25 July 2008 Tarek al-Hashemi, the head of the Iraqi Islamic Party, holds the highest Sunni political position in the current political setup as vice president and plays a major role in determining which way Sunni politics go. His most recent achievement is negotiating the return of Sunni ministers to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s government this week, after a boycott that lasted for almost a year over differences on security…
Tag: constitution
Buying Time
29 September 2006 It will be 2008, at the earliest, before Iraq’s southern provinces unite to form the giant oil-rich federal region that some Iraqi groups are calling for. That’s the deal reached this week by Shiite and Sunni lawmakers which, for now at least, averts further ethnic and religious strife over a Shiite-backed law outlining the mechanisms whereby Iraq’s provinces can form autonomous regions. But the arrangement, brokered by…
Iraq: Splits Dog Oil Law
9 March 2007 Having waited so long for a law offering the framework necessary to regularize and legitimize future investments in Iraq’s vast oil resources, international firms itching to get their hands on the biggest Mideast opportunity in decades now find consensus — perhaps the most important ingredient of all — lacking. Iraqis are divided over the legitimacy of signing contracts while the country is wracked by chaos, and some…
Sharing The Wealth
22 June 2007 After weeks of haggling and tough bargaining, Iraq’s central government and the northern Kurdish region have agreed a draft revenue-sharing law — opening the way for parliament’s approval of a hydrocarbon law regulating international investments in Iraqi oil and gas fields. The draft revenue law is a compromise that ensures the Kurds get an adequate and timely share of state revenues, but keeps the collection and distribution…