWAYS hope!!!!!!!!
:ro_emote: