The Iraqi cabinet approved on Thursday a long-anticipated agreement with the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region that could reset their strained relationship over oil exports and public sector salaries.
According to a statement issued after an extraordinary meeting, the Kurdistan Regional Government will “immediately begin delivering all the crude oil produced from the region’s oilfields” to the state oil marketer SOMO for export.
In return, the Iraqi Ministry of Finance will be “committed” to pay the Kurdish region $16 per barrel, a price set late last year in amendments to the federal budget law and approved by the cabinet, the statement added.
At least 230,000 barrels per day will be handed over to Baghdad out of the region’s current total production of 280,000 barrels per day, it said. The remaining 50,000 barrels will be reserved for local consumption.
“Any further increase in production will be handed over to SOMO,” it said.
As a goodwill gesture and the first step in implementing the deal, the federal Ministry of Finance will release May salaries for public sector employees, pending verification that the oil volumes have been received at the Turkish port of Ceyhan.
The measure aims to bring immediate relief to tens of thousands of public servants in the Kurdish region who have faced months of uncertainty over delayed payments.
Kurdistan will also transfer an initial estimated amount of 120 billion Iraqi dinars ($91.6 million) for May as a share of non-oil income, according to the agreement. A joint team will audit revenue and determine the federal share going forward.
The deal also stipulates that a three-month plan will be launched to complete the process of paying public sector employees' salaries through bank accounts.
The control over the development of natural resources has been one of the thorniest issues since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein and helped the Kurds gain official semi-autonomy.
The Kurds argue that the country’s constitution allows them to sign deals bypassing Baghdad, while the federal authorities maintain this is illegal. That struggle has forced Baghdad at some points to withhold Kurdistan's share in the budget, plunging the region into economic hardships.
In early 2022, the Kurdish region's oil sector suffered a major blow when the Federal Supreme Court ruled that the regional law regulating the industry was unconstitutional. The court demanded it hand over all oil sector activities to Baghdad – including exports.
A year later, an arbitration ruling forced the region's exports through Turkey to halt, cutting off a major source of revenue for Erbil, the capital of the Kurdish region, and leaving it struggling to fulfil salary payments. Throughout that period the two sides failed to reach agreement.
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
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if you go
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The hotel
Rooms at the M Social Singapore cost from SG $179 (Dh488) per night including taxes.
The tour
Makan Makan Walking group tours costs from SG $90 (Dh245) per person for about three hours. Tailor-made tours can be arranged. For details go to www.woknstroll.com.sg
Zayed Sustainability Prize
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The five pillars of Islam
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Other must-tries
Tomato and walnut salad
A lesson in simple, seasonal eating. Wedges of tomato, chunks of cucumber, thinly sliced red onion, coriander or parsley leaves, and perhaps some fresh dill are drizzled with a crushed walnut and garlic dressing. Do consider yourself warned: if you eat this salad in Georgia during the summer months, the tomatoes will be so ripe and flavourful that every tomato you eat from that day forth will taste lacklustre in comparison.
Badrijani nigvzit
A delicious vegetarian snack or starter. It consists of thinly sliced, fried then cooled aubergine smothered with a thick and creamy walnut sauce and folded or rolled. Take note, even though it seems like you should be able to pick these morsels up with your hands, they’re not as durable as they look. A knife and fork is the way to go.
Pkhali
This healthy little dish (a nice antidote to the khachapuri) is usually made with steamed then chopped cabbage, spinach, beetroot or green beans, combined with walnuts, garlic and herbs to make a vegetable pâté or paste. The mix is then often formed into rounds, chilled in the fridge and topped with pomegranate seeds before being served.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
