Barzani confirms the full commitment to work with Abdul Mahdi to resolve the outstanding issues

[jg1]

On 6/23/2019 at 6:38 PM, yota691 said:

cutting the share of the Kurdistan region from the budget since 2014 has led to an accumulation

Uhhhh ya,  and how about that HCL and your people share of that oil money let's make it retroactive. lol

[6ly410]

 

 

The Kurdistan Democratic Party responds to the letter of the National Union in the file of the Governor of Kirkuk

2019/06/25 14:17:15

 

https://www.shafaaq.com/ar/كوردســتانيات/الديمقراطي-الكوردستاني-يرد-على-رسالة-الاتحاد-الوطني-بملف-محافظ-كركوك/

 

The Kurdistan Democratic Party and the National Union will hold a meeting on Wednesday to discuss the file of the post of governor of Kirkuk.

A member of the committee to normalize the situation in Kirkuk, Khalid Shwani said in a televised interview that there are fears of bidding during meetings with the components and parties of Kirkuk, adding that the information is not to be provided to the media until reaching an agreement between the parties.

"The meetings have witnessed progress, especially on the security and military situation in Kirkuk, because the current situation is not normal and the military influence extended its arms on the issue," Shwani said, pointing out that these situations need to be addressed.

Shwani denied that he is the candidate of the National Union for the post of governor of Kirkuk, adding that it is important that the candidate for the post of governor, a national person and loyal to Kirkuk.

He stressed that if the governor was chosen, he would be cooperative in tackling problems rather than issuing books from the governor in order to get the Peshmerga out of Xuan and Qara Hanjir. The governor, if Kordia can issue books, says that the region needs Peshmerga forces.

In another part of his remarks, Shwani explained that the Democrat responded today to the letter of the Political Bureau of the National Union, and the two parties are scheduled to meet on Wednesday.

He noted that the atmosphere of the meetings is positive and the two parties are expected to reach an agreement in this regard.

[Pitcher]

The Last Truly Underdeveloped Oil Frontier In The Middle East

Jun 25, 2019, 6:30 PM CDT

Join Our Community

Over and above the petty party squabbling that characterises the politics of Iraq’s semi-autonomous northern region of Kurdistan, it can safely be conjectured that at least two groups of people were delighted at the appointment of Masrour Barzani on 11 June as prime minister of the region’s government (the KRG): the Barzanis and the Russians. The Barzanis had three reasons for jubilation: Masrour was now prime minister, his cousin, Nechirvan was president, and the former president – and father of Masrour – Masoud Barzani remains the driving power behind the throne. The Russians had just one reason – but a big one – for celebration: the Barzani family is “highly accommodating to any suggestion that is good for the Barzani family,” as one senior source who works closely with Iraq’s Oil Ministry told Oilprice.com last week. “This means it’s still open season for Russia in Kurdistan, which is perhaps the last truly under-developed oil and gas frontier in the Middle East,” he added.

An indication of the Barzani’s historical appeal to Russia is that under the presidency of Masoud Barzani from 2005 to 2017 the family’s net worth increased from the negligible amount that any U.S. middle office manager might have in the bank to just under US$50 billion, according to various estimates. All of this was done whilst the official base salary for the president of the KRG was between US$2095 and US$2515 per month, which means that this accumulation of wealth was either an object lesson to savers everywhere or, as inferred at the time both by neighbouring Iran and by the U.S., evidence of something altogether less wholesome. Given the disposition of the key vested foreign interests in Iraq at the time – Iran and the U.S. – it was such (privately-made) accusations of impropriety that prompted Masoud’s unexpected announcement in October 2017 that he would resign the presidency, according to the senior Iraq source.

 

 

A few months year before the scheduled September 2017 referendum in Iraqi Kurdistan to vote on whether the Kurdish population wanted independence from Iraq, the perennial disagreements between the Federal Government of Iraq (FGI) in Baghdad and the KRG over the ‘oil for budget payments’ deal were threatening to destabilise the FGI’s entire budget. At that time, Iran was the most dominant power in Baghdad, wielding political, economic, and military influence through its militia proxies across the south, and did not want the Iran-sympathetic government in Iraq to be even more financially pressed than it already was. It also did not want the Kurdish independence movement in Iraq’s north gaining momentum in its own Kurdish population, comprising around 9% of Iran’s total populace, or in the Kurdish population of its other major ally in the region, Syria, whose Kurdish population constituted around 11% of its total. Related: Two Events That Will Determine Oil Prices

On the other side of the power equation operating at that time across Iraq, the U.S. wanted to keep all of the region’s 28 million or so Kurds onside, as their fearsome Peshmerga army was functioning effectively as the West’s on-the-ground military proxy in the fight against Islamic State. The U.S. though, despite private assurances to the Iraqi Kurds that they would be given their own independence in return for their efforts fighting Islamic State, did not want to jeopardise its chances of resuscitating its oil and gas interests across Iraq as a whole. This meant in private not supporting independence but in public supporting the September 2017 referendum. In this context, although the referendum result would be permissive not mandatory from a legal perspective, a ‘yes’ vote if backed by a superpower such as the U.S. was regarded by all of the key states involved as almost certain to stoke discontent across the region’s Kurdish population. Masoud Barzani was seen as a pivotal figure in the Kurdish drive for independence by all sides, whatever his personal or professional motivations might have been.

It was against this backdrop that a meeting was held in early August between Iraq’s then-Prime Minister, Haider Al-Abadi, and his senior advisers, and Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Major General Qasem Soleimani (the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp’s elite Quds Force that focuses on foreign operations) and senior members of Iran’s Vezarat-e Ettela’at va Amniat-e Keshvar intelligence service. “The Iraqis were given all of the files that Iran had gathered which alleged multi-layered corruption and theft by President Masoud and his son Masrour, who’d been Chancellor of the Kurdistan Region Security Council - its intelligence service – at the time,” said the Iraq source.

“The files contained details of alleged secret bank accounts for the stolen funds, money transfer vehicles and routes, methods of payments for bribes, and even the names of high-level couriers and other officials believed to be involved,” he underlined. “One of the most damaging was represented as being an internal use-only report from what was essentially the Finance Ministry of Kurdistan that Iran said showed that Iraqi Kurdistan was running an operational deficit of US$3.2 billion at that point - increasing at a rate of around US$100 million per month – in large part as a result of 28% of the KRG’s entire oil export stock disappearing from official export channels and the resulting funds not going into Erbil’s treasury,” the Iraq source told OilPrice.com.

 

“According to the Iranian personnel there, independent auditors said that this missing 28% had been diverted by Masrour Barzani and sold on via middlemen in Turkey, with the resulting funds then being deposited in an account in a bank in Northern Cyprus under the name of a close female friend of Masrour Barzani, who, Iran said, was connected to Russia’s SVR [the Sluzhba vneshney razvedki foreign intelligence arm of Russia],” the Iraq source underlined. “Iran saw the SVR involvement as an early sign that Russia was looking to build up its influence in Kurdistan to use as leverage to do the same in the south of Iraq as well,” he said. “[Masoud] Barzani was then shown this evidence by the Iranians and told that he could either enjoy a comfortable retirement or that all of the documents would be released both publically in English and in Arabic and the Kurdish people would decide whether the Barzanis had stolen the money or not,” he added. For his part, then-President Barzani maintained that these diverted funds must have been an attempt by his son Masrour to build a war chest of funding that would act as a safety net for the moment when the KRG officially broke away from the rest of Iraq. Related: Middle East Tensions Move Oil Prices Higher

As it stands, with the Barzanis still in place, the Kremlin’s lead corporate proxy in the region, Rosneft, recently announced that it is to conduct a massive geological exploration across Iraqi Kurdistan this year. Already effectively in control of Kurdistan’s oil industry through a deal done in November 2017, Rosneft believes that the region has a lot more oil than most in the oil industry believe and equally importantly believes that it can use its presence in Kurdistan to expand its presence across the whole of Iraq. Only recently in this context, Gazprom Neft - the oil producing subsidiary of Russian state gas giant Gazprom – commissioned a third production well at its Sarqala field in the Kurdistan region, whilst Lukoil pledged to Baghdad that it would dramatically increase crude oil output from the supergiant West Qurna 2 field in the south.

The most recent estimate of all of Iraq’s proven reserves is around 150 billion barrels but, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA) and derived from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) 2000 assessment and subsequent updates, the level of ultimately recoverable resources at that time was around 232 billion barrels of crude and natural gas liquids. The IEA added that a detailed study by Petrolog around that time reached a similar figure but did not include the parts of northern Iraq in the KRG area, among others. Before the relatively recent spate of exploration in the KRG area, official estimates of proven oil reserves were only around four billion barrels. Subsequent to a broader drilling programme, the KRG said that this figure is closer to 45 billion barrels. According to Russian oil analysts spoken to by Oilprice.com in the past few weeks, this is a figure that Rosneft believes likely.

The prospects now are even more appealing, given the relatively low costs now in developing oil projects in Iraq. The ‘lifting cost’ per barrel in Iraq ranges from US$2 to US$3 per barrel, according to the IEA, as competitive as Saudi Arabia. Equally competitive on a global basis are the capital costs of development, which ranges from US$7,000-12,000 per barrel (pb) for expansion of a supergiant field in the south, through US$10,000-15,000 pb for the development of a new supergiant field in the south, to a maximum of US$15,000-20,000 pb for a medium-sized field in the north.

Rosneft is also ideally placed to open the way for Russian expansion into its gas sector, either for Russian gas behemoth, Gazprom, or for itself, given expectations that Gazprom’s monopoly on exporting Russian gas through pipelines is to end in 2020. Iraqi Kurdistan’s Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) estimates that there is 25 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of proved gas reserves and up to 198 Tcf of unproved gas resources in the region, around 3% of the world’s total deposits. The USGS believes that undiscovered resources in just the Zagros fold belt of Iraq, a large part of which falls in the Kurdistan region, amounts to around 54 Tcf of gas.

 

https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/The-Last-Truly-Underdeveloped-Oil-Frontier-In-The-Middle-East.html

[yota691]

Patriotic Union of Kurdistan: days separate us from resolving the issue of the governor of Kirkuk

Editorial date:: 2019/6/25 20:13 • 272 times read

(Baghdad: al-Furat News) A member of the Political Bureau of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan Aso Mamand, continued attempts to resolve the issue of the governor of Kirkuk, expected to resolve the issue in the coming days.

Mamand said in a press statement that "the issue of Kirkuk two topics, one linked to the person of the Kurds and in this aspect we hope to resolve the issue of the Kirkuk Provincial Council and the establishment of a Kurdish governor of the city in the coming days." 
"The Kurdish governor's position on Kirkuk is important for this stage," he said, adding that "the representative of the Kurdish side has made good strides with the UN representative and the Arab and Turkmen parties." 
Aso Mamand expressed his hope that the Kurdish political leadership will try as soon as possible to resolve the issue of Kirkuk and put the Kurdish governor of the city, stressing that by placing a governor of the city will change the status of Kirkuk 60% to 70%.

[6ly410]

 

Jubouri: Article 140 could not solve the problem of Kirkuk and the province controls the oil wells of the province

2019/06/25 19:30:49

 

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.shafaaq.com%2Far%2F

 

The governor of Kirkuk, Acting Governor Rikan Saeed al-Jubouri said on Wednesday that article 140 of the Constitution to resolve the problem of disputed areas between Arbil and Baghdad has become "expired" and unable to address the problem, while accusing the Peshmerga and Asayish forces to destroy dozens of villages and the arrest of hundreds of people Kirkuk, called for the imposition of federal control of oil wells belonging to the province under the control of the Kurdistan Region.

"The situation of Kirkuk today is safe and stable compared to previous years. We have a security situation in the city of Kirkuk in particular, a professional performance of the federal forces and a great cooperation of all components of Kirkuk," said Jubouri in a response to journalists' questions addressed to him through a window of communication. And is aware of its status and we do not have a curfew and the movement of citizens wearing their uniforms and popular. "

"The Kurdish brothers have a desire to do so, but there are legal mechanisms to choose the governor is made through the provincial council and the Council and since the imposition of the law could not hold a meeting because of the absence of a political party, but Kirkuk is an Iraqi city and all Iraqis are responsible and management must be consensual and 32%.

 

[yota691]

Kurdish plan on Kirkuk .. official reveals details

Political | 09:15 - 26/06/2019

 

 

 

BAGHDAD - 
A senior official in the Kurdistan region on Wednesday unveiled a unified plan aimed at returning to the scene in the city of Kirkuk. 
The official said that "the two main Kurdish parties in Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, in addition to the Kurdish Movement for Change reached understandings on the Kirkuk file for the return of a full political city by resuming the activities of its offices there, in order to prepare to participate in the local elections to be held End or early next year. " 
He added that "the Kurdish forces placed within the second phase of the plan to be involved in the security file in the city, through the entry of the Peshmerga as a force to maintain security alongside the Iraqi federal forces."
For his part, said a member of the Kurdistan Union Party, Ali Kirkukli, that "the return of Kurdish forces to Kirkuk is taken for granted," noting that "part of the preparation for the local elections, which will be a means to correct the situation in the city." 
In turn, a member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, Shukwan Abdullah, "the existence of a political plan of the Kurdish forces in relation to Kirkuk." 
He explained that "the plan put forward by his party will include several things, including the reopening of party headquarters in Kirkuk," pointing out that "normalization will also include participation in the maintenance of security, and the selection of a new governor of Kirkuk."

[yota691]

Governor of Kirkuk Article 140 "expired" and the province controls the oil wells of the province

26/06/2019

 

 

(Independent) ... Kirkuk's acting governor, Rakan Said al-Jubouri, said on Wednesday that article 140 of the constitution to solve the problem of the disputed areas between Erbil and Baghdad has become "expired" and unable to address the problem, while accusing the Peshmerga and Asayish forces to destroy dozens of villages and arrest hundreds of The people of Kirkuk, called for the imposition of federal control of oil wells belonging to the province under the control of the Kurdistan Region.

"The situation of Kirkuk today is safe and stable compared to previous years. We have a security situation in the city of Kirkuk in particular, a professional performance of the federal forces and a great cooperation of all components of Kirkuk," said Jubouri in a response to journalists' questions addressed to him through a window of communication. And is aware of its status and we do not have a curfew and the movement of citizens wearing their uniforms and popular. "

"The Kurdish brothers have a desire to do so, but there are legal mechanisms to choose the governor through the provincial council and the council since the imposition of the law could not hold a meeting because of the absence of a political party, but Kirkuk is an Iraqi city and all Iraqis are responsible and its administration must Consistent with 32%.

He pointed out that "the administration of Kirkuk by consensus and whenever there is consensus, we will be with him and support him in the administration."

Asked about the possibility of implementing article 140 of the constitution, al-Jubouri said: "It is a constitutional article, but it is governed by time limits. It has not been able to solve the problem of Kirkuk, and we find that the compatibility of the components of Kirkuk is important for drafting a permanent and future agreement. It makes understandings and consensus among all. "

"We have one of the most dangerous and challenging challenges facing our work in Kirkuk," he said. "The issue of some Peshmerga leaders and leaders during the war on the terror of the preacher, especially the border strip in the seam areas in 2015 when the Peshmerga was liberated and progressed 10 kilometers destroyed 135 villages and the area of the Forum In full, which made us unable today to rebuild housing and the difficulty of providing liquidity and federal assignments of the return of more than 70 thousand people and this is a major mistake must focus on compensating these victims and accounting for the defaulters, "he said.

"There has been no kidnapping of a single citizen in Kirkuk since the law was imposed and no house has been subjected to the seizure, expulsion or destruction of its owners," the governor said.

"We have since 2005 and until the imposition of the law more than 2,800 kidnapped and missing and detained in the prisons of the region and we do not know their fate and many of their families are reviewing us daily and ask whether we are widows or divorced, what is our fate," he said, pointing out that "we were able to release two meals from the prisons of Sulaymaniyah."

Jubouri concluded his interview saying, "We have part of the wells of Kirkuk within the boundaries of the province of Dibs and another near the province of Chuan, which is controlled by the province, which is within the borders of Kirkuk and the responsibility of oil north," adding that "the solution lies in the redeployment of federal forces all the borders of Kirkuk, Federal and Iraqi Kirkuk. " (End)

[Rugbylaird19]

I kept telling myself that article 140 was a done deal. Most likely behind closed doors. I guess not. This also makes me wonder about the HCL since I thought the same about it as well.

[10 YEARS LATER]

I reckon some issues CAN go on indefinitely  

 

 

10YL+6&

[Half Crazy Runner]

11 minutes ago, 10 YEARS LATER said:

I reckon some issues CAN go on indefinitely  

 

 

10YL+6&

 

It’s like some crazy Groundhog Day infinity loop 😫

[dinardiggerisme]

.....quote taken from the last great oil reserve article above...

 

"The ‘lifting cost’ per barrel in Iraq ranges from US$2 to US$3 per barrel, according to the IEA, "

 

Sounds about the same as the $1/bbl estimate from 2004..

Just a little 'cost of doing business adjustment'.....lol

 

 

[6ly410]

Parliamentary finance reveals to the "information" the numbers of employees of Kurdistan and astronauts of them

20:09 - 26/06/2019

https://www.almaalomah.com/2019/06/26/414106/

Information / Special ...

The Parliamentary Finance Committee revealed on Wednesday the lists of the numbers of the Peshmerga forces and employees of the Kurdistan region, while it showed that most of the names sent by the Government of the Territory repeated and space.

"The government of the region sent to the federal government in Baghdad lists of one million and two hundred employees for all its departments, including the Ministry of Peshmerga," said a member of the Committee, Haneen Qaddo, said that "the government of the region sent to the federal government in Baghdad lists of one million and two hundred employees, Menus ".

He added that "the number of employees is much lower than the numbers in the lists of the region, which the government of Erbil through which to steal funds and increase the volume of financial allocations to them within the budget," noting that "the Finance Committee is currently working on matching names through the biometric footprint to detect the space and know the size of employees precisely".

The Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi , said earlier, that the federal government of Baghdad has not yet received a barrel of one of the Kurdistan oil, reassuring the staff of the region that their salaries will not be interrupted. End 25 T

Edited June 26, 2019 by 6ly410

[6ly410]

2019/06/26 19:20

"We want to know the details of the deals with the region, which is not committed to the delivery of oil imports

http://almasalah.com/ar/news/173708/نواب-لاستجواب-الغضبان-نريد-معرفة-تفاصيل-الصفقات-مع-الاقليم-الذي-لا-يلتزم-بتسليم-واردات-النفط

 

Baghdad / Al-Masala: The alliance announced the opening, Wednesday, June 26, 2019, for moves to question Oil Minister Thamer Ghadhban early next legislative year on the lack of commitment to the region's oil exports specified in the budget.

MP Fadhil al-Fatlawi said that the movement is taking place in the House of Representatives to issue a decisive decision on the lack of commitment of the region to hand over exports of oil in the Kurdistan region to the central government and the Minister of Finance transferred money to them.

He added that the Council set the beginning of the next legislative term as a date for questioning the Minister of Oil Thamer Ghadhban on the matter to find out details of oil exports to Kurdistan.

On 24 June 2019, the Parliamentary Energy Committee accused the Kurdistan Region of manipulating the oil meters and failing to adopt transparency in oil exports, indicating that Kurdistan is preventing any government or parliamentary delegation from Baghdad from inspecting export counters in the region.

A member of the Committee Charter Hamdi said in a statement followed by "obsolete", "The exports of the province installed in the budget is 400 thousand barrels, including 250 thousand imports received by the company Sumo."

She added that "the region has not delivered so far imports of one barrel of oil recognized by the Government of the Territory," noting that "the Minister of Finance on the salaries and allocations of Peshmerga, which is contrary to the budget laws."

She explained that "the Minister of Finance did not give a clear answer to the parliament has a question about the reason for the disbursement of funds," pointing out that "the information that reached the Committee states that the region's exports exceeded 600 thousand barrels per day as well as the existence of manipulation of oil reserves adopted by the region."

On Monday, June 24, 2019, the MP of the Riyadh-Masoudi Alliance revealed the parliamentary efforts to dismiss five ministers within the cabinet of Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi, referring to the procedures of accountability and justice and their involvement in corruption allegations and non-compliance with the provisions of the government program.

Masoudi said that a large number of members of the House of Representatives have collected parliamentary signatures to dismiss five ministers within the government of Abdul Mahdi, pointing out that the dismissal will be Minister of Communications Naim al-Rubaie, Minister of Electricity Loay Khatib, Finance Minister Fouad Hussein, Oil Minister Thamer Ghadhban and Trade Minister Mohammed al-Ani.

He added that the five ministers will be dismissed for their association with the procedures of accountability and justice and involvement in transactions of financial corruption, noting that the five ministers did not adhere to the provisions of the government program at all.

He pointed out that the House of Representatives will work during the coming days to question the ministers and go towards their dismissal to correct the course of the political process.

Edited June 26, 2019 by 6ly410

[Big_J]

1 hour ago, 6ly410 said:

federal government of Baghdad has not yet received a barrel of one of the Kurdistan oil

This record is broken, can someone change it! 

[kwg]

Maybe Mahdi needs to sign the HCL and Article 140 TaaaaaDaaaaaa all done

[6ly410]

2019/06/26 10:43

 

Parliamentary oil: political forces have interests with Kurdish companies and arrange concessions with them (video)

http://almasalah.com/ar/news/173662/النفط-النيابية-قوى-سياسية-تمتلك-مصالح-مع-شركات-كردية-وترتب-معها-الامتيازات-فيديو

 

BAGHDAD

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 26, 2019 by 6ly410

[Big_J]

2 hours ago, 6ly410 said:

"the Finance Committee is currently working on matching names through the biometric footprint to detect the space and know the size of employees precisely".

[10 YEARS LATER]

1 hour ago, kwg said:

Maybe Mahdi needs to sign the HCL and Article 140 TaaaaaDaaaaaa all done

 

You're throwing allot of common sense their way with your statement. Asking quite a bit aren’t you ? 

We hear ya .... shame they don’t.

 

10YL+6& 

[10 YEARS LATER]

3 hours ago, 6ly410 said:

Parliamentary finance reveals to the "information" the numbers of employees of Kurdistan and astronauts of them

20:09 - 26/06/2019

https://www.almaalomah.com/2019/06/26/414106/

Information / Special ...

The Parliamentary Finance Committee revealed on Wednesday the lists of the numbers of the Peshmerga forces and employees of the Kurdistan region, while it showed that most of the names sent by the Government of the Territory repeated and space.

"The government of the region sent to the federal government in Baghdad lists of one million and two hundred employees for all its departments, including the Ministry of Peshmerga," said a member of the Committee, Haneen Qaddo, said that "the government of the region sent to the federal government in Baghdad lists of one million and two hundred employees, Menus ".

He added that "the number of employees is much lower than the numbers in the lists of the region, which the government of Erbil through which to steal funds and increase the volume of financial allocations to them within the budget," noting that "the Finance Committee is currently working on matching names through the biometric footprint to detect the space and know the size of employees precisely".

The Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi , said earlier, that the federal government of Baghdad has not yet received a barrel of one of the Kurdistan oil, reassuring the staff of the region that their salaries will not be interrupted. End 25 T

 

I had to do a double take-ASTRONAUTS !!!!!! ??????? Blowing up oneself doesn’t qualify you to become part of ANY Space Program. !!!!!!!

 

These translations really have taken a turn to the Surreal.

 

10YL+6& just RI/RV Already-honestly I Don know how much more lunacy I can Take 😖

Edited June 26, 2019 by 10 YEARS LATER

[yota691]

Baghdad and Erbil agree to find a solution to the Kurdistan oil export file

Economy | 02:25 - 27/06/2019

 

 

 

BAGHDAD - 
The Ministry of Oil announced on Thursday an agreement between Baghdad and Erbil to find a solution to the Kurdistan oil export file. 
Al-Ghadhban told reporters during his visit to London that "the production of the Kurdistan region of oil has an effective and good effect on the level of increased production in Iraq," noting that "the country seeks to increase production to an average of 2 million b / d at the current level." 
"We do not receive one dollar from the revenues of crude oil issued by the Kurdistan region," Ghadhban said. 
He pointed out that "with the Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, we met with the President of the region during the latter's visit to Baghdad and reached an agreement with him to find a solution to the issue of the Kurdistan region of oil."

[yota691]

Governor of Kirkuk comment on the "desire of the Kurds" to change it and confirms: Article 140 expired

[6ly410]

 

[6ly410]

KRG in talks with Baghdad to transfer and equalize Kurdistan martyrs’ payments

 Sangar Ali |

4 hours ago

 

https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/62f9f733-10d8-4fe9-8014-8fed0ede32b7

 

---

The Kurdistan Region has over 70,000 registered martyrs and political prisoners jailed by former Iraqi governments. (Photo: Archive)

 

Kurdistan Iraq Baghdad 

A+AA-

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the federal government of Iraq are close to reaching an agreement which will urge Baghdad to financially shoulder the salary budget of the Kurdistan Region’s martyrs and equalize their entitlements with the Iraqi ones, a Kurdish official said on Wednesday.

The comment came during a presser by the KRG Minister of Martyrs and Anfal, Mahmoud Haji Salih, in Erbil.

He stated that the expected deal also includes the salaries of the Kurdistan Region’s political prisoners, who were jailed and suffered under the pre-2003 governments of Iraq.

“Delegations from the Iraqi Martyrs Foundation and Iraqi government visited the Kurdistan Region during the anniversary of the Halabja chemical attack a few months ago, and we discuss the subject in detail,” Salih said.

He mentioned that both sides had since held a number of meetings about it in Erbil and Baghdad.

According to the Kurdish minister, there are issues related to the laws regarding martyrs in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq.

“We have formed a joint committee to work on amending the law. We are working to match the salaries and entitlements to the ones in Baghdad, as theirs are currently superior and better,” Salih added.

He said Iraqi delegates had initially approved the agreement, but it “needs more work” before a final approval is issued by the Iraqi Council of Ministers.

The salaries and entitlements of the Kurdistan Region’s martyrs could either be distributed directly from the Finance and Economy Ministry of Iraq or be added to the federal budget share of the Kurdistan Region, the minister stated.

The Kurdish autonomous region has over 70,000 registered martyrs and political prisoners, who receive monthly payments from the KRG. The KRG pays half of what the Iraqi government pays to martyrs under its administration due to the limited budget of the Kurdistan Region.

Salih also mentioned that, annually, the KRG spends around IQD 17 billion (US $14.2 million) for the education fee of the children of martyrs.

 

[presence]

  Thanks for the post 6ly410- I appreciate it. There's a lot of optimism in this article - especially between the lines - and especially in the timing of its release!

[ChuckFinley]

July will be interesting.