Iraq and Kurds fail to agree on budget, oil

[maddezmom]

ARBIL, Iraq (AFP) - The prime minister of Iraq's Kurdish autonomous region has said talks with the central government on budgets and oil had failed, further threatening the unity of the fragile country.

"I hope matters do not get worse," Kurdish Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani told a news conference in the regional capital Arbil Thursday after returning from the national capital Baghdad.

"If we had reached an agreement on the budget, the oil law, and the share of the provinces from oil
sales, that would have been a major achievement."

But Barzani said he hoped these problems could be overcome with dialogue and he expected the discussions to resume within days.

In meetings with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani, Barzani discussed how much income the Kurdish region should be allocated from the whole country's oil sales, while at the same time maintaining its freedom to sign separate exploration deals.

more:http://uk.news.yahoo.com/07122006/323/iraq-kurds-fail-agree-budget-oil.html